Long Beach student, business owner raise funds for toddler's surgery

Millikan High senior Lauren Briand and Socheat Nha in Briand's Long Beach home on Wednesday. (Jeff Gritchen/Press-Telegram)
Socheat Nha at Lauren Briand's home. Behind her is Nha's father, Phin Ken, and her cousin, Kenha Heang, right. (Jeff Gritchen/Press-Telegram)

02/25/2010
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

Want to help?

• What: Garage sale fund-raiser
• When: Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weather permitting.
• Rain date Saturday March 6
• Where: 2324 Palo Verde Ave.
• Information: Bracelets available from Peter Chhun 818-640-6191.

LONG BEACH - A student and a Long Beach business owner are raising money to help save the life of a Cambodian toddler and support the fledgling local nonprofit that finds treatment for destitute children.

When Lauren Briand went to Cambodia, she was looking for a project. At Angkor Children's Hospital, her project found a purpose. Now that purpose has a face.

Lauren and her mom, Debbie, were part of an educational and humanitarian tour to Cambodia led by Cal State Long Beach professor Alex Morales. Lauren was hoping to find something that would inspire her for her upcoming senior project at Millikan High.

The 17-year-old found it when the group went to Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap and saw scores of children in need of help. Already looking ahead to a future in medicine, Lauren found a natural fit in doing something to aid those in need.

However, it remained somewhat abstract - the idea of helping an anonymous child in a country far away whom she likely would never see.

That abstraction disappeared when Hearts Without Boundaries, a Long Beach nonprofit that helps children with heart ailments that can't be treated in Cambodia, decided to bring Socheat Nha to the United States for surgery.

Heather Duncan, owner of Blue Windows, a lifestyle and boutique store in Belmont Shore, had no idea what was ahead when she chose Hearts Without Boundaries to be a beneficiary of a portion of store sales in February. Certainly she never expected that two of the children the nonprofit helps would show up at her shop.

Socheat suffers from a defect known as tetralogy of Fallot. In addition to a large hole in her heart, Socheat has a second hole and other problems.

Possibly due in part to her heart ailments, Socheat weights half the median for an American girl her age.

While the heart condition is treated with relative ease in the U.S., usually in infancy, for the destitute in Cambodia it means a hard life and an early death.

Now, Lauren's QUEST project, raising money to help pay for Socheat's journey, is very real. And the Blue Windows charity drive is a little more personal.

That point was driven home Wednesday when Socheat, 2, and her family paid a visit to the Briand house and later to the Belmont Shore store.

As Socheat played with several toy ponies and chattered away happily in Khmer, Lauren and Deborah were all smiles.

"This makes me want to work SO much harder," Lauren said as she watched Socheat play. "She's a beautiful, vibrant little girl who can use the help. It's inspiring to me."

Lauren has several events lined up to help raise money for Socheat, including a garage sale Saturday, weather permitting, or the following Saturday in case of inclement weather.

There is also talk of a benefit concert in May or June.

Lauren also bought more than 1,000 yellow and white rubber bracelets that say "Help Heal a Heart," which she sells for $2 apiece. More than half of the allotment is already gone.

"A lot of people like them," Lauren said of the bracelets. "Especially when they hear the story."

Lauren has been selling the bracelets at school and community events and Debbie has had them at Carver Elementary, where she teaches fifth grade. More are available at Sophy's Cambodian and Thai restaurant in Long Beach.

Although Debbie said she told students and staffers at Carver about Socheat and her daughter's project, it struck a chord when she brought in newspaper accounts and pictures of the girl.

"(The students) were very excited, because they could see it was this kid," Debbie said. "Once they heard the story and knew it was a real kid, they were more willing to help."

Each month this year, Blue Windows will set aside portions of sales for local charities. In February, 10 percent of sales in jewelry go to Hearts Without Boundaries through Sunday. Duncan expects the amount raised be somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000. Duncan is blogging about her experiences online at http://bluewindows.net/journal/.

She picked Hearts Without Boundaries in part because it is a small nonprofit and in part because of the obvious tie-in between hearts and Valentines Day.

"Obviously yesterday was very special," Duncan said of meeting not only Socheat but Davik Teng, the first girl Hearts Without Boundaries brought to the U.S. for surgery. "To go from just picking a charity to meeting the girls is exactly why I did this."

Duncan gave Davik a necklace with hearts and Socheat a stuffed animal.

"This was particularly special," Duncan said. "It's not every time you do something like this that you get to see the face of what you're raising money for."

Peter Chhun, founder of Hearts Without Boundaries, is touched by the response to Socheat's arrival and the return of Davik, whom he first brought to the U.S. two years ago for repair of a quarter-sized hole in her heart.

"It's a great feeling to have all these kinds of support from the community," said Chhun, who recently retired as a news producer at NBC to devote all his time to Hearts Without Boundaries. "I feel so blessed. It really shows that people still care about these destitute children."

Debbie marveled at the circumstances that came together to turn a chance trip to Cambodia into so much more, something she says is life altering.

"It almost makes me feel like (Socheat's) a part of my family now," Debbie said. "Who knew that eight months (after visiting Cambodia) Socheat would be in our house?"

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

Government to lodge a lawsuit against Sam Rainsy by today

Mr. Sam Rainsy greeted by supporters.

By Khmerization
Sources: Kampuchea Thmey and RFI

The Cambodian government said it has completed preparing lawsuit documents against opposition Sam Rainsy and will lodge them with the Phnom Penh Court by today, Friday 26th, report Kampuchea Thmey newspaper and Radio France Internationale.

Mr. Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and Minister of Information, said Mr. Sam rainsy will be sued for disinformation and faking of public documents. Both charges are criminal offences which carry a jail. However, Mr. Sam Rainsy had been convicted earlier for sabotage and destruction of public property and sentenced in absebtia to 2 years jail when he uprooted 6 border stakes on 25th October 2009.

Mr. Tith Sothea, member of government's Quick Press Reaction Unit, said Mr. Sam Rainsy had faked documents about border encroachments by Vietnam and try confuse and mislead the public, so only the court can decide whether the government or Mr. Sam Rainsy is right.

Radio France Internationale reported that, according to government sources, lawsuit documents against Mr. Sam Rainsy will reach the Phnom Penh Court today. The sources said that Mr. Sam Rainsy is being sued for disinformation and faking public documents under article 49 of UNTAC's Criminal Code which carries penalty of 5 to 15 years jail term if proven.

Mr. Sam Rainsy, who is living in exile in Paris, has said that he is not concerned with the new lawsuits. Mr. Kimsour Phirith, acting spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said the new lawsuits against Mr. Sam Rainsy is a political oppression carried out to contain the influence of the opposition parties.

CWC: The government does not care about border issues

Mr. Rong Chhun in one of his many protests against border encroachments by Cambodia's neighbours.

By Khmerization
Source: Radio Free Asia

The Cambodia Watchdog Council has accused the government of ignoring the concerns of border issues from civil society and opposition politicians, reports Radio Free Asia.

In its statement released on 23rd February, CWC said the government are afraid to recognise and acknowledge the truth about border violations by Cambodia's neighbours by trying to silence oppositions and critics through legal actions.

Mr. Rong Chhun, chairman of CWC who was jailed in 2005 for his criticism of the government's border policies, said border encroachments by Cambodian neighbours are real. "The witnesses are those people who live in the villages who had all heard and seen that they have lost their farmlands because of the border demarcation works. And what the Sam Rainsy Party has proposed, as well as the issues raised by Mr. Sam Rainsy, are real and true. And they want the government as well as the Cambodian Border Committee to re-examine all the border documents presented by Mr. Sam Rainsy", he said.

Mr. Sam Rainsy had released a series of documents showing border encroachments by Vietnam. But the government and Cambodian Border Committee chairman Var Kimhong accused Mr. Sam Rainsy of fabricating the documents. "His Excellency Sam Rainsy and his clique, again and again, never pay attention to the explanations of the government, either through roundtable or square table (meeting), he never listen to us and still continue to accuse us (of allowing border encroachments). This is high treason that the government will continue to sue His Excellency on charges of faking public documents", said Mr. Var Kimhong.

CWC appeals to the government to stop using legal actions and jail terms against border critics and concentrate on the protection of Cambodia's borders.

Cambodia to bring Preah Vihear issue to ICJ

The 1962 Annex I's map attached to the ICJ verdict of 15 June 1962 puts Phnom Trop and Wat Keo Sekha Kivisvarak pagoda well inside cambodia. (Red dot is Preah Vihear temple, Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak is 'two dots' on left on Preah Vihear temple and Phnom Trop is 'big circle' far let of Preah Vihear temple.)

By Khmerization
Source: Radio Free Asia

Cambodia said that it will bring the Preah Vihear issue with Thailand to the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, after bilateral talks failed to resolve the issue, reports Radio Free Asia.

Thailand invaded the Preah Vihear areas (Wat Keo Sekha Kivisvarak pagoda) on 15th July 2008 and many bilateral fail to reach any agreements because Thailand refuses to withdraw troops from the areas.

Speaking to students at a graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Phnom Penh on 24th February, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will request the ICJ to enforce the 1962 verdict in which it ordered Thailand to withdraw troops from the areas around and in the vicinity of the temple. "When I said that we will take the matter to the ICJ, it is not about asking the court to rejudge the case. Our goal of going to the ICJ, if we ever bring the case there, is to find a solution, this is our first goal. Secondly, urge the court to fully implement its (1962) verdict because the third point is about the returns of all archaeological objects which Thailand took but have not returned yet, so the court has the rights (obligations) to do this thing for us. We go there to request the court to interpret the verdict for us", he said.

Mr. Hun Sen said he will bring the case to the UN Security Council first so that it will ask the ICJ to interpret the verdict that Preah Vihear sits under Cambodian sovereignty under the Franco-Siamese Treaty (of 1907). "No one can say this side of the mountain, the mountaintop of Phnom Trop or Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda belong to whom. They depends on the maps attached to the Franco-Siamese Treaty", he said.

Ms. Be Neang, a teacher from Preah Vihear province, said she supports taking Preah Vihear issue to ICJ. "I supports taking the matter to international court. If we try to resolve the issue through international legal channel, it is good for us because in 1962, Samdech Sihanouk had taken the case to international court. And the result at the that time was that we have won the case. If we bring the case to The Haque again, we will win again", she said.

Mr. Hun Sen said he decided to bring the case to international court after many bilateral talks at the ministerial level failed to reach any agreements.

An Giang expands agricultural cooperation with Cambodia

Many businesses in the southern province of An Giang [Moat Chrouk] provide aquatic varieties and technical assistance to help Cambodian farmers reap higher profits.

Under an agricultural cooperation programme between An Giang and neighbouring provinces in Cambodia, Vietnam can export many kinds of farm products, especially vegetables, to Cambodia, Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper reported on February 24.
Cambodia is calling for the cooperation of Vietnamese farmers boosting in farm production on its 6,000-7,000 ha of land, according to the newspaper.

Documents on Vietnam's border encroachments presented by Sam Rainsy

Click on each page to zoom in

PM to visit troops near Thailand

Thursday, 25 February 2010
By Vong Sokheng
Phnom Penh Post

Photo by: Heng Chivaon

Prime Minister Hun Sen addresses graduates of the Royal University of Phnom Penh during a speech on Wednesday in which he discussed his upcoming visit to Battambang province.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen announced Wednesday that he will visit troops near the Thai border in Battambang province this week, and he denied that the trip was linked to an impending verdict in Thailand on the seizure of fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s assets.

On Friday, Thailand’s supreme court will decide whether to seize more than 76 billion baht (US$2.3 billion) of Thaksin’s assets based on allegations that he abused his political power for business interests. Tensions are high as the antigovernment Red Shirts, with whom Thaksin is aligned, have vowed to stage massive protests in the aftermath of the decision, alleging “double standards” in the Thai judicial system.

Hun Sen used a visit to the border earlier this month as an opportunity to launch severe criticisms at the government of current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, but he insisted that his trip to Battambang on Saturday is unrelated to the goings-on in Thailand.

“It is a habitual and normal visit to the soldiers – do not try to link the problems in Bangkok on February 26 to my visit on February 27,” Hun Sen said, speaking at a ceremony for 1,000 new graduates at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.

On March 5, Hun Sen added, soldiers in Kampong Chhnang province will conduct military exercises in which they will launch BM-21 rockets.
Though the rockets are capable of travelling 40 kilometres, Hun Sen said troops would be shooting them less than half that distance during the exercises.

“We have kept them in the warehouse for too long, and it is time to use them,” Hun Sen said. “We are not flexing our muscles – this is work to strengthen the abilities of the military in national defence.”

Thai troops conducted similar military exercises near the border earlier this month, Cambodian military officials have said.

PM says Sam Rainsy will miss 2013 polls

Thursday, 25 February 2010
By Meas Sokchea

Phnom Penh Post

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

A Sam Rainsy Party official makes adjustments ahead of the party head’s video address at SRP headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday accused Sam Rainsy of falsifying documents related to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border and warned that the opposition leader will not be able to return for the next National Assembly election in 2013.

“This time, the court sentenced him to jail – no pardon this time. In the next election, there will be opposition parties, but this person will not be there,” Hun Sen said of Sam Rainsy during a graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. “You must be jailed first, if you are brave enough to come be jailed.”

Sam Rainsy is currently in Europe after being sentenced in absentia to two years in prison by Svay Rieng provincial court last month. He was convicted of destruction of property and racial incitement in connection with an October incident in which he led villagers in Svay Rieng’s Chantrea district in uprooting markers along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border to protest alleged Vietnamese encroachment.

On Monday, chief border negotiator Var Kimhong also threatened Sam Rainsy with charges of falsifying public documents in connection with the border. The opposition leader and his allies in the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) have presented maps in press conferences and on their Web site that they say vindicate the claim that the border markers were placed illegally.

In 2005, Sam Rainsy fled the Kingdom to avoid a jail term for defamation before returning after receiving a Royal pardon in 2006. Hun Sen said there would be no such pardon for Sam Rainsy in this case, however, accusing the SRP president of “national betrayal”.

“Please, foreigners, do not interfere” in Sam Rainsy’s case, Hun Sen said.

In a video press conference on Wednesday, Sam Rainsy defended the SRP’s use of border maps and challenged the government to produce contradictory information.

“What we have done does not depend simply on our own ideas – we rely on geography experts and history experts,” Sam Rainsy said, calling the government’s demarcation of the border with Vietnam a “national betrayal”.

Sam Rainsy added that he welcomed the prospect of an additional government complaint against him, saying that it would give him further opportunity to research evidence of border encroachment.

Cambodian military, business cosy up as premier calls for support

Phnom Penh (DPA) - Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) has asked business leaders to help fund the country's military, saying all citizens of the South-East Asian nation have a duty "to defend the nation," national media reported Thursday. "This is not a legal duty that you have to do - the support is voluntary according to your ability," the Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted him as saying.

Hun Sen's speech was followed by a get-together late Wednesday hosted by the prime minister where senior military officials were scheduled to meet 250 leading business people.

Government spokesman Prak Sokhon told the newspaper that the aim was to establish a strong relationship between business and the military.

"To sponsor a battalion - well, 'sponsor' is a big word, but the private companies will help as far as they can," Prak Sokhon said. "In the past they sent food and so on to the border - it will be this kind of relationship."

Earlier this month Hun Sen addressed troops near the Thai-Cambodian border and heaped praise on a number of businessmen for providing support to the army.

"[They] donated 7,000 wooden beds at a total cost of 210,000 dollars," Hun Sen said, before outlining further requirements. "I need 30,000 beds for the [army], military police and the police who are standing by at the Cambodian-Thai border."

Hun Sen also announced Wednesday that he would visit troops on the Cambodian-Thai border this weekend in the north-western province of Battambang.

However, he refuted any link with the imminent verdict in the case against Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand's Supreme Court is set to rule Friday on whether to seize 2.3 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets.

Thaksin was appointed as an adviser to the Cambodian government last year, a move that ramped up tensions between the two nations.

Cambodia's military has long been accused by human rights groups of involvement in illegal activities, including logging, mining, land grabs and human rights abuses.

K-pop band donate $10,000 to Phnom Penh orphanage

Thursday, 25 February 2010
By Roth Meas

Phnom Penh Post

Photo by: Sovan Philong

Members of South Korean pop band Shinee pose for photographs at a press conference in Phnom Penh on February 22.

South Korean boy band Shinee performed a concert at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, wrapping up a six-day visit that included a donation of US$10,000 to the Cambodia Children’s Fund.

The band – formed in 2008 and consisting of members Lee Jinki, Kim Jonghyun, Kim Kibum, Choi Minho and Lee Taemin – has become popular among Cambodian teens through its music videos, particularly for the song “Ring Ding Dong”.

Shinee’s visit to the country was arranged by the Cambodia Television Network (CTN) and its sister network MYTV.

At a press conference on Monday band members said they were touring Asia and had very much wanted to perform in Cambodia.
“We also know that Cambodian people support Shinee,” the band said in statement.

Following the press conference, the group visited the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF), where they were greeted by about 100 orphaned children who live there. The children staged a performance for the visitors, after which the band donated $10,000 to the fund.

CCF is raising 135 Cambodian children, 7 to 18 years of age, most of whom are former scrap scavengers from the Stung Meanchey dump site. The fund provides English-language classes, jobs in restaurants, IT classes and other vocational training.

“I think we will use [Shinee’s] donation for our culture, music and dance. I love music and I like culture,” said CCF director Scott Neeson.

Meanwhile, Monday’s press conference was also a rallying point for Shinee fans, many of whom waited outside the conference room sporting blonde, metrosexual hairstyles and Korean-style clothing.

One fan, 19-year-old National University of Management student Leng Dalin, said she was there to see the band members but had not been allowed into the press conference.

“I’ve been a fan since first seeing them on MYTV last year. I like their clothes and the way they dance,” she said.

Leng Dalin said she had already bought a $5 ticket to see Shinee’s Tuesday concert, money she would not spend on performances by Cambodian singers whom she said she had already seen “too many times”.

According to the Cambodia Television Network, more than 4,000 tickets were sold for the Shinee concert, most of them to fans under 20 years old.

CP to buy grain worth $30m for animal feed

Thursday, 25 February 2010
By Chun Sophal
Phnom Penh Post

CP Group Cambodia Co Ltd announced Wednesday it would buy US$30 million in grain as part of a plan to expand animal feed production by 20 percent on last year.

Wittaya Kreangkriwit, vice president of CP Group Cambodia Co Ltd, cited the rising price of unprocessed grains as another reason for the company’s increased expenditure, a significant rise on 2009 when the company spent US$19 million.

“This year, our expenses on agricultural products – which are the raw materials we use to produce animal feed – will increase by 57.89 percent compared to last year,” he said. “We hope that the company will be able to buy enough grain to fulfil its production demand.”

The company plans to purchase a total of 106,500 tonnes of grain, including 100,000 tonnes of red corn, 5,000 tonnes of cassava and 1,500 tonnes of soybeans between March and May this year, said Wittaya, and will source the grains from Kampong Cham and Pailin provinces.

The company estimated all three of the main raw materials used to produce animal feed would increase in price, he added, with red corn likely to rise by 33 percent to 1,100 riels per kilogram (US$0.27), cassava by 53 percent to 850 riels per kilogram and soybeans by 26.7 percent to 2,400 riels per kilogram.

In total, the company plans to raise production of animal feed this year to 144,000 tonnes, which would be 24,000 tonnes more than output in 2009.

Wittaya told the Post this month that CP plans to raise the price of its product more than 8 percent this year from $460 a tonne in 2009 to $500 to compensate for higher costs

The firm's revenue target is $72 million for 2010, he added.

Cambodians thankful for fearlessness of Taiwanese Good Samaritan

Central News Agency
25th February, 2010

Wei-lin Yang was working as a flight attendant with Taiwan's flagship carrier China Airlines 20 years ago when she decided to dedicate herself to problems far more momentous than keeping airline passengers happy.

Confronting the despair experienced in Cambodia following a lengthy period of war and killing, Yang decided to actively improve the lives of the country's refugees, and her vision has remained firm to this day despite facing personal danger, cultural obstacles, funding shortages, and a long illness.

Her efforts were recently recognized by Reader's Digest, which named her as one of six nominees for the Asian of Year Award 2010.

Though she did not win the top prize, her Field Relief Agency of Taiwan (FRA) has consistently been a winner among the 70,000 Cambodian children she's helped over the years.

Ironically, it was through her job with China Airlines that Yang found her life's devotion.

Yang had already worked as a volunteer with Taiwan's 119 rescue hotline before graduating from college, and her compassion for the underprivileged became "globalized" after joining the airline in 1983.

One of her regular stops was Bangkok, and she could not look on dispassionately when Cambodian refugees from the Thai-Cambodian border gathered in the city in the mid-to-late 1980s -- the legacy of a decade-long civil war in the western part of the country following the murderous Khmer Rouge's rule between 1975 and 1979.

She quit the airline in 1989 to join a refugee service center at the Thai border run by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees.

Working for five years at the center, where she came face to face with death, injuries, horror and extreme despair on a daily basis, Yang became convinced that the temporary centers were not the long-term solutions to the Cambodian refugees' problems.

Crystallizing her conviction was something she saw in her first year on the Thai-Cambodian border. A fatherless girl, whose mother had also just died, was begging in a local market, carrying her six-day-old baby brother in a swaddling cloth on her chest.

The girl left after receiving some money for food, but Yang said that the image of the infant's wide-open mouth and dying face lingered in her mind for a long time and convinced her that money alone would also not solve the problem.

Betting on education, Yang eventually established the FRA in 1995 to help Cambodian people in poor and heavily mined areas get a better chance in life.

Over the next four years, Yang helped establish 15 makeshift schools, sponsored some 700 orphans, and managed to recruit 27 volunteer teachers from Taiwan to work in the schools.

But those four years also taxed her health and her sanity, posing the most formidable challenges she had ever faced in a philanthropic environment -- employee infighting, unfit Taiwanese volunteers, and funding shortages.

And some of the very orphans she was trying to help were skeptical of the group's intentions, fearing they would be sold or re-sold to human traffickers.

Yang was also undone by a series of mishaps -- a car accident she was lucky to survive; a serious burn to her hand sustained when she put out a fire in a frying pan when an aide was cooking in the wild; and a near-encounter with bandits, who were tracking her vehicle, hoping to get their hands on her relief supplies.

The encounter was averted when some acquaintances came to her rescue at the last minute, but that experience, and her mounting problems, left her so mentally and physically exhausted that she fell ill for six months in late 1999.

During that time, FRA operations in Cambodia came to a virtual halt, but her illness gave her valuable time to reflect on her campaign, and she concluded that more than compassion and enthusiasm was needed to deal with the orphans or refugees' problems and the conflicts within her organization.

Realizing that she needed to change her management strategy and raise more money, Yang returned to her base in Poipet -- a Cambodian town on the country's northwestern border with Thailand -- and restarted FRA operations.

She actually lowered the wage she paid to local employees from US$200 to US$100 per month, a shock that made them less prone to infighting and more diligent.

She also screened Taiwanese staff and volunteers more strictly, declining the help of those who could not withstand hardships or challenges.

And those orphans or refugees who were skeptical of the FRA's intentions were allowed to leave FRA shelters if they chose to.

The result is that over the past 15 years, Yang has helped over 70,000 children in Cambodia, taking in orphans and those afflicted with AIDS while providing financial support to others.

Vocational training centers have been built to help adults -- many of whom are survivors of land-mine explosions -- learn skills and make a living for themselves.

She has also trained Mandarin- and Cambodian-language teachers to teach at the schools she established and to travel to rural areas in 10 provinces around the war-battered country to help the needy.

"This is a labor-intensive job, and one's work is never done, " admitted Yang, a Kaohsiung City native who is also a writer for the United Daily News and author of two books. "I've probably been defeated by difficulties, but I never gave up."

Funding and donations remain a concern, but in early 2008, Yang caught a break. She told a Liberty Times reporter that she needed 3,500 stationery kits to be distributed to Cambodian children, many of whom had never seen a tube of glue or a pencil sharpener in their lives.

The story was posted online, and to Yang's surprise, stationery supplies flooded her Taipei office from all corners of Taiwan.

The FRA packaged the scissors, staplers, erasers, pencils, sharpeners and white-out received into kits, which were then transported to Cambodia in three 40-foot containers. The kits have been distributed over the past two years on weekends to 66,000 children, many of whom live in villages that are inaccessible by car.

"All the work is worth it when you see the amazement and happiness on the children's face when they open the kits, " she explained.

In recent years, Yang's organization has moved beyond its core education programs. It has helped drill wells in areas where tap water was just a dream, after making sure the underground water was safe to drink, she said.

When the underground water in a village in Ratanakiri province in northeast Cambodia was found to have an excessive amount of arsenic, the FRA bought 625 6,000-liter water containers made of gravel and cement locally to distribute to local families to collect rainwater.

In another village in the province, Yang and the FRA workers took action when they found a hospital with only one operating table and no beds for women to rest on after giving birth, buying two medical beds for the facility.

"We don't turn our back on problems. We look for them, " said Yang, whose goal for 2010 is to build a hospital in the province if she can raise NT$5 million.

The hospital will be a "land-mine hospital" because many residents in the area were victims of land-mine explosions who need constant medical attention, said Yang, who has twice been given the medal of national honor by Cambodia's government.

The 50-year-old Good Samaritan said her longer-term goal is to hand down her skills and vision and plant more altruistic "seeds."

Yang actually began preparing for the goal two years ago when she began studying for a doctorate at National Dong Hwa University -- her ticket to teaching at the university level where she hopes to cultivate the Yangs of the future and broaden her impact on the underprivileged in Cambodia and Asia.

Cambodian consul general awarded insignia

The Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organisations on February 24 presented an insignia “for Peace and Friendship among Nations” to Luon Kim Khuon, Cambodian Consul General.

The honour was bestowed in recognition of the diplomat’s great contribution to strengthening friendship and co-operative ties between Vietnam and Cambodia during his tenure in Ho Chi Minh City.

At the presentation ceremony, Mr Khuon expressed his admiration for Vietnam’s sustainable development and bright achievements. He noted that during his nine-year term in Ho Chi Minh City, he witnessed development, solidarity, and co-operation in all fields between the two countries. The ties of solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia will never fade, he added.

VN sets its sights on dominating Cambodia’s telecom market

By An Du 25th February 2010

VietNamNet Bridge – The big telecommunication and information technology groups in Vietnam like Viettel, FPT and VTC are looking to Cambodia with expansion in mind. Cambodia has become an attractive destination for Vietnamese telecom investors.

Viettel is now the largest Vietnamese telecom investor in Cambodia. It launched the Metfone mobile network one year ago. After six months, the Viettel Cambodia topped the network, accounting for 42 percent of the total number of base transceiver stations (BTS), 88 percent of the total optical cable and second for subscribers in Cambodia.

This year Viettel Cambodia aims to earn $250 million in revenue and have 3,000 second-generation (2G) BTS, 1,500 3-G BTS and 15,000-16,000km of optical cable.

FPT Telecom has been involved in telecom business in Cambodia for six months, mainly by selling frequency bands at Vietnam-Cambodia border gates. FPT’s general director Nguyen Thanh Nam said that it is the time for FPT Telecom to enter Cambodia to directly serve users. The company plans to cooperate with Mekong Net, one of the two biggest Cambodian IT firms.

Most recently, VTC group introduced the VTC Online Cambodia Company and its first products and services for the Cambodian market.

Nguyen Viet Hung, managing director of VTC Online Cambodia, said that the firm’s products are totally “Khmermizing” and would be put online in late February. The first products are entertainment, education programmes and cultural information.

Competition

Entering the Cambodian market, the most “dangerous” rivals for FPT are perhaps not local firms but Viettel.

“Viettel is expanding investment in Cambodia but as in Vietnam, Viettel’s top priority are mobile services so if FPT Telecom is agile, we can rule the Internet market, Nguyen Thanh Nam said.

However, FPT Telecom’s plans may not go smoothly because Viettel recently stated to strive for a holding of 46 percent of the fixed phone market, 90 percent of the mobile market and 90 percent of the broadband Internet market in Cambodia by 2011.

On June 1 2009, Viettel Cambodia became the first provider of multi-telecom services in Cambodia, including channel leasing, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), broadband Internet, mobile and fixed phone services.

Content services are also promising for Vietnamese investors. Thanh Nam disclosed that FPT Telecom considers Internet facilities as a way of developing content services in the future.

However, FPT Telecom is not a big name in content services in Cambodia just as it is not a big supplier of content services in Vietnam.

The opportunity for VTC in the content service market in Cambodia seems to be bigger because VTC’s subsidiary, VTC Intercom has always obtained 300 percent of growth rate annually for content services in Vietnam since its establishment in late 2006. This year VTC plans to open four branches in Siem Reap, Battambang, Preah Sihanouk and Kampong Cham. It will offer electronic services related to trade, banking, sports, music and fashion.

The rivals of VTC in Cambodia in the content service market are local firms. Mike Gaertner, managing director of the CIDC, the distributor of the most popular online game in Cambodia – Justice X Wars II, spoke to the Phnom Penh Post Office: “They (VTC) will divide the market in two parts. CIDC will react and VTC will react too. It is an interesting moment for the online game industry in Cambodia”.

CIDS currently has more than 120,000 subscribers.

Potential market

Apart from the competitive mobile market with nine networks, including big firms from Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden, etc., other markets in Cambodia are very promising.

According to Nguyen Thanh Nam, the broadband Internet market is still in its infancy but some good signs have arisen. In the last six months, charge for 1Mb transmission have dropped from $1,000 to $300 and will continue falling. “The fall in charges will push demand up,” Nam said.

An official from Viettel said that only 0.12 percent of Cambodian people are Internet subscribers. Viettel aims to raise the rate to 3 percent over the next three years.

As to the content service market, the Phnom Penh Post Newspaper commented: “The local market is still broad for development in comparison with neighboring countries”.

The CIDC’s Gaertner was very optimistic, saying that his firm is not afraid to compete with new rivals from Vietnam because: “Vietnam has 18 million Internet users, 10 million of them are gamers. I hope the same thing will take place in Cambodia”.

Cambodia to join in drug control effort

HA NOI — Viet Nam and Cambodia Customs will boost co-operation in information exchange and the prevention of smuggling, especially drugs, according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed yesterday in Ha Noi.

The MoU was signed by Director General of the Viet Nam General Department of Customs Le Manh Hung and Pen Siman, member of the Cambodian Government, Delegate of the Royal Government of Cambodia in charge of the Customs and Excise Department.

The two sides agreed that regular meetings at provincial and border levels will be organised in order to develop favourable conditions for legal import-export and business activities at the border.

According to the MoU, each country will actively carry out strong measures to prevent smuggling, illegal transportation of goods and drugs, and other illegal activities that go against the economic, financial and security interests of the two countries.

Viet Nam and Cambodia customs began their co-operative relationship in 2007. The MoU is expected to represent a new step forward in the customs relationship between the two countries.

The two countries agreed to extend the scale of co-operation to include administrative support, simplification of customs procedures and support for mutual strengthening.

Nine of Viet Nam's provinces share border with Cambodia. In 2009, Viet Nam customs discovered and arrested 1,517 smugglers carrying goods valued at nearly US$1.7 million. – VNS

SMEs to export rice [to Europe]

Thursday, 25 February 2010
By Chun Sophal
Phnom Penh Post

THE Cambodian Small and Medium Industries Association is due to sign a rice-export agreement with Lithuania and Latvia for 480 tonnes, a representative of the organisation said Wednesday. Secretary General Outh Renne said the small business association had already exported 144 tonnes of 10 percent broken rice so far this year at US$700 tonne. Of that total, 96 tonnes went to Poland and the remainder to Germany. The latest shipment would be sent in the middle of next month, he added. “We’re hoping the association will get more agreements with partners to raise rice exports from Cambodia,” said Outh Renne.

Sihanouk: Ruom Ritt is not Ruom Ritt and Ruom Ritt is Ngin Chhorn

Left: Mr. Ngin Chhorn who claimed to be Ruom Ritt. Bottom: Sacrava's impression of the real Ruom Ritt, which is King-Father Sihanouk himself.

By Khmerization
Source: Kampuchea Thmey and Angkor Borei News

King-Father Sihanouk and Prime Minister Hun Sen came out strongly to denounce the voice of an interviewee on World Khmer Radio as a fake, report Kampuchea Thmey.

From 14-19 February, World Khmer Radio, an online radio based in the United States, broadcast a voice purported to be Ruom Ritt, a childhood friend of ex-king Sihanouk who often caught the ire of PM Hun Sen for his many critical articles against the latter.

During a speech to students at a graduation ceremony on Wednesday at the Royal University of Phnom Penh published in Kampuchea Thmey, PM Hun Sen blasted Ruom Ritt as a fake by threatening to take legal action against the impostor. "The real Ruom Ritt has no voice, but the fake Ruom Ritt has a voice", Mr. Hun Sen said implying that the real Ruom Ritt could be King-Father Sihanouk.

King-Father Sihanouk, in a statement from Beijing, declared that Ruom Ritt that people heard on the radio is a fake because he said the real Ruom Ritt are very old who is bedridden and cannot talk. “Right now, if there is any group or any individual who claimed to be Ruom Ritt, then he is a fake Ruom Ritt”, the statement said.

The Angkor Borei News, the Khmer-language newspaper published in the United States, claimed that the voice people heard on World Khmer Radio, was really the voice of Mr. Ngin Chhorn, a long time ardent supporters of King-Father Sihanouk.

Mr. Ly Diep, editor-in-chief of Angkor Borei News who claimed to know Mr. Ngin Chhorn very well, editorialised on 24th February that he doesn't know why Ngin Chhorn want to become the fictitious Mr. Ruom Ritt. Mr. Ly Diep said that the real Mr. Ruom Ritt is Sihanouk himself.

Document Made Public [by the SRP] at Today’s Press Conference

February 24, 2010

DOCUMENT MADE PUBLIC AT TODAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE

At the February 24 press conference in Phnom Penh, opposition leader Sam Rainsy made public the following document available at http://tinyurl.com/ykbq57f

This document shows violations of even the 1985 Border Treaty signed by the controversial People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Therefore, the current Phnom Penh government has no ground whatsoever to deny continuous border encroachment in Cambodia’s Eastern part.

SRP Members of Parliament

Sam Rainsy defends his documents as true and authentic

Rainsy during a press conference on Wednesday.

By Khmerization
Source: RFA

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy defends his documents amid accusations from the government that he falsify the border documents with Vietnam, reports Radio Free Asia.

Mr. Hun Sen went further by calling him a traitor for stirring up tensions with Vietnam at the same when Cambodia is having border conflicts with Thailand after Sam Rainsy released a series of documents and maps showing encroachments by Vietnam.

The documents and maps show that Vietnam had encroached to between 250 to 500 metres in the area in Chantrea district of Svay Rieng province where he had uprooted 6 border stakes in late 2009. The government and Prime Minister Hun Sen accused Mr. Sam Rainsy of falsifying these documents.

However, in a press conference via video links from Paris on Wednesday 24th, Mr, Sam Rainsy defends his documents as correct and authentic. "What the Sam Rainsy Party had shown in the last time, last few weeks and last few months are correct. That's why we request to those who accused that those documents and those figures are not correct to show us what they called as correct. Please show us what they think as correct so that we can compare which particular areas are different and which parts are correct in accordance with scientific basis. In science, there is only one solution, there is no more than on answer", he said.

Hun Sen: Sam Rainsy is a traitor

By Khmerization
Source: Radio Free Asia

Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) called opposition leader Sam Rainsy 'an unforgivable traitor' who falsified maps about Cambodian-Vietnamese borders, reports Radio Free Asia.

Speaking to students during a graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Phnom Penh on Wednesday 24th February, Mr. Hun Sen said Mr. Sam Rainsy is a traitor because he tried to stir up trouble with Vietnam with fake maps at the same time while Cambodia is having border conflicts with Thailand. "I ask all diplomats to look at the maps posted online and in the website of this (Sam Rainsy Party) group and compare it with the real maps to see what they really are. So, the government cannot forgive them, not only the leader of the opposition, but whoever dare to come out and do this will face legal action", he declared.

In the last few months, Mr. Sam Rainsy released a series of documents and maps showing encroachments by Vietnam. Mr. Sam Rainsy claimed that the documents and maps, including official maps that the Royal Government of Cambodia deposited at the United Nations in 1964, have been produced and verified by French experts as authentic documents.

Sam Rainsy is currently living in exile in Paris after he was recently sentenced to 2 years jail term. Mr. Hun Sen said Sam Rainsy will not be pardoned and allowed into the country. "This time I'm very sorry that the court has sentenced him to a jail term but there won't be a pardon. I'm sorry, this time no! There will be opposition parties participating in the next elections, but there will be no this individual (Sam Rainsy), I can say this from now on. (He) must serve his sentence first. If he thinks he is strong please return back to Cambodia and please don't set any conditions that we have release this or that person first. Don't! We know you very well", he said referring to Sam Rainsy.

Mr. Sam Rainsy said after his sentence that he would return to Cambodia if the government released the two farmers. They were sentenced along with Mr. Sam Rainsy and are currrently in jail after they joined him in uprooting 6 wooden border stakes from the Cambodian-Vietnamese borders on 25th October 2009..

Mr. Kimsour Phirith, acting spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, refuted Mr. Hun Sen's accusations that Mr. Sam Rainsy is a traitor. "We ask: 'have Mr. Sam Rainsy cut and given any Cambodian territories to anyone or any countries yet? Has he killed any Cambodian people or committed autogenocide against his own race yet? Committed abuses against his own people yet? And has he destroyed Khmer traditions and culture yet? The answer is none! So he cannot be accused of being a traitor because what he has done did not cause Cambodia to lose any territories, but to protect the farmlands and those farmlands were inherited by farmers from their ancestors", he said.

Mr. Hun Sen also said that new charges will be laid again Mr. Sam Rainsy for falsifying public documents.

Cambodia to conduct multiple rocket launcher tests

Cambodian tanks based along the Khmer-Thai borders.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
PTI

Phnom Penh: Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday said that Cambodia will conduct a multiple rocket launching test next week.

Speaking at a graduating ceremony for graduate students, Hun Sen called the move a routine military drill and said it is not intended to show Cambodia's military muscle to any country.

Cambodia has been locked in a territorial dispute with Thailand since 2008 and there have been sporadic military clashes between the two countries at the border area near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple.

Hun Sen said the rocket tests will take place March 4 in Kompong Chhnang Province, about 100 kilometers north of Phnom Penh.

About 200 rounds of the BM-21 multiple rocket launcher will be fired to test the military's capabilities as well as the quality of the Russian-made rocket-launching system, he said.

The 122-mm rockets have a range of 40 kilometers. Hun Sen said one round of the BM-21 costs between $1,200 and $3,800.

Earlier this month, Hun Sen toured the Cambodia-Thai border area and visited military units. The trip and the heavy weapons displayed during his visit were broadcast on many television channels in Cambodia.

Cambodian PM accuses opposition chief of treachery

Hun Sen vs. Sam Rainsy.

Associated Press
24th February, 2010

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused opposition leader Sam Rainsy of treachery Wednesday for disputing the government's position on a border dispute with Vietnam.

Hun Sen said while speaking to students Wednesday in Phnom Penh that government legal experts were preparing to file a lawsuit against Sam Rainsy for challenging whether the border is incorrectly marked to Cambodia's disadvantage. He did not make clear what the charge might be.

Hun Sen referred only to the opposition leader, not to Sam Rainsy by name. Sam Rainsy is living in exile in Paris and was sentenced in absentia by a Cambodian court last month to two years imprisonment for a political protest in which border markers on the frontier with Vietnam were uprooted.

Hun Sen described Sam Rainsy's actions as treacherous because Cambodia already has a volatile border dispute with Thailand on its northern and western frontiers, so causing trouble with Vietnam could open up a potential second area of confrontation.

He claimed that Sam Rainsy had publicized "false" information purporting to show that border posts had been moved several hundred meters (yards) inside Cambodian territory.

The Sam Rainsy Party is the sole opposition party in parliament and Sam Rainsy is a fierce, longtime critic of Hun Sen. His previous tangles with the government have seen him go into self-imposed exile for his safety and to avoid jail.

Hun Sen was installed in government by a Vietnamese invasion that ousted the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. He is sympathetic with Hanoi, while Sam Rainsy bases part of his political appeal on pandering to traditional anti-Vietnamese sentiment common among Cambodian who don't trust their much larger neighbor.

Hun Sen, a shrewd and tough politician, said he would not help Sam Rainsy get a royal pardon for his conviction in the border marker case, in which he was found guilty of destruction of public property and inciting people to commit a criminal act. He pointed out that without serving his sentence or winning a pardon, he would be unable to run for office.

Cambodian PM to make second trip to Cambodia-Thai border area this week

Hun Sen's visit to Khmer-Thai borders earlier this month made headlines around the world when he used strong language to "curse" Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

People's Daily Online
February 24, 2010

Aiming to inspect border development and military capacity, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday that he will make his second trip to the country's northwestern border later this week.

Delivering speech at graduation ceremony at Royal University of Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said he will make his second trip to military region 5 on Feb. 27 to inspect the border development, infrastructure and military capacity presence there.

He said the visit is a routine one to be made by a leader of a country and that it has nothing to hide with military challenge with neighboring country.

Hun Sen said prior and during his first visit to border area in the country's northern provinces of Preah Vihear and Uddor Meanchey, there were some comments made by leaders of the neighboring country.

This time, Hun Sen said he will not make any statement concerning the neighboring country as long as no comment to be made prior to his visit there.

Hun Sen spent for almost a week earlier this month visiting several military spots and bases as well as other development infrastructure along Cambodia-Thai border near Preah Vihear Temple.

His presence at the border area had drawn much attention from Bangkok administration on the motive behind his trip there.

Since July 2008, Cambodia and Thai armed forces have exchanged a few rounds of armed conflicts as a result of border dispute near the Cambodia's ancient temple of Preah Vihear.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodian defence minister visits Vietnam

Gen. Tea Banh (r) meeting with Viet President Nguyen Minh Triet during his visit to Vietnam on 26th March 2008.

Vietnam - Cambodian Defence Minister General Tea Banh has just paid an official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart, General Phung Quang Thanh.

During his visit, Minister Tea Banh, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia , and his delegation held talks with a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam ’s Ministry of National Defence.

Both sides discussed international and regional issues as well as national concerns and reviewed the results of cooperation between the two armies over the past time.

They agreed to continue strengthening cooperation by increasing the exchange of delegations and cooperation in training and border protection and management as well as conducting joint patrols in common waters between the two countries.

The two sides also vowed closer coordination in searching for and repatriating the remains of Vietnamese military experts and volunteer soldiers killed in Cambodia during war time.

Work on Cambodia's New 100 MW Coal-Based Power Plant Begins

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)

Leader (Cambodia) Limited (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), the wholly owned subsidiary of investment holding company Leader Universal Holdings Berhad (Penang, Malaysia), recently broke ground on its 100 MW, coal-fired power project at Sihanouk Ville in south Cambodia. The power plant is expected to be operational in 2012.

The project is being developed by Cambodia Energy Limited (CEL) (Phnom, Penh), an 80:20 joint venture company formed by Leader Cambodia and Cambodia International Investment Development Group Company Limited (CIIDG) (Phnom Penh). CIIDG is a commercial body comprising several Cambodian individuals.

The venture was announced in June 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, CEL will build, own and operate the power plant. Power will be sold to state-owned Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) (Phnom Penh) at concessional rates for 30 years. The project has been awarded a $140 million syndicated loan by a group of lenders led by OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad (Kuala Lumpur). According to Datuk Seri H'ng Bok San, the deputy executive chairman of leader, the power project is expected to cost $170 million.

Another target of CEL is to develop a 700 MW, coal-fired power project in Cambodia after completing the 100 MW project. Among other developments, in January this year, Leader signed an agreement with EDC, under which the company will develop a 230 kV power transmission system stretching from north Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The $107 million transmission line project will be maintained and managed by Leader for 25 years after which the system will be handed over to the Cambodian government.

Cambodia's demand for domestic power is 808 MW, while its installed power capacity is about 410 MW. According to Suy Sem, Cambodia's energy minister, four hydropower projects are expected to be operational by 2011 and several more by 2012. He expects new projects to reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil for generating power. That also would help the government supply power to its consumers at lower costs.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) (Manila, Philippines), electricity prices in Cambodia were the highest in the region because of the nation's fragmented power grids, the use of imported diesel to generate almost 95 percent of its power, and the small size of most of its power plants. The high power prices are a major deterrent for potential industrial investors in the country as well. In H'ng's opinion, Cambodia's installed power capacity would reach 740 MW by 2010 and 2,315 MW by 2024, an increase of 8.5 percent per year.

Cambodia's National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) (2006-10) was developed by the Ministry of Planning with the aim of reducing poverty in the country as well as to achieve other socio-economic benefits for its citizens. The NSDP was launched by the prime minister in 2006, after obtaining approval from the National Assembly, the Senate, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), and the King. The plan prioritizes all the goals and strategies of the RGC. The NSDP has laid out 43 targets, and progress is monitored and reviewed annually under the NSDP Monitoring Framework. It has been estimated that about $3.5 billion will be required over the period 2006-10 for the NSDP to achieve all its targets and goals.

Industrial Info Resources provides global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project spending opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.

Sihanouk: Ruom Ritt is not Ruom Ritt (sic!)

It takes two to Tango: Did the master get caught in his own game?

Sihanouk making appearance to reject the appearance of Ruom Ritt

Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

King-Father Norodom Sihanouk was forced to make an appearance to declare that the person who claimed to be Ruom Ritt and whose voice can be heard on interviews recently, is not his childhood friend Ruom Ritt.

In a communiqué dated 23 Feb, Sihanouk wrote that Ruom Ritt, his childhood friend, who is currently living in France (in the Pyrenees), is very old and very ill. He could no longer write articles for publication anymore. Therefore, the hero-king said from Beijing that: “Right now, if there is any group or any individual who claimed to be Ruom Ritt, then he is a fake Ruom Ritt.”

Sihanouk’s reaction came immediately after Prince Thomico, Sihamoni’s advisor, officially informed him to the fact. Thomico who is Sihanouk’s own nephew, reported to the ex-king that a radio station known as the “World Khmer Radio” broadcast on 19 Feb phone interviews with Ruom Ritt on border issues. In his report, Thomico claimed that the interview used the border topic as a mean to attack King Sihamoni and the monarchy because these two institutions are accused of being lax in the defense of Cambodia’s territorial integrity. Thomico said: “All observers know that Mr. Ruom Ritt does not keep contact with anybody else other than the revered king [Sihanouk]. Therefore, the appearance of Mr. Ruom Ritt is nothing more than a bad trick. Furthermore, in addition to this trick, the interview was a subterfuge to blame and to create hatred against the Cambodian monarchy.”

More than 5 years ago, Ruom Ritt, whom Sihanouk claimed to be his childhood friend, made his appearance in the Cambodian political scene through correspondence exchange with Sihanouk. At that time, Ruom Ritt severely criticized Hun Sen’s regime, so much so that the latter reacted and attacked back by using vulgar words on Ruom Ritt. Since then, Ruom Ritt disappeared into oblivion.

Border Row: Civil society defends SRP claim

Wednesday, 24 February 2010
By Meas Sokchea
Phnom Penh Post

Border Row
A coalition of local civil society organisations has slammed the government’s confrontational stance towards opposition leader Sam Rainsy, defending his allegations about Vietnamese territorial encroachments. In a statement on Tuesday, the Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) said government officials continue to ignore all concerns relating to the country’s eastern frontier. “CWC notes that both the Cambodian Border Committee and government leaders have never received the concerns of civil society and political parties about the loss of land because of invasions from neighbouring countries,” the statement read. On Monday, Var Kimhong, Cambodia’s chief border negotiator, told reporters that Sam Rainsy could face charges of falsifying public documents to support his claim that border markers have been posted inside Cambodian territory in Svay Rieng province.Tith Sothea (pictured), a member of the Council of Ministers’ Press Quick Reaction Unit, dismissed the CWC’s statement, saying that the government border demarcation had taken place within a legal framework.

Filmmaker overcomes childhood fear to document eerie Khmer funerary chanting

Wednesday, 24 February 2010
By Ou Mom
Phnom Penh Post

Film student Neang Kavich hopes to reveal the beauty of traditional smot music, despite its association with death

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Buddhist monks lead chants at a funeral service.

---

I hope I can be one of those filmmakers who help revive khmer film and keep the arts alive.

---

NEANG Kavich says that when he was a child, he and his friends were scared every time they heard smot, a type of traditional Khmer chanting performed at funerals and characterised by eerily drawn-out syllables.

However, when he later found out that the chants are used not only at funerals but also on other occasions – including on the King’s and Queen’s birthdays and during other religious ceremonies – he began to hear the beauty of the music.

Neang Kavich spent six years studying music at Cambodian Living Arts and is now a first-year student of film at Limkokwing University.

This combination of knowledge prompted him to make a 15-minute documentary on smot with the aim of educating Cambodians about the art form and teaching them not to be afraid when they hear the chants.

“Also, our film industry has been in decline,” he says.

“I hope I can be one of those filmmakers who help revive Khmer film and keep the arts alive,” he adds.

He says he spent five months shooting the film on weekends and editing at night, under the guidance of professor Davy Chou, the creator of Kon Khmer Koun Khmer Group.

The finished documentary has already been screened at Meta House in Phnom Penh on February 11, and Neang Kavich says he plans to submit it to international film competitions.

He says that many Cambodians are unnerved by the first scene of the film, which consists of a black screen and the sound of smot chanting.

But as the documentary progresses and delves into the beauty of the sounds, audiences warm to the subject also find the chanting attractive.

In the film, Koeut Ran, an assistant smot teacher from Kampong Speu province, explains that the music is played at Khmer funerals to prompt people to think about the meaning of their lives.

Pheun Srey Pov, who learned the art of smot at Cambodian Living Arts in Kampong Speu province, said: “I was interested in learning smot because Cambodian people are scared of it, and I was very interested in learning about the meaning of the music and what is behind this fear.”

Although she is not certain that she will be able to make a living as a smot performer, Pheun Srey Pov said that her group from Cambodian Living Arts have been invited to perform in the US in the near future.

Yin Yean, the sole teacher of smot and sot (traditional poetry recitation) at Royal University of Fine Arts, said it was important for music students to learn how to recite and chant traditional songs and poems.

“These art forms will be lost in the near future if we do not care about them,” he said.

Top Chinese legislator pledges to further ties with Cambodia

People's Daily Online

February 24, 2010

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Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo on Tuesday pledged to increase cooperation and exchange between Chinese and Cambodian parliaments in a bid to further bilateral ties.

Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo meet with visiting Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in the Great Hall of the People on Feb 23, 2010.(Xinhua).

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, spoke highly of Sino-Cambodian relations during his half-hour meeting with visiting Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.

Such a "traditional friendly" relationship "brought about tangible benefits to the two peoples," Wu said in the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

China appreciated the contribution to the development of bilateral ties made by the Cambodian royal family, especially by Sihamoni and his father, retired king Norodom Sihanouk, Wu said.

The royal family "always offered firm support to China on those issues that concern China's core interests, which indicated (their) good will and friendship with the Chinese people," Wu said.

Wu Bangguo(R), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress(NPC), China's top legislature, shakes hands with visiting Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 23, 2010. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

He conveyed greetings from Chinese President Hu Jintao to the King and his family.

Sihamoni, who arrived in Beijing on Monday for a health checkup, thanked China's long-term help to his country and conveyed the royal family's new year greetings to President Hu and the Chinese people, with China's Lunar New Year festivities having just ended.

He pledged to further the traditional friendship, which was initiated by the two countries' former leaders.

Source: Xinhua