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Friday, February 21, 2014

Cambodia Vows to Bring Perpetrators of ‘Racist’ Killing to Justice

Ngoc’s wife Men Sinath speaks to RFA in Phnom Penh, Feb. 19, 2014.

RFA

22/02/2014
Cambodian authorities on Thursday gave assurances they would carry out a thorough investigation into the beating death of a Vietnamese-Cambodian man in what is believed to have been a racially-motivated attack, following concerns expressed by the Vietnamese government.

Nguyen Yaing Ngoc, 28, was chased and attacked by a group of some 20 Cambodians last week after he responded to a call for help from his brother, who witnesses told RFA’s Khmer Service had rear-ended a car with his motorbike while “driving under the influence.”

Reports said the crowd had been incited to action by shouts of “yuon,” a derogatory term for Vietnamese in Cambodia, where ethnic tensions sometimes rise high amid competing territorial claims and immigration concerns.

Following the incident, Vietnamese authorities called for an immediate inquiry into the death of Ngoc, who scuffled briefly with a Cambodian family unable to move their car past the motorbike, which had been left parked in an alley, before he was pursued and killed, according to news reports.

On Thursday, Cambodian Internal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gen. Khieu Sopheak responded to the request by the Vietnamese Embassy, saying that the court is “working on the case” and that those responsible “will be prosecuted according to the law.”

Suspect Vong Chanvutha, 50, is now in custody for allegedly inciting the mob to attach Ngoc, though “more suspects may also be involved in the killing,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“We are very saddened by this incident,” Khieu Sopheak said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Kuy Koung refused to comment on the investigation but said that the government is “providing equal protection for all people regardless of their nationalities.”

Vietnam Embassy spokesman Tran Vang Thong told RFA Thursday that his government was satisfied with Cambodia’s response to the situation, adding that Vietnamese in Cambodia feel protected by the authorities.

He said that the incident had not affected diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“Those who discriminate against Vietnamese [in Cambodia] make up only a small group of people,” Thong said.

“These people have incited others to be racists, but the international community and [the majority of] people in Cambodia condemn such actions,” he said.

Thong said that the Vietnamese government had “no concerns” about the way that Cambodia was handling the incident.

Allegations of incitement

Khieu Sopheak reiterated his earlier claims that ethnic tensions in Cambodia were linked to policies of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), who he said had “incited Cambodians against Vietnamese.”

“The term [yuon] has been used by the CNRP’s leaders,” he said. “Racism is not good for the current situation.”

He urged the public to avoid discriminating against the Vietnamese in the country, but added that “in general people don’t do such things—only certain groups who support the CNRP,” without providing further details.

Also speaking to RFA, CNRP Deputy President Kem Sokha condemned last week’s mob killing.

“The killings on public streets have led Cambodia into misery,” he said, urging the public to refrain from any kind of violence.

Kem Sokha said that CNRP policy “does not discriminate against any nationalities.”

Joint statement

Also on Thursday, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) issued a joint statement denouncing Ngoc’s death and calling for a “thorough and independent investigation” into the case.

“We … condemn this cruel killing which we fear is an act of racially motivated violence against a Vietnamese person in Cambodia,” the statement said.

The groups pointed to an incident that occurred on Jan. 3 in the capital Phnom Penh which, according to an investigation by MIRO, involved the looting and burning of Vietnamese-run shops after deadly clashes between garment workers demanding an increase in salary and military police.

They said that the shop owners had not yet been compensated for the assaults, which they called “presumably racially motivated.”

In the statement, CCHR and MIRO noted that Cambodia is a signatory party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

“As human rights organizations, we strongly object to repeated acts of violence in Cambodian society that apparently are based on racial prejudices,” the statement said.

“Therefore, we urge the authorities to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the killing … in order to find justice for the victim and his family,” it said.

“At the same time, we also call for all Cambodian people to respect the human rights of other ethnicities and refrain from all kinds of racial violence so that we can live together in harmony and peace.”

By: barokah On 11:30:00 AM

Vietnam asks Cambodia to investigate mob killing of ethnic Vietnamese

Friday, February 21, 2014 11:00

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Cambodian authorities to investigate and soon bring to justice a mob that allegedly killed a Vietnamese-Cambodian man on the streets last Saturday.

The ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said at a regular press briefing Thursday that Vietnam also wants Cambodia to take measures to prevent similar acts aimed at ethnic Vietnamese, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

“We condemn any act of inciting racist violence,” he said.

The Cambodia Daily reported that the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia is closely following the investigation into the mob killing of Tran Van Chien and its representatives are meeting with the police to monitor the progress.

“We have been meeting people in the community to find out what exactly happened,” embassy spokesman Tran Van Thong said further, confirming meetings with the police.

Chien, 30, who was born to Vietnamese parents in Kompong Chhnang Province, was killed by an angry crowd after a minor traffic accident in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district.

The clash is believed to have begun when a bystander, seeing an argument between a group of ethnic Vietnamese and some Cambodians, yelled out: “Yuon fight Khmer,” The Cambodia Daily reported.

The police have arrested and charged Von Chanvutha, 50, who is said to have incited the killing.

Thong said the embassy condemned racism and violence and demanded a thorough investigation to find those responsible for Chean’s death. Witnesses said the mob numbered around 20.

“This kind of violence cannot be allowed to happen again,” Thong said. “The Cambodian police must find those responsible.

By: barokah On 11:28:00 AM

Cambodian police probe disappearance of Canadian

22/02/2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Police say they are worried about the safety of a Canadian expatriate filmmaker who disappeared a week ago from his guesthouse in northwestern Cambodia.

Immigration Police officer Yut Sinin said Friday that investigations have turned up no clues as to where 58-year-old Dave Walker may have gone on Feb. 14. He left behind his phone, laptop computer, passport and other belongings. He said Walker, a former journalist who is partner in a local film production company, has lived in Siem Reap province for two years.

Yut Sinin said Walker occasionally went to neighboring Thailand but it seemed unlikely this time.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has urged Cambodian authorities to investigate the case thoroughly.

By: barokah On 11:27:00 AM

Cambodian police probe Canadian's disappearance

22/02/2014

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Police said Friday they are worried about the safety of a Canadian filmmaker who disappeared a week ago from his guesthouse in northwestern Cambodia.

Immigration Police officer Yut Sinin said an investigation has turned up no clues about where Dave Walker of Edmonton may have gone on Feb. 14. He left behind his phone, laptop computer, passport and other belongings. He said Walker, 58, a former journalist who is a partner in a local film production company, has lived in Siem Reap province for two years.

Yut Sinin said Walker occasionally went to neighboring Thailand but it seemed unlikely this time. The Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoted Sonny Chhoun, his partner in Animist Farm Films, as saying Walker stepped out of his guesthouse room to let it be cleaned.

"I just want to say, I don't think he went anywhere by himself. I think something is wrong. I don't think he would just leave, with his phone on the charger, and go somewhere," Sonny Chhoun was quoted as saying. "This is very unnatural for Dave. I know him very well."

"We are deeply concerned by the disappearance of veteran journalist Dave Walker," said Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "We call on the relevant Cambodian authorities to leave no stone unturned in their investigation."

By: barokah On 11:25:00 AM

DPM calls on Malaysian, Cambodian SMEs to forge closer ties

21 February 2014

PHNOM PENH: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin ends his official visit to Cambodia by chairing a round table meeting between captains of industry in Malaysia and Cambodia today.

The meeting, which was attended by representatives of 35 Malaysian companies, was jointly chaired by Muhyiddin and one of the five deputy prime ministers in Cambodia, Keat Chhon, at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Hotel here this morning.

In his speech, Muhyiddin called on small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) from both countries to forge closer cooperation to expand trade value and volume.

"We should explore how SMEs can increase their exports and participation in the supply of services.

"The services sector in ASEAN is being liberalised and there are opportunities that can be tapped," Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said during his speech at the round table meeting.

Also present during the meeting were Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron and Malaysian Ambassador to Cambodia, Raszlan Abdul Rashid.

Muhyiddin said Malaysian companies, mostly in the finance and services sectors, were the the leading foreign investors in Cambodia.

"There are 1,693 Malaysian businesses registered in Cambodia with investments amounting to US$2.62 billion (RM8.67 billion) over a period of 19 years from 1994 until 2013," he said.

Muhyiddin was on a three-day official visit to Cambodia since February 18.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin paid a courtesy visit to the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and one his five deputies, Sok An.

He had also attended a bilateral meeting with Education, Youth and Sports Minister Dr Hang Chuon Naron on the same day.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin (second right) with deputy prime minister and financial adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister, Keat Chhon (right), during a round table meeting at a hotel in Phnom Penh today. -- Bernama photo

By: barokah On 11:24:00 AM

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Cambodia-Laos dam dolphin threat

20 Feb 2014 at 16.08
PHNOM PENH – The last population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong could be driven to extinction by a planned hydropower dam on the Laos-Cambodia border, conservationists said on Thursday.

The building work and the Don Sahong dam itself would change the water quality and could kill off the population of just 85 of the aquatic mammals remaining in the Mekong, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said.

"Plans to construct the Don Sahong dam in a channel immediately upstream from these dolphins will likely hasten their disappearance from the Mekong," said WWF Cambodia’s country director Chhith Sam Ath.

There are an estimated 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins left in the world, most of them in the river of that name in Bangladesh, but with pockets of fewer than 100 individuals in the Mekong as well as the Philippines, Burma and Indonesia, according to WWF.

The group called on Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to request that Laos halt the construction of the 240-megawatt project.

Laos last year announced construction would start in 2014, despite objections from wildlife groups and some of the countries affected, which say the dam will also disrupt fish migratory routes and threaten food security.

"Not building the Don Sahong dam is not an irreparable blow to the development aspirations of Laos, or their ability to produce electricity, but building it will almost certainly cause the extirpation [local extinction] of their dolphins and threaten critical fisheries," said Gerry Ryan, an advisor to WWF Cambodia.

The dolphins not only contribute to tourism in the area, Ryan added, they are also an integral part of the river’s ecosystem.

Cambodia has criticised Laos for a lack of transparency regarding the project, which is just 1.5 kilometres from the Cambodian border, and has expressed concern over its possible impact.

It has tried to convince the Lao government not to build the dam, government spokesman Phay Siphan said.

"We want Laos to consider the long term impact ... to downstream nations," he said.

"We are worried about the environmental impact and fish impact."

By: barokah On 12:05:00 PM

Letter to Julie Bishop on Rights Concerns During Cambodia Visit

February 19, 2014

Dear Foreign Minister,

We write to you on the eve of your visit to Cambodia to urge you to put human rights at the top of your agenda. Australia has claimed credit for its diplomacy in the 1990s that was supposed to lead to a democratization of Cambodia based on respect for human rights. Sadly, that has not materialized. The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has now been in power for 35 years, while Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in office since 1985. Basic rights such as freedom of expression, assembly and association are under regular attack, while corruption is rampant, severely affecting the enjoyment of basic economic and social rights by a very poor citizenry.

After decades of authoritarian rule, large numbers of Cambodians are increasingly demanding their democratic rights. Protests have continued since the fundamentally flawed elections held in July. The continuing post-election crisis provides Australia with a chance to play a key role in putting the country back on the track of promoting and protecting human rights. Australia should use its voice and influence to make a difference for the people of Cambodia by pressuring the Hun Sen government to agree to early elections after a thorough reform at all levels of the country’s election apparatus and law. We also urge you to call for an end to the general ban on demonstrations, while raising concerns over other restrictions on freedom of expression and association, as well as land grabs, corruption and improper ruling party interference in the judiciary, police, electoral commission, and other key national institutions. This is in line with an Australian Senate motion passed last week which called on the Australian government to “affirm its commitment to protection of human rights and democracy in Cambodia.”

As broadly recognized by Australia’s statements to the UN Human Rights Council Working Group’s Universal Periodic Review of Cambodia’s human rights record on January 28, 2014, among the most pressing human rights issues in Cambodia today are:

• The unfree and unfair character of national elections held in July 2013, which the ruling CPP claims to have narrowly won, but the credibility of which is contested by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and independent Cambodian civil society organizations. As you know, the Senate motion called for Cambodia to accept an international investigation into the conduct and result of the elections.
• Suspension of the constitutional and international legal right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, unlawfully restricted by the Hun Sen government. The CPP-controlled security forces have arbitrarily and violently attempted to impose acceptance of the election results and squelch trade union activism via excessive use of force, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries;
• The lack of independence and impartiality of other key national institutions, such as the judiciary and police, which are controlled by and thereby made to serve the interests of the CPP.

Other pressing human rights issues include:
• Past and ongoing land grabs by government officials and institutions, or associates of Hun Sen. Court judgments and security force operations consistently advance CPP-aligned local and international business interests at the expense of impoverished Cambodians evicted from land to which they have tenure and from their homes protected under the land rights provisions of Cambodia’s constitution and contrary to the United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement.
• Persistent arbitrary arrests and unfair trials of human rights defenders and activists on legally dubious charges.
• Violent dispersal of peaceful civil society gatherings related to elections or other issues.

The CPP, while resisting all challenges to the deeply fraudulent elections, has vowed to conduct “deep reforms” to address at least some of the above human rights problems and is calling on the CNRP to end its election-related boycott of the National Assembly. In this regard, the February 18, 2014, agreement between CPP and CNRP technical working groups on the formation of an electoral reform body with equal representation from both parties and civil society participation is a welcome first step towards the possibility of free and fair elections in Cambodia. But getting there will require fundamental institutional reform of the entire electoral process and particularly the system of electoral management bodies, which the CPP continues to resist.

The CPP has made promises of reform regularly over the past two decades but has failed to keep them. Australia and other foreign governments enjoying close relations with Cambodia should not accept such promises at face value, instead pressing the Cambodian government to take concrete and meaningful steps towards genuine and full respect for human rights in the country. It is important for your government to resist the temptation to engage in empty rhetoric about reform while making statements about the importance of good relations between Australia and Cambodia, as previous Australian governments have done over the past decade – achieving little of substance for the Cambodian people in the process.

In public statements and in meetings with Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Ministers Sar Kheng and Hor Namhong, we urge you to press the Cambodian government to commit to and urgently begin implementation of real reforms, including those recommended by Cambodian civil society.

By raising such issues, Australia will add its voice to those of the many courageous Cambodians working for peaceful change.

Sincerely,
Elaine Pearson
Australia Director

CC. Alison Burrows, Australian Ambassador to Cambodia

By: barokah On 12:01:00 PM

INTERVIEW-Puma seeks to source goods closer to Western consumers

21/02/2014
Brands looking to improve speed, flexibility of sourcing

* Puma will not abandon Cambodia, Bangladesh despite problems

* Adidas, H&M also looking to diversify sourcing

* Technology like 3D printing may make Puma less driven by labour costs

By Emma Thomasson

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, Feb 20 (Reuters) - German sportswear firm Puma SE is looking to produce more goods closer to customers in Europe and the Americas, but will not abandon Asia in the next few years despite rising labour costs and political unrest, its chief executive said.

Puma, which has 178 suppliers in 32 countries, sources 79 percent of its goods from Asia, mostly from China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia - the latter where a violent crackdown on garment workers striking over pay has disrupted production at its suppliers.

CEO Bjoern Gulden expressed frustration that industry lead times are so long, with ranges being designed now only going on sale in autumn 2015.

Puma is looking into producing more goods closer to consumers to be more responsive to demand, including in Turkey and eastern Europe, and in Mexico to serve the Americas, he said, without giving further details. Over 70 percent of the firm's sales were in Europe and the Americas last year.

But the chief executive said his first priority was to revamp Puma's products before overhauling its supply chain.

"Everybody is looking at how to improve the speed and flexibility of sourcing but for the next three to four years the majority will come out of Asia because of the infrastructure," Gulden told Reuters on Thursday after Puma's annual news conference.

"Yes, there are issues in Cambodia and Bangladesh but to run away from it and pull out of the country cannot be the answer," he said. "You can't say this is a very poor country and so we shouldn't go there. It's the opposite."

Rising labour costs in China in recent years have prompted brand to seeks lower-cost markets in Asia such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia, countries where demands are now mounting for better pay.

A factory collapse in Bangladesh last year that killed more than 1,100 people has put pressure on big brands to improve working conditions for those making products for the West.

Election-related violence there earlier this year also disrupted the garment sector.

3D PRINTING

Puma, which ranks a distant third in the sports apparel industry in terms of sales behind Nike Inc and Adidas AG , reported that sales slumped in the last quarter of 2014.

Adidas has set up a "Speedfactory" team to look into setting up mini plants closer to consumers, the Handelsblatt daily reported on Thursday.

Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second biggest fashion chain which sources most of its clothes from Asia, said last month it is considering producing more goods in Africa.

Gulden, a 48-year-old who joined Puma last July from Danish jewellery company Pandora, started his career at Adidas, working in apparel design and sourcing, spending months visiting factories in Asia.

"The factories we work in are clean, nice. They cannot be compared to what we saw in Asia 20 years ago," he said.

"In this industry we all go to the same places because we are dependent on the infrastructure ... We all have the same interests. We don't want to be dependent on one or two countries."

Rather than shifting production to Africa to take advantage of lower labour costs, Gulden expects the future to be driven by innovative technology such as 3D printing, which the company is already using for prototype shoes.

"Technology is changing so we are more independent of labour," he said, adding that many of the latest soccer boots no longer need stitching.

By: barokah On 11:58:00 AM

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Vietnamese continue to top tourist arrivals to Cambodia

February 18, 2014

A Buddhist nun attends Meak Bochea Day at the Oudong mountain in Kandal province February 14, 2014. — Reuters picPHNOM PENH, Feb 18 — Vietnamese remain the top foreign visitors to Cambodia with 854,000 travelling to the neighbouring country last year, up 12 per cent over the previous year.
Cambodia attracted 4.2 million overseas tourist arrivals in 2013 and raked in US$2.5 billion (RM8.2 billion) in revenue, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reports the Cambodian Tourism Ministry as saying yesterday.
In recent years, Vietnam has taken the lead in visitor arrivals to Cambodia and contributes 20 percent of foreign tourist numbers to the country.
China and South Korea ranked second and third after Vietnam for foreign tourist arrvials to Cambodia last year with 463,000 and 435,000 visitors respectively.
Tourism is one of Cambodia’s major economic sectors with an annual growth of between 15 to 20 per cent.
Last year, the country received 3.58 million overseas tourist arrivals and earned US$2.21 billion.
The Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap, the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and the ancient Preah Vihear Temple near the border with Thailand remain favourite destinations for visitors. — Bernama

February 18, 2014

By: barokah On 3:32:00 PM

Second group of endangered Siamese crocodiles released in southern Cambodia

18/02/2014
After an idle lifetime in the soupy water of a concrete pond, a young Siamese crocodile tests out a new element – the clear flowing water of a jungle river. One of eight individuals, this croclet is part of a test case release project that plans to rewild Cambodia's rivers with this Critically Endangered species.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) has been working to conserve Siamese crocodiles in Cambodia since rediscovering a remnant population during a survey of the Cardamom Mountains in 2000. Now numbering fewer than an estimated 300 individuals, the wild population crashed after facing multiple threats. Crocodiles were hunted for their skins, and driven out of former habitats by human encroachment; while young crocs were easily tangled and drowned in fishing nets. But for FFI's and the Forestry Administration's intervention, this species was doomed to slip into extinction.
In January this year, the Cambodian Crocodile Conservation Project (CCCP) released the second batch of crocodiles into a secret site in southern Cambodia. The first release in December 2012 saw 18 individuals released, including croclets bred in a specialised facility in Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. The site was specially chosen: a remote forested stretch of prime habitat – somewhere that crocodiles used to live before they were extirpated by hunters and fishermen.
A number of the release crocodiles were fitted with radio tracking devices, enabling the CCCP team to monitor their movements. "Tracking the crocs after release is an essential part of the work, allowing us to see how they are faring, whether they stay in this location, or move on," said Sarah Brook, FFI Cambodia's Species Programme Manager.

Radio tagged croc basking among flowers (carnivorous bladderwort) on the riverbank. Credit: Jeremy Holden/FFI "Five of the original ten transmitters we placed on the crocodiles have now outlived their battery life," says Sam Han, CCCP Manager, who leads the team that monitor the radio tagged animals. "We are still picking up signals from three of the remaining transmitters, and regularly see other crocs that weren't tagged. They have moved up and down stream, but return to the original release site and seem to be doing well."
Community wardens now visit the location each month to ensure that hunting or fishing doesn't threaten these new colonists. So far there have been no recorded casualties.

"This project is really a test case to see if the release initiative works," said Sarah. If it does, we eventually plan to release crocodiles into suitable, well-protected river systems across Cambodia, and truly bring this species back from the brink.
"This will be a long-term prospect, and will require cooperation from zoos and breeders around the world. But if we are successful, we could see the return of one of Cambodia's most charismatic species – an important part of both Cambodia's ecosystems and its culture."

After an idle lifetime in the soupy water of a concrete pond, a young Siamese crocodile tests out a new element – the clear flowing water of a jungle river. One of eight individuals, this croclet is part of a test case release project that plans to rewild Cambodia's rivers with this Critically Endangered species.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-02-group-endangered-siamese-crocodiles-southern.html#jCp

By: barokah On 3:29:00 PM

Muhyiddin on official visit to Cambodia

18 February 2014

PHNOM PENH : Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be making his maiden official visit to Cambodia tomorrow for three days to strengthen bilateral ties, especially in trade.

Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, will pay a courtesy call to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and meet his counterpart, Sok An, on Thursday followed by a meeting with Cambodian Education, Youth and Sports Minister Dr Hang Chuon.

On Friday, Muhyiddin is scheduled to hold discussions with another Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister, Keat Chhon, who is the Prime Minister's advisor for finance and economics.

Malaysian ambassador to Cambodia, Raszlan Abdul Rashid said apart from improving bilateral ties between Malaysia and Cambodia, the meetings will give a new push in economic, education, tourism and human capital development cooperation between the two governments and people of both countries.

"The Deputy Prime Minister's visit will also involve a roundtable talk with Cambodian captains of industries to enable the business communities of both countries to explore business opportunities including in the agricultural sector," he told Malaysian reporters here today.

Raszlan said the meeting would also strengthen the role of Kuala Lumpur which in the last 10 years had a key role in the development of Cambodia, with total trade amounting to US$2.6 billion in banking, finance, tourism and information technology.

"Trade between Malaysia and Cambodia last year exceeded US$420 million while exports from Malaysia to Cambodia reached US$235 million," he said, adding that there are 2,000 Malaysians working in various sectors in Cambodia.

He said Muhyiddin was also scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on higher education as a mark of the continuous support by Malaysia in the development of human resource in the country.

During the visit, the Deputy Prime Minister is also scheduled to address the Malaysian community in the city at a dinner here.

The Deputy Prime Minister is scheduled to return home on Friday. -- BERNAMA

By: barokah On 3:24:00 PM

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Gina Rinehart, hope and a Cambodian charity

February 15, 2014

Gina Rinehart's wealth exceeds the GDP of many small countries.

Generous with gifts for the girls: Gina Rinehart. Photo: Bloomberg

Gina Rinehart's legal tussle with her son John and two of her three daughters, Hope and Bianca, over a $5 billion family trust is on the public record. Mrs Rinehart's relationship with nine young Cambodian women from poor backgrounds has been conducted somewhat more discreetly.
''She's super-invested in these girls,'' said Sean Looney, a former staffer at SISHA, the Phnom Penh organisation that manages Mrs Rinehart's ''Hope Scholarship'' program.
It is unclear what triggered the mining magnate's interest in supporting the students. What is clear is that no one might ever have known about her good works in Cambodia had SISHA not grabbed headlines last year.

Mrs Rinehart's donations to SISHA - more than $1 million between June 2012 and June 2013 - were thrown into the spotlight when allegations surfaced about financial mismanagement at SISHA (South-East Asia Investigations into Social and Humanitarian Activities), headed by former Victoria Police officer Steve Morrish.
A KPMG audit finalised in December revealed a slew of financial issues, including that $440,000 of Mrs Rinehart's funds, set for a women's crisis centre, had been diverted to cover SISHA's operational expenses. The audit found there had been no misappropriation of funds by Mr Morrish.
It also determined that, while some funds for the Hope Scholarship had been redirected to cover other SISHA operations, they had been appropriately accounted for and that the board believed sufficient funds were available to cover intra-program liabilities as they fell due.
''Mrs Rinehart will continue her funding of the Hope Scholarship program … Please do not suggest otherwise,'' said Jabez Huang, a spokesman for Mrs Rinehart, in an email.
Mrs Rinehart's support is not just financial. Emails from Mr Huang make it clear she takes an interest in the welfare of the scholarship holders as well. Please make sure the ''nice cook'' is retained, she wrote in a 2013 email seen by Fairfax Media in which she expressed concern that the girls not be distracted from their studies by domestic matters.
The beneficiaries, who were picked for the scholarship based on their academic achievements at school, live in a house near the university with the cook.
Cambodian sources say that Mrs Rinehart's manner is ''lovely and very warm'' and that she is generous with gifts, which have included motorbikes on which they can zip through the Phnom Penh traffic, and iPads. SISHA staff suggested she decrease her monthly allowances to the girls - from $250 each a month to $100 - given it is unlikely they will be able to make that sort of money when they enter the workforce in Cambodia.
The first thing a new Hope Scholarship student gets is a passport so she can be taken to Singapore or Bangkok for full medical check-ups. When Mrs Rinehart stays in Phnom Penh, she checks into the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, where she has hosted her girls for buffet dinners. At Christmas, the girls visited her in Siem Reap.
''She'll come to Cambodia and stay a night or two,'' a Cambodian insider said. ''She doesn't want to talk to program staff or anything, she just wants to see the girls.''
Mrs Rinehart keeps in contact with the students via email. ''She always responds to their emails, but does not wish to intrude on their studies other than for her visits,'' Mr Huang said. ''She looks forward to seeing them each year, including twice when she has flown them to Kuala Lumpur so that they could be with her when she received international awards.''
During one such visit to Kuala Lumpur, some of the girls joined Mrs Rinehart at an event where she was presented with an award. Before the event, she took the girls to buy high-heeled shoes and to get their hair done. According to one witness, the girls did not have their make-up done professionally. Mrs Rinehart told them they did not need it. They were beautiful just as they were, she said.

By: barokah On 9:35:00 PM

Cambodia: Security Forces Beat Housing Rights Protesters

February 14, 2014

(New York) – Cambodian security personnel used excessive force against housing rights protesters occupying an unfinished building in Phnom Penh on February 14, 2014, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces beat and otherwise assaulted protesting residents in the neighborhood of Borei Keila, injuring at least five, including a pregnant woman and two teenagers. Another resident was reportedly hit by a rock. Three of the injured required hospital treatment.
“The latest use of brutal force by police against protesters shows how far the Cambodian authorities are from delivering on promises of reform,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “Donors should tell the Cambodian government that they will only consider financing the Cambodian government for infrastructure or direct budget support once it has implemented meaningful reforms, including an end to crackdowns on civil society and a halt to forced evictions.”

On February 12, several dozen destitute families occupied parts of a construction site in Borei Keila. The neighborhood is the site of a dispute that began in 2007 between then residents of the area and the Phanimex Development Company, owned by the businesswoman Suy Sophan, who is close to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife, Bun Rany, and who also has strong links with Chinese investors in Cambodia. The government granted Phanimex 2.6 hectares of Borei Keila land, in return for which the company promised to build 10 apartment blocks for residents who had to leave their old homes. However, only eight buildings were built and made available for the displaced families. Those left out resorted to living among garbage dumps in Borei Keila.
Phnom Penh authorities offered families that had not received new housing tiny plots on which to set up temporary alternative residences. After rejecting this offer, the protesting families tore down a fence and set themselves up in the shell of Building 9.
The early morning “break-up” operation on February 14 to remove the families was carried out by approximately 150 “mixed forces” under the tactical control of the United Command Committee of Prampir Meakara district of Phnom Penh municipality, which is chaired by the district governor. They included district “public order” para-police, “anti-demonstration intervention unit” police, district regular police, and district gendarmes. These men were variously armed with truncheons, electro-shock batons, or sidearms.
Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the public order personnel precipitated altercations with the occupying residents and others by using force against people deemed not to have vacated the Building 9 area quickly enough. The security forces then chased people into alleyways behind the Building 9 construction site. As word of injuries spread, confrontations with other residents broke out, with some rock throwing by both security forces and local youths. Confrontations continued while the security forces occupied the area to guard the construction of a new fence around the Building 9 worksite.
The authorities’ use of unnecessary or excessive force contravenes the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Under the Basic Principles, law enforcement officials shall, as far as possible, “apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force.” When the lawful use of force is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must “[e]xercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved.” The authorities also failed to secure medical assistance for the injured, contrary to the UN Basic Principles, which obligates law enforcement officials to “[e]nsure that assistance and medical aid are rendered to any injured or affected persons at the earliest possible moment.”
The security forces wanted to prevent monitoring of the crackdown by independent observers, Human Rights Watch said. Security force officers on the scene were overheard complaining that human rights monitors, journalists, and other observers present were filming or otherwise documenting abuses. They issued orders to their subordinates to confiscate cameras, although these orders could not be carried out given the large number of people taking pictures. A work-gang leader from China near the construction site wearing a Phanimex Development Company t-shirt was also overheard saying he hoped the security forces would “kill” the occupiers so they would no longer “retard development.”
The Borei Keila incident reflects the broader problem of forced evictions in Phnom Penh and elsewhere in Cambodia. In the absence of an independent and impartial judiciary in Cambodia, access to justice for those facing eviction from housing and land have no effective legal means to contest illegal land grabbing and related evictions. At Borei Keila and in many other places, the government is acting contrary to the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacements by forcibly removing them from their homes without full and fair compensation.
“Hun Sen should recognize that housing protests are the direct result of his government’s practice of kicking people out of their houses and land without a fair and open process and just compensation,” Adams said. “Donors should see it as their responsibility to do everything they can to turn this situation around.”

By: barokah On 9:33:00 PM

Everyday Hero: Marie Ens dedicates life to Cambodia’s orphans

February 14, 2014 8:37 pm

Above: Robin Gill introduces this week’s Everyday Hero, Marie Ens.
Former missionary Marie Ens was not ready to stop working when told it was time to retire at age 66. She certainly wasn’t ready to give up on the country where she’d spent a large part of her career and had come to love -– Cambodia.
So when she struck out on her own in 2003, Ens took on a cause that needed much attention: caring for AIDS patients.

“In the early 2000′s AIDS was just rampant in Cambodia,” Ens told Global News on a visit to Vancouver. “At one point three per cent of the population was infected and we just felt like every organization out there should do something. … So that’s why we got involved.”
She started Place of Rescue as a hospice, setting up 16 homes to care for AIDS patients near the capital, Phnom Penh.
“At the time, we had no anti-viral drugs … so they mostly died,” she said. “Well, they all died.”

But with their deaths, the patients who had lived at Place of Rescue left behind children.
“We started out by thinking, well we’ll start an orphanage and maybe in 5 years we would have it up and running,” 80-year-old Ens said. “Well, it happened so quickly. It was just no time before we had 10 houses and then no time before the 10 houses were filled.”
Now there are 20 homes at Place of Rescue, but Ens’ operation expanded to a second and third facility as well.

One of Place of Rescue’s near Phnom Penh.

She said there are now close to 500 youngsters being looked after at these facilities.
“I would love to have 1,000, but as the years slip by I wonder is that really going to happen. … But I would love that” said Ens, who is originally from Yorkton, Sask. “We have come this far in 10 years, so [in] the next 10 or 15 we should get there. … I am planning to live to 95 at least.”

Marie Ens with some of the children from Place of Rescue during a visit to Vancouver.
Global News

Although she’s operating an orphanage, she explained she’s not running any sort of foreign adoption agency.
“One of the goals we have is that our children will grow up to be really emotionally, spiritually, physically healthy,” she said. But Ens also wants them to be able to achieve all of that in their home country.
“There is so much dishonesty and immorality in Cambodia … we want our kids to model something better,” she explained. ”We want them to appreciate the fact that they’re Cambodian.”
Something that is helping to achieve that is the fact that all of the staff at Place of Rescue are Cambodian — including Ens, who now has Cambodian citizenship.
Ens’ organization is a registered Canadian charity; she relies on donations from home to keep things running.
“Our budget now has come up to $78,000 a month and that has to come in every month,” she said. “It has been. … We don’t go into debt.”
WATCH: Marie Ens attends a fundraising event in Vancouver, accompanied by some of the children who live at Place of Rescue’s orphanages in Cambodia

It’s not just children she’s caring for these days either. Place for Rescue continues to house people living with AIDS.
But among the people living in the organization’s facilities are grandmothers, left to care for their grandchildren after their parents have died from the disease.
And there’s also a support program for young, unmarried pregnant women whose boyfriends have left them.
Ens and those that work with Place of Rescue, both in Cambodia and here in Canada, have a lot of work cut out for them.
But she said she’s in disbelief at all that she has to live for.
“I can’t believe my life right now. I can’t believe growing old in an Asian country where they value age so much and they’re so respectful,” she said. “And, the love of all those children. There’s nothing you can compare to it.”
She said she’s not in the habit of setting goals and doesn’t know what the future holds for her and her organization, but she knows she wants Place of Rescue to continue growing.
“If there’s a problem and we hear of the problem and somebody comes to us and says there’s a child that needs us, we want to be able to respond,” Ens said. “So, during the next five years, the next 10 years, I hope we continue to grow and take in lots more kids.”
WHAT MAKES AN EVERYDAY HERO?
There are many people trying to make a difference who rarely receive the media attention they deserve. Everyday Hero is our attempt to provide better balance in our newscast. We profile Canadians who don’t go looking for attention, but deserve it. People who through their ideas, effort and dedication are making a difference in the lives of other people.
If you know of an Everyday Hero whose story we should tell, share the information with us by emailing viewers@globalnational.com

By: barokah On 9:32:00 PM

In Cambodia, coming up from the ruins

February 15 2014, 4:01 PM

Angkor Wat: The government touts the temple complex as a matter of national pride. Entrance is free for Cambodians, while foreign tourists pay US$20. (Muhammad Farid)

Between 1975 and 1979, more than 3 million of 7 million of Cambodians under the Pol Pot regime were killed in an terrifying effort to rebuild the nation’s social order for scratch.

The fall of Pol Pot in 1979 did not end the nightmare of the Cambodian people, however, as they faced civil war for almost two decades.

Things have changed. Since the mid-1990s, Cambodia has been recovering. Tourism has become a significant driver of the economy and of growth.

The most developed tourist destination in the nation is Siem Reap, a province in Cambodia’s northwest. In 2013, more than 1.9 million of 3.8 million international tourists to Cambodia visited the province, which itself has a population of only around 900,000.

It is no exaggeration to say that Siem Reap is one of the world’s most prominent tourist destinations, at least according to Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor.

When arriving at the airport, travelers are greeted by an immense statue of a white elephant, and as people travel from the airport to downtown, a host of new luxury hotels, restaurants, shops and roads in various stages of development can be seen.

While the tiny town of Siem Reap can be explored in one day, the lack of public transportation makes it advisable to hire either a taxi or tuk tuk, or motorcycle with a little cabin, to get around. Charges range from US$20 a day for a taxi and $12 for a tuk tuk.

Despite development, Siem Reap preserves its historical and cultural heritage, which has been the key for developing tourism in the province.

The most famous icon of Cambodia is the Angkor Wat temple complex, about six kilometers from Siem Reap.

While the region around Angkor was the capital of Khmer kingdom that ruled Cambodia from the 9th to 15th centuries, the temple traces its origin to the early 12th century, when King Suryavarman II ordered a Hindu Temple built to honor Vishnu.

In 13th century, Angkor Wat was converted from a place of worship for Hindus to Theravada Buddhists.

It became famous after Western explorers arrived and were impressed by its majestic beauty. In 19th century, a Frenchman named Henri Mouhot said that: “One of these temples — a rival to that Solomon and erected by some ancient Michelangelo — might take an honorable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.”

Angkor Wat escaped destruction under Pol Pot and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

The government touts the temple complex as a matter of national pride. Entrance is free for Cambodians, while foreign tourists pay $20.

Siem Reap is a place to enjoy the romance of colonial times. Many buildings dating from the early 20th century feature French-colonial or Chinese influences and have been renovated as hotels, restaurants or bars.

The center of colonial heritage is the Old French Quarter, near Siem Reap River — a quiet, beautiful pedestrian area with shade trees and gardens.

Not far from the Old French Quarter is Psar Char (Old Market), a favorite place for hunting inexpensive souvenirs, such as traditional artwork, jewelry or T-shirts.

Don’t hesitate to haggle with the shopkeepers to get the best price. Skilled bargainers might knock the price down by up to seventy percent.

The US dollar and the Cambodian riel are used for transactions. The exchange rate is about 4,000 Riel to 1 US dollar, although some places give as little as 3,400 riel.

Most restaurants, clubs, pubs, shops and bars open at noon and become lively in the late evening until midnight.

The most popular place to hang out in Siem Reap is Pub Street. Dominated buy a mix of French colonial and oriental architecture, the street is off limits to cars in the evening, allowing pedestrians to move freely.

Tourism in Siem Reap benefits from the hospitality of local residents. People here pay to study other languages, principally English.

For example, One tuk tuk driver, Map, said left his village near Kompong Thom (about 3 hours from Siem Reap) to find his fortune. Realizing that he would meet foreigners, Map saved up for an English course. He carries two dictionaries when driving his tuk tuk to help accommodate visitors.

Many people in Siem Reap have a good grasp of English and other foreign languages. In this case, tourism been positive for Siem Reap, promoting a desire to learn that might encourage more study, not just in language and tourism, to make Cambodia a competitive country in Southeast Asia.

By: barokah On 9:30:00 PM

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge Trials Are a Shocking Failure

13/02/2014
Hearings into an appalling genocide have seen just five indictments and only one conviction in eight years at a cost of some $200 million

Tourists who wander Cambodia’s Killing Fields don’t just encounter the ghosts of victims. Even today, scraps of clothing and bone fragments belonging to some of the 1.7 million people slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge peek through the brooding earth.
From 1975 until the Vietnamese invaded in 1979, Cambodia experienced one of the worst genocides of the 20th century, during which around a quarter of the population perished as Pol Pot pursued his demented agrarian utopia.
Phnom Penh’s glorious Parisian-style boulevards were emptied as ruthless cadres — many mere babes handed AK47s and indoctrinated with nihilistic zeal — forced the entire population to toil in the fields, and ruthlessly culled anyone on the flimsiest pretense. Crying at a funeral, falling ill or wearing eyeglasses were deemed anti-revolutionary and met with torture and gruesome death.

“For 20 years, I had nightmares every day, and every time I talked about what happened I would get stomach aches and all the symptoms of PTSD,” says Kilong Ung, who was 15 when the Khmer Rouge turned his life upside down and extinguished the lives of 50 of his relatives.
The U.N.-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was founded in 2006 to investigate these crimes against humanity and hold those responsible to account. The proceedings — touted as the largest such reckoning since the Nuremberg trials of prominent Nazis — were to target the very top level regime figures and those chiefly responsibly for particularly heinous acts. Life imprisonment was to be the maximum punishment.
But virtually since the outset, allegations of corruption and politicization have dogged the ECCC’s glacial progress, and proceedings were halted for long periods as national staff went on strike after not being paid. Late last month, an agreement was finally reached for funding to be restored after the U.N. received certain assurances. Nevertheless, serious questions still hover over a tribunal that has delivered only one conviction in eight years at a cost of some $200 million.
“This is no longer a legitimate court,” says Theary Seng, a prominent U.S.-trained human rights lawyer whose parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge. “It’s a sham. It does such a disservice to Cambodian victims and international justice in general.”
The original ECCC was formed as a hybrid tribunal, comprising elements of international and domestic law, with proceedings heard by foreign and Cambodian judges. Four original cases were set out.
Case 001 against Kaing Guek Eav, better known by his nom de guerre Comrade Duch, saw the former chief of the notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, convicted for crimes against humanity relating to more than 15,000 deaths. He is currently serving a life prison sentence.
Case 002 originally had four defendants. Nuon Chea, 87, was Pol Pot’s right hand man and known as “brother number 2.” Khieu Samphan, 82, was the former head of state. But former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sery died, and his wife, Ieng Thirit, another senior regime figure, was declared mentally unfit to stand trial.
Cases 003 and 004 have stalled — even the names of those under investigation were not officially revealed, although they have been widely circulated. And that represents the entirety of proceedings.
Compared to this paltry total, there were 161 indictments in the former Yugoslavia, 95 in Rwanda and 22 in Sierra Leone. But “I don’t think the present government wants to have any further indictments other than the four accused in Case 002,” Victor Koppe, a Dutch lawyer currently defending Nuon Chea at the ECCC, tells TIME. “There are strong indications that they probably feel it is getting close to themselves.”
Many established figures in Cambodian politics today previously had positions of influence within the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia’s strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen was himself a former Khmer Rouge battalion commander, and lost an eye in battle before fleeing to Vietnam to escape an internal purge. (In 1975, his battalion oversaw a brutal crackdown against the Muslim Cham minority group, although Hun Sen claims to have been recovering in hospital at the time.)
The debate rages over whether the Khmer Rouge was “essentially a top-down, pyramidal type structure,” as maintained by Prof. Gregory H. Stanton, an expert in genocide studies and prevention at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, or whether, as Koppe says, there were various and opposing factions responsible for atrocities. “To only focus on one faction within the Khmer Rouge is already questionable,” he argues.
Certainly, senior Khmer Rouge figures close to the Hun Sen administration have been barred from testifying, such as current National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrin and Senate President Chea Sim. “In any other international tribunal the importance and relevance of someone like Heng Samrin would be so obvious,” says Koppe, frustrated that his “firsthand knowledge of decisions being made in ‘75 and afterwards” cannot be called upon. Blocking Heng Samrin from court, he adds, “is a clear sign of the unfairness of the proceedings.”
Critics say the trials have been highjacked to specifically absolve former leading Khmer Rouge figures now within Hun Sen’s Cambodia People’s Party. “I’m in awe of Hun Sen,” says Theary Seng sardonically, deploring the “manipulated and whitewashed” history the ECCC is now helping to propagate. “It will go down in all the history books as a brilliant move.”
Crucially, Hun Sen insisted on proceedings taking place on home soil, a marked departure from other such tribunals, such as those investigating genocide in Rwanda or the former Yugoslavia, which took place in other countries. “True international tribunals [are] situated somewhere else and are much less prone to government influence or interference,” explains Koppe, who previously worked in the Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone tribunals.
Stanton says it was important to base the court domestically “to give Cambodians a way to understand what happened in their country,” However, he concedes that “Judges who are part of the Cambodian system are always going to continue to be influenced by Cambodian politics.”
The U.N. insists that it has done everything possible to ensure fair and transparent proceedings. “The long history of negotiations leading to the creation of the ECCC clearly establishes that alternative structures for justice were advanced and thoroughly considered by the Secretariat and by Member States of the United Nations,” spokesman Lars Olsen told TIME via email.
That is no comfort to victims such as Kilong Ung, for whom justice always felt beyond reach. “They are never going to catch the guy who starved my parents to death,” he says. “There are a lot of mid-level Khmer Rouge who got out with the refugees and are all over the world right now — some with the wealth they took with them. Just like the Nazis.”

By: barokah On 1:41:00 PM

Cambodian Valentine's survey raises concerns over rape and sexual violence

Survey finds 47.4% of young men in capital Phnom Penh willing to force their partner into having sex this Valentine's Day
Friday 14 February 2014 01.14

Valentine's Day flower bouquets. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

Nearly half of young Cambodian men are willing to force their partner into having sex this Valentine's Day, a study has found, stoking fears in a nation where perpetrators of sexual violence largely go unpunished.
Of the 376 male respondents in the survey, 47.4% said they were prepared to have sexual intercourse with their female partner on Valentine's Day whether or not she was willing.
The figure was 14 percentage points lower than in a comparable study in 2009 by the same public health researcher, Tong Soprach.
The survey was small and not necessarily indicative of national trends, interviewing 715 male and female respondents aged 15-24 in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Tong told the Phnom Penh Post: "There has been a shift among Cambodian youth from viewing [Valentine's] as a celebration of love to simply being a catalyst to have sex."
His findings are in a similar vein to those of a UN report last year that said one in five Cambodian men admitted they had committed rape at least once, and more than half of those had done so aged 20 or younger.

Activists say Cambodia's rudimentary sexual education courses are insufficient in teaching young people about consent and safety. Despite the introduction of a new sexual and reproductive health curriculum last year, courses are taught in only one in three schools and thwarted by a severe lack of funding.
Pung Chhiv Kek, of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Consent of Human Rights (Licadho), said: "Forcing someone to have non-consensual sex is rape, and [the perpetrator] should be punished for that. Consent is very important.
"Most victims of domestic violence, when they come to us, if we ask them 'did your husband rape you?' they will say: 'But I am his wife.' We have to explain … he has no right to force you to have sex. There should be consent from you, and if he didn't get that, then that is rape, and that should be punished by law. Women are reluctant to talk. The impunity is still there."
In keeping with previous years, Phnom Penh's police force is expected to patrol the capital's guesthouses on Friday to cut down on so-called teenage lust.

By: barokah On 1:35:00 PM

Running or walking, Cambodia is beautiful

01/12/2013 A view of Angkor Wat Temple from across the moat during sunrise, in Angkor, Siem Reap province, Cambodia. See PA Feature TRAVEL Cambodia. Picture credit should read: James Edgar/PA Photos. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature TRAVEL Cambodia.

The temperature is rising sharply with the morning sun and my legs are feeling heavier than I would like.
It is still just 7am and I am beginning to wonder if I will have the energy and strength to pull myself round the last six miles to get to the finish line of this half marathon course.
But with every corner I turn, the views become ever more spectacular and the lines of cheering youngsters on the roadside grow longer, inspiring me to keep going.
The Angkor Wat Half Marathon has been going for 17 years, with the next race scheduled for December 6.

Last year, around 2,650 participants from all around the world took part in the 13.1-mile event, while about 1,850 ran the 10km course.
Running around the 900-year-old Unesco World Heritage Site - whose temples rise like crowns from the majestic Cambodian rainforest - is a privilege.
The flat course takes competitors along well-maintained roads past some of the city’s most iconic sites, including the Angkor Wat Temple, Bayon Temple and Ta Keo Temple.
Although somewhat hectic at the start, the event is very well organised. Marshals are on hand to tell runners which way to go, there are water stops every two kilometres, and timing chips are provided to allow the keener competitors to analyse their race splits afterwards.
But the best part of the Angkor Wat Half Marathon is the festival atmosphere.
Able-bodied runners are also given a poignant reminder of the horrors of Cambodia’s past, as dozens of wheelchair users take on the course, as well as competitors with artificial arms or legs racing over a 10km distance. There is even a 3km family race so children can get involved.
Money raised from the run is used to create prosthetic limbs, offer support to victims and to appeal for the abolishment of anti-personnel mines, which still claim multiple lives in Cambodia every year.
For many people, of course, the idea of running for miles and miles in the tropics is utter madness, and most visitors to Cambodia’s most famous archaeological park prefer to explore the site at a more leisurely pace.
After a day on your feet, La Residence d’Angkor is the perfect place to rest or reinvigorate your weary muscles.
I’m lucky enough to stay at the Orient Express hotel, which is in the heart of Siem Reap, just a five minute walk from the famous Pub Street and market. It’s an oasis of calm amid the bustling town.
The following morning, I wake up early to watch the sunrise behind the iconic Angkor Wat Temple and the reflection of the changing colours around the temple’s shimmering pool.
Wandering around Angkor Wat feels like you are discovering it for the first time, and with structures nicknamed Tomb Raider Temple (Ta Prohm), it’s easy to lose yourself in a fantasy world.
To explore further - but still under one’s own steam - it’s best to get around on two wheels.
Bicycles are everywhere in Cambodia, and guided tours are a great way to get out of Siem Reap and find less-trodden places.
I wind my way through the undergrowth, riding over small streams and dodging dangling branches until I reach my destination, the 900-year-old Banteay Thom temple.
Now nestled in the consuming jungle, the structure was built by Jayavarman VII, the king of the Khmer Empire, at the end of the 12th century as a dedication to Buddhism.
Once populated by monks, the isolated temple is now overgrown but it retains an atmospheric calm.
For a different perspective on Cambodia’s magnificent rainforest, the Flight of the Gibbon adventure offers thrill-seekers the chance to zip-line high above the canopy.
After a few leaps of faith from moderate heights, I find myself 80 metres from the ground, about to launch myself along a high wire 400 metres long. The rush is unforgettable.
For all its thrills, adventures and fun, Cambodia has a well-documented dark and haunting past, and the friendly smiles on the faces of the country’s many children belie the unspeakable horrors endured by their parents and grandparents.
Just four decades ago millions perished in the genocide presided over by Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge soldiers.
Now, in an apparent nationwide rebellion against these horrific times, the population is booming, and more than a third of the 14 million people in Cambodia are under the age of 15, according to the 2008 census.
Cambodia is progressing fast and tourism is crucial to its long-term success, so why not dust off those trainers and sign up for this year’s Angkor Wat Marathon?

By: barokah On 1:33:00 PM

Asian Trio: China, Cambodia, and Philippines

13/02/2014
Global expert Benjamin Shepherd looks a trio of top-performing stocks in his model portfolio, each of which remains a buy. In his Global Investment Strategist he reviews a China water play, a Cambodian casino operator, and a Philippines-based fast food operator.
Our best performer, by far, was Beijing Enterprises Water Group (HK:371), which more than doubled, gaining 147.3% over the course of the year.
Despite the continuing macroeconomic challenges across the developing world, the necessity of clean fresh water, for both life and industry, generally outweighs most other concerns.
The group added 49 new water plants to its business in the first half of 2013 alone. It also finished construction of a second sewage treatment plant in Malaysia, further expanding its international footprint. Beijing Enterprises Water Group remains a buy up to HKD5.
NagaCorp (HK:3918) (OTC:NGCRF) gained 82.7% last year. The firm operates Cambodia's only casino in the capital city of Phnom Phenh and has exclusive gaming rights for a 200-kilometer radius around the city until 2035.
Local Cambodians are undeniably important to the casino's business, but its real profit driver has been the growing numbers of tourists to the country; a huge influx of Vietnamese tourists to the country has been extremely beneficial, since Cambodia and Vietnam established an open-border policy.
Interestingly, there was a huge 49.2% influx of Chinese tourists in 2013, because of more stringent gambling regulations in Macau.
The company has also continued making progress on its Naga 2 expansion; in all, 1,000 new rooms will be added to NagaWorld, as well as 50 VIP suites. NagaCorp remains a buy up to HKD8.
Jollibee Foods (OTC:JBFCF) gained 66.7% last year. The company has reached $2 billion in annual sales, a figure that has grown by about 12% annually over the past several years.
Jollibee, already the largest fast food restaurant chain in the Philippines, is expected to become Asia's largest fast food chain sometime this year, with plenty of both organic and potential acquisition targets ahead of it.
The company is also aiming to improve its mix between corporate-owned and franchise stores to generate rapid growth, while minimizing capital expenditures.
Not only would a greater focus on franchises help lower the parent company's costs, it would also help it to break into new markets with less risk. Continuing to grow, Jollibee Foods is a buy up to USD4.50

By: barokah On 1:32:00 PM

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Cambodia police claim Buddha’s missing relics recovered

Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 12 2014, 8:45 AM EST

Police in Cambodia claim that they have found the holy remains of the Buddha that went missing a couple of months ago.

The relics – which are believed to consist of the Buddha’s ashes, teeth or bones – were found last week on Feb. 6, and are now being kept at the Royal Palace of Cambodia, according to information on the website of General Commissariat of National Police of Cambodia.
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“It happened as if by miracle,” said Oum Darawuth, the spokesman for Cambodia’s Queen Mother, Norodom Monineath.

The relics were officially given to Cambodia by Sri Lanka in 1957 to commemorate the Buddha’s 2,500th birthday. They were stolen at the beginning of December, when a watchman who was supposed to be guarding them fell asleep on the job. At that time, Cambodian officials arrested all the guards who were on duty on the night of the disappearance – but questions abounded about who took the relics and why. While some believed that the thief was mostly interested in the golden urn, others suspected that whoever took Cambodia’s holiest Buddhist treasure had a political goal.

The spokesman for Cambodia’s National Police Kirth Chantharith could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, however, Cambodia’s English-language daily newspaper, The Phnom Penh Post, reported that two suspects have been arrested, including one who raised suspicions after he inexplicably became rich and purchased a new car.

Despite the happy ending to the mysterious disappearance of the relics, the founder of Cambodia’s Independent Monk Network for Social Justice Venerable But Buntenh remains skeptical.

“I strongly do not trust the government officials and think that what they found is not real,” he said. “The box to enshrine the Buddha relics is newly made. The style of the box is totally different, and also the size is slightly smaller. It’s not comparable to the old one.”

Mr. Buntenh said he saw the original golden urn, which he referred to as a “box,” in 2002.

“The regime of [Prime Minister] Hun Sen, they can make everything happen the way they want,” he said.

When asked whether she believes that the golden urn that Cambodian officials found is real, Tess Davis, a researcher at the University of Glasgow who specializes in the illicit trade of Cambodian antiquities, replied that she isn’t sure one way or the other.

“Let’s hope we have some confirmation soon!” she wrote in an e-mail.

By: barokah On 12:26:00 PM

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