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US Embassy Asked to Monitor Witness’ Safety

By Men Kimseng and Taing Sarada
Washington
18 September 2009

A congressional committee has requested the US Embassy in Phnom Penh to monitor the safety of several rights and opposition figures, following their testimony in a rights hearing earlier this month.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission formally requested the embassy to monitor the three activists in a Sept. 15 letter, claiming, “dissidents and human rights defenders often face threats and discrimination by the government and government-controlled security forces.”

“The US embassy should represent an island of freedom in a country such as Cambodia,” wrote Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia and co-chairman of the commission.

Among those who testified was Mu Sochua, a National Assembly member of the Sam Rainsy Party representing Kampot province, who met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week. Mu Sochua was fined $4,500 after losing a defamation suit brought against her by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“I really want the US to pay attention to other victims who are suffering from the court system,” Mu Sochua told VOA Khmer after the meeting.

November Deadline in Tribunal for Victims Complaints


By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29 September 2009

The UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal is urging victims to come forward and enter complaints against four jailed leaders of the regime before a mid-November, as the court prepares for its second case.

Case No. 002, which will collectively try Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, is expected to get underway in the near future, as case No. 001, the trial of prison chief Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, is drawing to a close.

Investigating judges have begun to recognize more civil parties for Case No. 002.

“Any person who wishes to become a Civil Party in Case 002 should submit to the Victims Unit their Civil Party application as soon as possible, preferably before mid-November, 2009,” the tribunal said in a statement.

“This maximizes the attention that can be provided to, and the use that can be made of, the submissions by the Victims Unit and the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges,” the statement said. “It also provides more time for additional detail to be sought from and provided by the applicant should that be necessary.”

Hong Kimsoun, lawyer representing civil parties, said he had received 16 applications for the second case.

“The majority of my clients in Case No. 001 submitted their civil party applications in Case. No. 002,” he said.

Lath Ky, a tribunal monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the tribunal’s second case would be critical for finding justice, as well as psychiatric resolution and compensation.

Chum Mey, who survived Duch’s Tuol Sleng prison, known in the Khmer Rouge as S-21, said he filed as a civil party in that case and the second.

“They not only killed at S-21 but also around Cambodia,” he said.

The Victims Unit has so far submitted 993 civil party applications to the investigating judges in Case No. 002.

Thai firms discuss jatropha plant plans

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:01 May Kunmakara


THAI investors met with officials from Banteay Meanchey province last week to discuss a plan to build a jatropha processing factory and plant 1,000 hectares in the crop, which is considered a key candidate for biodiesel production.

The director of the Banteay Meanchey Commerce Department, Kong Bunly, said he met with nine representatives of private firms from Thailand Friday to discuss their plans.

“We told them that we already have 500 hectares of farmland in Thma Puok district they could plant with the crop, and that we would help them find the rest, or they can cooperate with locals,” he said.

He said total investment figures were not discussed but assumed it would be less than US$1 million, meaning the project could be approved locally rather than having to be sent to central government.

No timetable had been determined, but Kong Bunly said he hoped work on the project would commence within a month.

Heng Bunhor, director of the provincial Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department, said the investors were not looking for concession land but were instead seeking to cooperate with landowners in the area to produce the cash crop.

He expected the investors would purchase additional jatropha from surrounding areas, as the proposed capacity of the plant would require more raw material than could be harvested from 1,000 hectares under cultivation.

Around 3,000 hectares in the province have been planted with jatropha out of a total of 30,000 hectares of upland set aside for agriculture, he said. Farmers have planted 26,000 hectares of cassava, he added, which can also be used as a biofuel feedstock.

Kong Bunly said the project would provide jobs and boost the standard of living in the area.

‘Biting monk’ finally speaks

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:04 May Titthara

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Photo by: Deum Ampil
Kiet Chan Thouch, the ‘biting monk’ from Wat Leu in Preah Sihanouk province.

IN his first interview with the media since being accused of attacking and biting his fellow monks and nuns, the chief monk of Preah Sihanouk province’s Wat Leu and adviser to Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong told the Post on Tuesday that the allegations against him were totally baseless.

“I am a monk. I have been ordained for 20 years already. How could I drink wine? If I drank wine, I would have defrocked myself, but I haven’t done this,” Kiet Chan Thouch said, accusing his colleagues of acting on personal agendas. “There are some monks and nuns who are accusing me of things for their own profit, getting local newspapers to write bad things about me. All I asked them to do was to clean the pagoda on Phchum Ben day. I’m the leader. It’s up to me to order them to work, but they said I mistreated them. I am a monk, so how can I have a gun?

“If I was supposedly fighting with them, why didn’t they stay at the pagoda and talk with me instead of running to talk with the newspapers? This is a part of Buddhist Lenten practice, that a monk cannot stay away from the pagoda. I’m a monk, but I still know about penal law. If I fight with people, the police will come to arrest me. They wouldn’t allow me to stay in the pagoda, as they are today.”

Despite his protestations of innocence, one of the monk’s colleagues insisted the original claims were true. The Venerable Koa Suon told reporters Kiet Chan Thouch bit him in the incident, which took place earlier this month. “This wasn’t the first time he’d drunk wine or threatened to fight other monks,” the 76-year-old said. “He would always threaten violence against all the monks and nuns in the pagoda, but nobody dared to say anything because they were scared of his power.”

A resolution seems unlikely, with various authorities reluctant to intervene. Kang Dinath, Preah Sihanouk province chief for the Department of Cults and Religions, said: “This case lies outside of my jurisdiction because it’s a matter among the monks,” he said. “I’ve reported my findings to the provincial chief monk already, so what happens now is up to them.”

Provincial chief monk Muo Rorn, however, also denied responsibility. “This case is outside of my duties,” he said. “I have no right to make a decision on this case, so I have reported it to the provincial governor, and now I have sent it to Phnom Penh. I dare not say what will happen. It’s up to the chief monk in Phnom Penh.” Non Nget, chief monk of Cambodia, could not be reached for comment.

Sam Rainsy travels to France for appeal

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:02 Meas Sokchea
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OPPOSITION leader Sam Rainsy flew to France Tuesday in advance of an October 8 appeal court hearing during which he will ask judges to overturn a defamation and disinformation verdict handed down early this year.

The Tribunal Correctionnel in Paris on January 27 ordered the president of the Sam Rainsy Party to pay a symbolic 1 euro (US$1.43) fine to Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong, who filed his lawsuit following the May 2008 publication of Sam Rainsy’s autobiography, Rooted in Stone.

Hor Namhong said the book accused him of heading the Boeung Trabek “re-education camp”, where diplomats and government officials from the Lon Nol and Norodom Sihanouk regimes were incarcerated by the Khmer Rouge. He asked for damages of 100,000 euros.

During a press conference held Tuesday before he left the country, Sam Rainsy acknowledged having levelled the Boeung Trabek accusation in interviews, but said it was less direct in the book.

“I had not referred to Mr Hor Namhong by name,” he said. “I just said some leaders after the Khmer Rouge, but Hor Namhong got angry.”

He said he expected to have the verdict overturned for that reason, adding that the appeal court was unlikely to take into account the verbal accusations.

He added that only three lines in his 302-page book had anything to do with Boeung Trabek.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said he did not know whether Hor Namhong would also appear for the October 8 hearing.

Cambodian leader warns Thais over border dispute


2009-09-28
Associated Press
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that anyone from Thailand who illegally intrudes into Cambodian territory claimed by both countries will be shot.
He also said that if Thai officials seeking to negotiate the border demarcation line present their own maps during bilateral talks, Cambodian officials should tear them up or walk out.Speaking at the opening of the Tourism Ministry's new office in the capital, Phnom Penh, he charged that Thailand's leaders wanted to base their territorial claims on maps they drew up themselves because they wanted to occupy Cambodia's land.A long-running dispute over territory heated up in July 2008 when UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, approved Cambodia's bid to have the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, located on the border, named a World Heritage Site. Thailand initially supported the bid but then reneged after the move sparked outrage and protests.

Both sides rushed troops to the border, which resulted in several small gun battles.

The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.

Hun Sen said for negotiations, Cambodia would accept only maps drawn up jointly by Thailand and France in 1904 and accepted as official by Thailand at the time.

"Any map not recognized internationally that the Thais submit for negotiation, please tear it up and I will do so also if in front of the Thai prime minister if he presents such a map for talks," Hun Sen said.

Thai government officials were not immediately available to comment on the remarks.

The Cambodian leader also denounced a Thai nationalist group that recently tried to march to the border to present its claim concerning the 1.8 square miles (4.6 square kilometers) of disputed land near the temple.

Cambodian soldiers will use their weapons to protect the country's territory and will not allow such protesters to occupy Preah Vihear temple, he said.

"Whether civilians or military officers, whenever they enter illegally (into Cambodia territory), they will be shot," Hun Sen said.

The People's Alliance for Democracy blames current and past Thai governments for failing to protect national land and sovereignty. Several hundred of its members tried to force their way to the border on Sept. 19, triggering clashes with villagers and police that left at least 17 people injured.

The alliance is the same group that last year occupied the prime minister's offices in Bangkok for three months and seized the Thai capital's two airports for a week to try to bring down governments they opposed.

Resort tees up course designer



Internationally renowned Scottish golf course architect David McLay Kidd was in Siem Reap for just over 24 hours before he landed in the rough – the car returning him from an inspection of a new golf course site on the outskirts of Siem Reap slid off the road and had to be pulled back on track with ropes.

“I was thinking I would have to jog all the way back if it took another hour to get the car out,” a bemused Kidd told the Post. “That was early evening and I was worried I might miss my 11.30pm flight back to the US.”

The flying Scotsman was on a whirlwind trip to negotiate a forthcoming commission to design a new golf course to be built at a massive new $470 million entertainment, gaming and hotel complex, Bellus Angkor Resort & City.

The complex, being developed by Korean-based company, Intercity Group, is on a 265 hectare site, 22 kilometres north of Angkor Thom, and an opening ceremony is expected to take place in October.

Intercity Group acquired the concession for a casino and permission for other resort facilities in October 2008, which was widely reported in the regional media as a massive casino complex.

On December 10 last year, Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the Cambodian government “requested to arrange various facilities in order to prevent the resort from being degenerated into a casino-centered facility.”

While a gaming centre is still an important component of phase one of the development’s construction, more emphasis is now placed on other entertainment and sports amenities, such as several hotels with up to 750 rooms, a large ultra-modern convention centre, and three golf courses.
Two golf courses are still in doubt, contingent on the company being able to lease a further 180 hectares of government land. But construction of the first international golf course, an 18-holer to be built on the existing lease, will start early next year and should be completed by the end of 2011.

But first the course needs to be designed, hence the arrival of Oregon-based Mr Kidd, one of the world’s leading golf course creators.
He flew into Seoul from the US on Saturday September 12, arrived in Siem Reap on Saturday afternoon, toured the temples, played golf at the Angkor Golf Resort on Sunday morning, checked the site of the new golf course on Sunday afternoon, endured the off-road incident, dined at Red Piano at 9pm in the evening, spoke to 7Days, and then hightailed it to the airport.

He met two of the InterCity Group big boys who had also flown in from Seoul – Hyung-Joo Kim, CEO and president, and James Cho, CMO and vice president, plus Siem Reap-based company adviser Jae-Sub Chung.

All parties seemed to reach amicable accord so it would be a safe bet to say that Kidd will design the new golf course, which will become the fourth in Siem Reap.

Kidd said all parties seemed to have a similar mindset.

“So hopefully things will move quickly forward and I’ll get the opportunity to develop the idea of how Angkor Wat meets golf,” he said.

“My initial thoughts are that everything about this part of the world is the history and the mystery of the temples. The challenge is to consider what could be done on a golf course to create a similar look and feel, with that same prestige and mysterious culture.

“I don’t know how to do that yet, but I’m excited about the potential.”

InterCity Group vice president James Cho said, “Eventually we want to have 54 holes in total here so that will be two more golf courses, apart from the course that we hope David will design.

“Experts say it takes about five golf courses to make it a golf destination and of course golf is a big sport in Southeast Asia. There is a big Thai base of golfers here, and of course here Hun Sen likes golf, and with the driving range that’s now in Phnom Penh, we hope the sport will become more popular with Cambodians.”

Getting out on the road for a day at the racetrack


Bareback buffalo racing is a spectacle not to be missed – so why do so few tourists witness this annual event in this small Cambodian village?
It’s hard to understand why this is not one of Cambodia’s premier tourist events.

Whereas Spain has its running of the bulls, the small village of Vihear Suor, just 50 kilometres northeast of Phnom Penh, has its buffalo racing.
That’s right. Buffalo races, the likes of which are held nowhere else in Cambodia.

Horns and heads bedecked and bejewelled, these krobei are quite a sight – and when a loose herd of them get moving amongst the crowd at speed, it is scarcely less chaotic and spectacular than Pamplona.
And, at times, just as terrifying. When these guys race, there is no holding them back. With nothing but a thin rope through their mounts’ nostrils, a pair of bareback racers whip their wilful beasts along at an astounding pace.

Appearing seemingly out of nowhere, a trio of buffaloes pound their way underneath a temple archway and along a narrow, muddied track to the finishing line. That’s around a tonne of unpredictable animal hurtling past a seething throng of wildly cheering spectators.

Then they turn around, line up, and race back. And did I mention the wrestling? And the bareback horse racing? And the sideshows?

Oh. And did I mention the mud?

Though it is utterly amazing to stand back and watch these Khmer buffalo-wranglers pelt through the crowds lining the clay quagmire that serves as a racetrack, it is another thing altogether negotiating a similarly torturous “road” for 20 kilometres or so from the ferry on Highway 6.

The wet clay is so slippery you can barely stand upright on it, let alone ride a bike.

Particularly when you chose a fast and flashy Honda street bike with slick tyres, as opposed to a far more practical dirt bike, for the trip.

Clay is soft, at least – a quality I found most appealing when the bike slipped out from underneath me. And I wasn’t the only one who came unstuck along this treacherous road.

Perhaps it is this perilous journey that explains why the Vihear Suor buffalo races are not so high on the average tourist’s “must-see” list.

To add insult to injury, the races are held at the height of the rainy season. And the 7am start time – meaning a 5:30am departure from the capital – also deters most Westerners.

I counted just six barang amongst the thousands of visiting Khmer villagers.

But why some budding local entrepreneur doesn’t organise a bus tour to this event I have no idea. Because believe it or not, it was worth all the mud and bruises.

There is no betting or prize money for these races. It is just part of the tradition of the Pchum Ben festival in this village, part of the spirituality of the gathering.

The horns of the beasts are wrapped in the same cloth as the monks’ robes. And the decorative pieces on the pointy end aren’t just there for decoration – they also provide protection for the riders.

Apart from the unique spectacle of buffalo racing, I was equally entranced by the wildly entertaining bareback horse racing. Children climbed trees and the temple archway for a better view, while orange-robed monks and beautifully adorned women lined the track to be spattered with mud along with the rest of us.

The buffalo disappeared from the races early, however, and by around nine o’clock the racing was all but over.

People continued to observe Pchum Ben at the pagoda; vendors continued selling their food; people threw darts at a wall of balloons at the sideshow. Hundreds more headed to the ring to watch the Khmer wrestling.

Meanwhile, I tracked down a buffalo for a quick ride. Having negotiated the roads to Vihear Suor on a motorbike, and taken a ferry across the Mekong, the opportunity to add buffalo to the day’s modes of transport was too great to resist.

Not that I rode very far. Or fast. But was it worth the trek?

I’d venture an unequivocal “yes”. And if two-wheeled clay skating is not your thing, there is always the shared taxi, albeit costly over the holiday period.

If you do manage to get there, intact, the colourful chaos that is Vihear Suor buffalo racing is a day at the races you are never likely to forget.

Students appeal to PM in exam feud


Friday, 25 September 2009 15:02 Vong Sokheng
SEVERAL hundred first-year students of Phnom Penh’s University of Health Sciences continued to rally in front of their school on Thursday, calling on Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene in their dispute with university administrators who have blocked them from enrolling in a second year of studies.
Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said around half of the 2,000 students had been blocked from re-enrolling after failing their exams, but that 70 percent of those rejected wished to advance to the second year despite their results.

Peng Sofina, a 20-year-old freshman, said his exam results were never released, accusing the school of cheating him to keep second-year class numbers down.

“[The school] delayed my exams several times and did not release [my] scores,” he said.

However, Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said that there was no other option but for the students to retake their first-year exams.

“We respect their honour and reputation, and are allowing them to retake the exam,” he said Thursday.

Bonn Bondaet Proteeb



LOY Proteeb (Bonn Bondaet Proteeb) is without doubt the most magical of Cambodia's many wonderful festivals. Rooted far in the past, it has come down over the centuries almost unchanged. Similar festivals are found in the southern part of China, in Laos and in Thailand, and it probably was based on the ancient Hindu concept of the Mother of Waters.
Loy Proteeb is not a religious festival in its origins as such but arose from animistic beliefs. It is a moon festival, coinciding with the full moon at the end of the 11th lunar month, and celebrates the end of the life-giving rains (chenh Vossa). Thanks are given for the abundant harvest of the year just passed and wishes made for bountiful produce in the year to come. It is also highly symbolic, with the floating away of the Proteeb representing a cleansing of sins.The Proteeb themselves are traditionally made from a cut section of bamboo stem or young banana plants, with neatly folded pieces of banana leaf pinned around the upper rim so that the whole has the appearance of a lotus leaf. Each Proteeb has flowers, a candle and a stick of incense at the very least, while some are far more elaborate. There may also be some grains of sand and some good luck charms on the float. Nowadays the simplicity and buoyancy of styrofoam are an unfortunate substitute for banana stems and for weeks afterwards they clutter the banks of canals and rivers, and the shores of lakes and the sea. Another common practice is to place a coin or two on the Proteeb, and small boys, as much at home in the water as on land, make extra pocket money by raiding these floating piggy-banks.

Bee and Honey

Bee and Honey
Bee and HoneyBee and Honey
Promoting sustainably harvested honey
Honey is one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) that people derive from forests in Mondulkiri, both culturally and economically. Often used for food and medicine, honey provides important cash income, while candles made from bees wax are important in spirit ceremonies and rituals.

Increased honey demand has led to growing competition among villagers. In search for more honey, hunters go deeper into the forest. Travelling in small groups, they stay away from their village for up to five days at a time, relying on hunting and the small amount of rice they carry with them for food. This increased penetration of the forest brings greater threats to the local wildlife, because any animal spotted is seen as a source of food for the honey hunters.

To minimize the threat to wildlife, the SWAP team, in conjunction with the CNRM unit, hopes to educate and transform these group members into sustainable honey hunters by providing different incentives. The project is now exploring ways to increase the value and price of their honey products and offer them alternative systems of production which do not require them to venture further to the forest.

Focused group discussions recently held with local honey hunters have revealed an understanding of the benefits of pooling their honey products together and improving quality, to be able to secure a better market price. With the SWAP and CNRM providing technical assistance, the honey hunters have agreed to organize themselves and undertake training on sustainable methods of honey harvesting and proper honey handling. This training has been convened in collaboration with Cambodia’s NTFP Working Group and the NTFP – Exchange Programme in Southeast Asia.
For further information:
Amy Maling
WWF Cambodia
E-mail: amy.maling@wwfgreatermekong.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Bee and HoneyBee and Honey
Bee and Honey

Sugar Palms


Palm sugar is a natural sweetener made from the sap of palm trees. When the palms are from 15 to 20 years old they commence flowering and it is only then that they yield the sweet sap from which palm sugar is made.

Toddy tappers have to be extremely agile to shin up palm trees with only a circle of rope around their ankles for support. The sap flows when the inflorescence is tapped but first it must be beaten (gently) with a mallet for a couple of days. A small slice is taken off the end and a receptacle (usually an earthenware pot or gourd) hung close to the cut to collect the sap each night. The sap is known as 'sweet toddy' and for those lucky enough to be around when this is brought in, has a taste of ambrosia. The fresh sweet toddy is boiled down shortly after collection to make palm syrup and palm sugar. If this is not done, within a few hours the 'sweet toddy' ferments into a sour, potent brew called toddy, a very intoxicating drink. It is the 'cheap grog' of tropical lands and is not fit to drink the next day.

To concentrate the nectar into solid sugar, the fresh juice is boiled down and evaporated before being poured into bamboo sections to form cylindrical shapes, or into coconut shells so they emerge as large shallow hemispheres, or into small baskets woven of palm leaves. In this form, the sugar has to be scraped or chipped from the rather hard block. This gur, as it is called in India, is used on a daily basis in these countries as a sweetener.There is no identical Western counterpart, but there are substitutes which give a reasonable flavour likeness.Palm sugar is sold in rounded cakes, cylinders, blocks or large plastic or glass jars. This sugar, even when soft, can be extremely dense and very sticky.

Sugar PalmsSugar Palms
Sugar PalmsSugar Palms
Sugar PalmsSugar Palms
Sugar Palms

Feeding the hungry with food for the dead


Thursday, 24 September 2009 15:00 Roth Meas
THE morning sunshine splays over Pok Chhma primary school in Battambang, giving the orange robes of the monks who work there an especially vivid sheen. The festival of Pchum Ben has only just finished, but there will be no rest for these holy men.

The monks, along with many other volunteers, tend giant grills set up to dry thousands of rice cakes left over from the festival of the dead. These savoury treats will ultimately be distributed to prisons all over Battambang, where they will feed famished inmates.
Battambang’s Dhammayietra centre runs the initiative, which is the brainchild of one of its workers, 30-year-old Sek Sarom. She conceived the idea in 2000, while working as a volunteer language tutor in Battambang’s prisons.

“We taught languages to the prisoners, and in that time I observed that people did not have enough food in the prison. I know that after every Bonn Pchum Ben, there is a great deal of waste in terms of food at the pagodas, so we decided to begin collecting rice cakes for prisoners,” she said.
Sek Sarom felt there was not enough understanding from the wider community when it came to the inmates. This manifested itself in a great deal of hostility when she first floated the idea almost a decade ago – something for which she was not prepared.

A labour of empathy
“When I first sent letters to ask for rice cakes, even some monks complained and asked why we should help them. Prisoners are the bad guys; they attack, rape and even kill people, they said. Some monks even cursed me before handing over the rice cakes,” she said.
Yet Sek Sarom was determined to get her idea off the ground, with much of her resolve emanating from an empathy she was able to build for the inmates while teaching them.

“I think prisoners are human beings, just like me. I noticed that most of the prisoners are from poor backgrounds, and many of them fell into crime because of poverty and a lack of education,” she said.

Racing against time
With all of the good will in the world, though, Sek Sarom admits she would not be able to carry out the initiative without the help of the monks and other volunteers. It is a huge operation, with bamboo for the grills supplied by local villagers and small groups of volunteers speeding to pagodas on motorcycle, in order to meet the relatively tight time frame between the end of Pchum Ben at around midday and a 2pm deadline when many of the temples close.

“Collecting the rice cakes allows many people to get involved. Not only monks, but also members of Dhammayietra, as well as the local community,” Sek Sarom explained.

“After I finish sending them to the prisons, I do have moments where I think I don’t want to do it next year because it’s so tiring. But I know I will because I feel so much empathy for the people we are helping.”

Poor education hurts girls



Thursday, 24 September 2009 15:03 Jacob Gold
Reports says scanty education damages prospects and bleeds the economy
FAILURE to keep girls in school past primary education is taking a massive toll on Cambodia’s economy and leaving young women vulnerable to exploitation, a new report warns.

Women deprived of proper schooling are limited to high-risk, unskilled, low-paying jobs that are slowing Cambodia’s emergence from the financial crisis, the report says, adding that they are also more likely to lose their jobs, enter the sex trade and die at a young age.
Released by child-focused development NGO Plan International on Wednesday, the report highlights the plight of several Cambodian girls forced to leave school prematurely. Rarn, a 14-year-old from Dambae district in Kampong Cham province, quit school at about age 9.

“If my parents had money, I would go to study until I finished all the grades,” she said.

“I want to be a tailor. My parents are very poor and cannot afford books, clothing or a bicycle for me. Also, no one can help them with farming and housework.”

Though the number of girls enrolling in primary school is high, that rate drops sharply at secondary schools. According to the Asia Development Bank, roughly 1.3 million girls attended primary school in 2007-2008. About 55,000 girls completed grade nine, and only 22,000 completed high school.

The consequences are serious, warned Thida Kus of NGO Silaka. “You notice how these girls are dropping out just after elementary school, just as they’re beginning puberty,” she said. “This means they suddenly become more vulnerable to sexual exploitation.... Many of them have low-income jobs in the informal sector, where they are more susceptible to trafficking, sexual violence and contracting HIV.”

A 1 percentage point rise in girls attending secondary school can increase a country’s annual per capita income growth by 0.3 percent, the report says.

French military aid

Thursday, 22September 2009 15:02 Heng Chivoan

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Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Deputy Commander in Chief Hing Bunheang (centre) and French Ambassador to Cambodia Jean Francois Desmazieres greet Cambodian military commanders Wednesday during the inauguration of new French-funded facilities at the Active Military School outside Phnom Penh. The new facilities, built at a cost of nearly US$200,000, feature a military tactics training centre, a shooting range and a French-language training centre. The French organisation Mission for Military Cooperation, which has aided the school since 1994, helped coordinate construction of the new facilities.

BACKGROUND: A history of Pchum Ben

Friday, 22 September 2009 15:02 Ou Mom

WHAT does Pchum Ben Festival mean in Buddhism? In the Khmer language, Pchum or Brochum means “a meeting or gathering”. Ben means “a ball of something”, such as rice or meat. The Pchum Ben festival originated in the Angkorian era when people followed animism, before Brahma or Buddhism.

Both Buddhism and animism reflect Khmer respect and remembrance for their ancestors.
Pchum Ben is also a convenient way for Buddhist monks to receive food during the heaviest part of the rainy season while they stay in the pagodas to follow their moral principles.

Celebrations
The first 14 days of the Khmer month Pheakta Bot are called Kan Ben (“observed celebration”). The 15th day is called Brochum Ben or Pchum Ben Day. During Kan Ben, people give Buddhist monks gifts of food and candles. At night Buddhist monks recite a protective prayer. Cambodian artists play traditional music such as yike and lakhon basac. Pchum Ben Day is the biggest celebration. Villagers come from all around to prepare the pagoda of their village the night before the celebration. Pchum Ben is when the villagers gather to celebrate in their villages.

Scriptures
The scriptures relating to the festival are complex, but the first scripture involves the five Buddhas negotiating with hungry ghosts. In the second scripture, from Pet Vuto (Monks’ Governor), the King’s servants and soldiers were commanded to make war. On the ship at night, they met ghosts who were hungry. The servants and soldiers asked: “How can we get food to you?” The ghosts said: “You can offer the food to the person among you who has the five moral conducts or eight moral conducts, and invoke our names.” The third and fourth scriptures say that in the first 15 days of Pheakta Both, the heaviest rainy period, the devil releases the ghosts to find their relatives to receive food.

Ghosts
There are four kinds of ghosts: those eating pus and blood, burning ghosts who are always hot, hungery ghosts and the Pakrakteaktopak Chivi, who can receive food through the monks. The others cannot receive food from their relatives until their sins are reduced to the level of Pakrakteaktopak Chivi.

What is bay ben?
Bay ben (balls of rice) are offered to ghosts at dawn. People believe ghosts with heavy sins cannot receive food during the day. Bay ben is made from sticky rice and sesame. Sometimes people add coconut cream to make it more delicious. Buddhist Institute consultant Miech Ponn said he thinks bay ben should be put on a plate. “Getting rice to the poor, people also can get more merit than only giving it to ants,” Miech Ponn said.

Pchum Ben at Meban Pagoda












Police, army ready for PAD temple protest

Friday, 18 September 2009 15:03 Vong Sokheng and Cheang Sokha

FIFTY riot police officers and dogs have been deployed at the border close to Preah Vihear temple to ensure that a planned demonstration by Thai protesters this weekend does not infringe on Cambodian territory, police officials have said.
The yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has announced it will hold a rally at Preah Vihear temple Saturday, after filing a petition accusing the Thai government of negligence in allowing Cambodia to “encroach” on the 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area around the ruins.

“We hope that there will not be a problem if the Thai protesters rally on their own territory, and our riot police officers are just preparing in case any incident occurs,” Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesman Kirt Chantha-rith said Wednesday. “We hope that the Thai authorities will do their job well and prevent the protesters from intruding on Cambodian territory.”

As preparations for the protest gathered pace, Ministry of Defence spokesman Chhum Socheat said that he had received a military report from the border alleging that Thais living near by were being offered 1,000 baht (US$29.69) to join the PAD rally.

The protest is an echo of similar demonstrations last year that triggered a yearlong military standoff at the border. Last July, three Thai demonstrators jumped over the border fence into Cambodian territory and were arrested by Cambodian border guards, triggering the Thai movement into disputed areas around the temple.

“There are some concerns that the Thai protests could lead to violence and reignite armed conflict between the Cambodian and Thai militaries,” said Koy Kuong, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bun Vanna, deputy chief of staff of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Brigade 8, which is stationed at the temple, said that border troops are ready to counterattack if there is an intrusion.

However, in the wake of August 24’s joint declaration marking an official end to hostilities at Preah Vihear, Thai officials have also pledged to prevent PAD protestors from jeopardising the current detente.

On Thursday, the Bangkok Post quoted Lieutenant General Wibulsak Neepan of the Thai army as saying Thai troops would be deployed from the Thai side to prevent the protesters from entering the disputed area.

Are we there yet?

Friday, 18 September 2009 15:04 Heng Chivoan

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Photo by: Heng Chivoan
The streets around Wat Phnom teem with traffic as Cambodians begin their annual exodus from the capital to their hometowns ahead of this weekend's Pchum Ben holiday, when they will spend time with family and make offerings to their ancestors. An estimated 800,000 vehicles from the capital are expected to clog the Kingdom's roads.

The virtue of treating life as if it's a tight-rope act

Documentary screening at the French Cultural Centre celebrates the high-wire walk between New York’s Twin Towers in 1974, and the attitude that it takes to do it

By Dianne Janes

AFTER watching James Marsh’s 2008 Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, you may well think, as I did, “What the hell have I been doing with my life?”

The subject of the film, French tight-rope walker Philippe Petit, embraces his life and art with an infectious joie de vivre that inspires the viewer to get off the couch and do something a little unexpected.


Petit expresses a truly French artistic sensibility, and a desire to live each day to its fullest.

“To me, it’s really so simple, that life should be lived on the edge”, he says.

“You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to tape yourself to the rules; to refuse your own success; to refuse to repeat yourself; to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge.

“Then you will live your life on the tightrope.”

Fortunately for us, the audience, many of his early tightrope exploits were filmed and photographed, providing a window into his life and the events that led up to his famed 1974 World Trade Center high-wire walk that has been described as “The artistic crime of the century”.

In 1971 Petit began his tight-rope act with an illegal stunt between the spires high above the Notre Dame Cathedral.

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Sky-high free spirit: Phillipe Petit. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Petit’s merry band of helpers was formed with girlfriend Annie Allix devoting herself to his efforts, along with long-time friend Jean-Louis Blondeau.
The team strung wires between trees, measuring distances, building scale models and simulating wind conditions so the artist could practice his act every day.


With a desire to try bigger and better things, their next stunt was a wire walk between the pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge, which stopped traffic and caused chaos downtown.

Petit’s discovered his greatest ambition one day reading the newspaper, when he spotted a story announcing the construction of the World Trade Center towers in New York.

It would take some years for the buildings to be completed, and for Petit and his team to meticulously plan the technical aspects of such a dangerous walk.

Man on Wire goes into some detail looking at all the requirements of a tight-rope walk some 450 metres above the ground, from cabling and rigging to coping with the sway of the buildings.

The tight-rope act was of course illegal, although dodging security guards and police was part of the whole adventure.

The film captures the anticipation leading up to the event, as well as the tension and in-fighting among Petit’s group. Some of his helpers are shocked at seeing the height of the twin towers and, realising the danger, pull out.

Director James Marsh has tracked down everybody involved from Petit’s closest associates to the NYPD officer who eventually charged Petit when he came down, noting on his arrest sheet the criminal activity of “Man on Wire”.

(The coverage and public appreciation of Petit’s act resulted in all formal charges being dropped. The court did, however, sentence Petit to perform a show for the children of New York, which he transformed into another high-wire walk, in Central Park above Belvedere Lake (now Turtle Pond).

The film’s images are amazing, with views from all around and above the vertiginous World Trade Center, looking over the city.

The young, 25-year-old Petit is passionate about freedom of walking – and dancing – on a tightrope, balancing fear and joy simultaneously.
The film conveys the huge, life-threatening risk Petit took.

The final walk is more like a form of visual poetry than a mere stunt or acrobatic exercise, as Petit seems at one with the air, the sky and his beloved buildings.

Man on Wire screens as part of the French Cultural Centre’s September programme looking at architecture.

It is an unusual choice, as the film itself is not ostensibly about the physical structures of the twin towers or their design.

Yet as Petit steps out onto his wire, the film also conveys bravery and heroism, and inspiration itself; it celebrates the power of a creative vision, both as it is embodied in the design of the massive towers and also in the work of Petit and his team.

The shadow of September 11, 2001, when the towers were destroyed by terrorists, hangs over the film but is not discussed.

I would have appreciated a comment from the team as to how they felt watching the event, and what it meant to them. After all, for most of the people involved, Petit’s World Trade Center tightrope walk was the most important thing to happen in their life.

Sometimes buildings mean more to people than just a place to live and work. Petit’s walk is credited with bringing the then rather unpopular Twin Towers attention and even affection.

Man on Wire also adds another layer of meaning to the loss of the towers. Somewhere buried in the ash and the dust are the memories belonging to a group of people who were there on a fateful day in 1974 when one man floated and danced above the city.

Man on Wire screens with English subtitles on Saturday, September 26, at 7pm at the French Cultural Centre.


Eat and meet at Kampot

Kampot has a reasonable selection of places to eat and drink, with most of them running along the River Rd between the post office and the old bridge.

While Sri Lankan food isn't the first thing you may think of when you think of Kampot, the Bamboo Light Cafe continues to dish out excellent Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. This is food you'd travel across a capital city to get to, but it's being served up in a little tasteful shopfront in downtown Kampot instead. The Sri Lankan-style roti is the specialty, a spicy dish made of strips of flatbread, veggies and meat. The decor is better than most, with a thatched ceiling and light fixtures made of bamboo. Prices are reasonable and the service is friendly -- the cook insisted on serving us fresh food and told us candidly what she made best.

Heading north from Bamboo Light you'll reach a trio of foreigner-friendly restaurants -- Coco House, Say Sa Bok and Jasmine. All do a mix of Khmer and international food. Coco has the best location, but there's really little to separate the three, although Say Sa Bok is closed in rainy season. Jasmine's steaks are popular among expats. It offers WiFi access and has a knowledgeable owner, Mark, who plays old movies on a big screen one night a week. Further north again, the Little Garden Bar has a small, well shaded cafe/restaurant on the corner and probably stands out for its sandwiches. If you're heading up Bokor, drop by here to pick up some pre-packaged meals for the trip up -- and try their pizza when you get back.

At the southern end of the riverside strip you'll find Bokor Mountain Lodge, Bonkors, Rusty Keyhole and Rikitikitavi. Bokor Lodge is our favourite for a streetside sundowner, while Rikitikitavi gets the vote for a splash out meal. Bonkors was closed for several months in mid-2009 but we heard the owner plans to reopen or perhaps sell the place. Rusty Keyhole is by far the most popular restaurant along the strip, overflowing with customers while others remain empty. NGO folk living in Kampot congregate there nightly to devour the famed "Rusty ribs."

In off the river, the Epic Arts Cafe offers good meals along with homemade cakes and other snackies. The breakfasts are quite good and we recommend the bagels with apple cream cheese. It's part of a project involving deaf and disabled communities and profits go to a couple of associations working with disadvantaged people.

Piggies, sandwiched between Bonkors and Rusty Keyhole, opened in June 2009, and serves $2.25 jugs of Anchor draft during happy hour, as well as the "best spaghetti/pizza/steak in town" according to a sign hanging out front.

Ambassador Dismisses Rights Hearing as Biased

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By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
11 September 2009


Cambodia’s top representative to the United States dismissed as biased a hearing at the US House of Representatives Thursday that is looking into Cambodia’s human rights record.

“We already know that they only invited the opposition party and non-governmental organizations,” Ambassador Hem Heng said in an interview in Washington. “It means that this is a biased hearing.”The House of Representative’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, co-chaired by Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, and James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, scheduled a hearing Thursday to address “a concerning trend in the Cambodian government’s overall human rights record.”

Invited were Mu Sochua, a Kampot National Assembly representative for the Sam Rainsy Party who recently lost a defamation suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen; Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho; and Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labor program.

“Normally, the hearing needs to have two sides or more,” Hem Heng said. “But this hearing has only one side participating. So the hearing is trending toward the opposition party.”

International and local observers say Cambodia has seen a decline in media and personal freedoms, with critics of the government facing lawsuits and other charges.

The Cambodian Embassy in Washington released a statement Wednesday saying human rights in Cambodia have been improving.

“We have thousands of civil societies, from of expression, and the unions are progressing,” Hem Heng said. “Among these, there are at least 11 international organizations. Besides those, there is the office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for human rights.”

Ou Virak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said by phone the rights situation in Cambodia has deteriorated over the past four years.

“In 2005, there were some arrests, some complaints, and then the situation was back to normal,” he said. “But in 2009, we see arrests and intimidation.”

Chan Soveth, a rights investigator for Adhoc, said political violence in Cambodia never meets justice.

“The culture of impunity in Cambodia from day to day is accumulating,” he said. “It is scary, and a serious concern.”

Official Denies Statements at US Rights Hearing


By Chun Sakada and Men Kimseng
Original reports from Phnom Penh and Washington
16 September 2009
A Foreign Affairs official dismissed as false statements made to US Congress by Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua, in a human rights hearing last week.
Mu Sochua’s description
of a country where democracy was a “façade” was meant “only for cheating the Cambodian people,” said Uch Borith, a secretary of state for the ministry, told reporters at a press conference after meeting with US Ambassador Carol Rodley.

He also denied reports on a Web site called Khmer Intelligence that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would send a delegation to investigate rights issues.

The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission invited three prominent Cambodians to testify on Thursday, after noting a worrying trend in the erosion of rights and freedoms in the media.

Mu Sochua and another opposition lawmaker had their parliamentary immunity revoked earlier this, as the courts pursued lawsuits against them by senior officials; and at least one opposition journalist is in jail after accusing senior officials of corruption.

Meanwhile, a US congressman said Cambodian government representatives should have been invited to the hearing last week should the US wish to see changes in Cambodia’s human rights record.

“I do not believe that holding a hearing that gives voice to the opposition party and excludes the ruling party is the way for us to proceed in affecting change in Cambodia,” Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from Samoa, said in a statement issued on the day of a hearing conducted by Tom Lantos Human Rights commission. “I also do not believe that any Commission should usurp the role of the US Department of State or the diplomatic relations we have established between our two countries.”


Ambassador Dismisses Rights Hearing as Biased

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
11 September 2009

Cambodia’s top representative to the United States dismissed as biased a hearing at the US House of Representatives Thursday that is looking into Cambodia’s human rights record.

“We already know that they only invited the opposition party and non-governmental organizations,” Ambassador Hem Heng said in an interview in Washington. “It means that this is a biased hearing.”

The House of Representative’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, co-chaired by Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, and James McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, scheduled a hearing Thursday to address “a concerning trend in the Cambodian government’s overall human rights record.”

Invited were Mu Sochua, a Kampot National Assembly representative for the Sam Rainsy Party who recently lost a defamation suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen; Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho; and Moeun Tola, head of the Community Legal Education Center’s labor program.

“Normally, the hearing needs to have two sides or more,” Hem Heng said. “But this hearing has only one side participating. So the hearing is trending toward the opposition party.”

International and local observers say Cambodia has seen a decline in media and personal freedoms, with critics of the government facing lawsuits and other charges.

The Cambodian Embassy in Washington released a statement Wednesday saying human rights in Cambodia have been improving.

“We have thousands of civil societies, from of expression, and the unions are progressing,” Hem Heng said. “Among these, there are at least 11 international organizations. Besides those, there is the office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for human rights.”

Ou Virak, head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said by phone the rights situation in Cambodia has deteriorated over the past four years.

“In 2005, there were some arrests, some complaints, and then the situation was back to normal,” he said. “But in 2009, we see arrests and intimidation.”

Chan Soveth, a rights investigator for Adhoc, said political violence in Cambodia never meets justice.

“The culture of impunity in Cambodia from day to day is accumulating,” he said. “It is scary, and a serious concern.”


Govt seeks answers in teenager’s burning

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:05 Thet Sambath


THE Cambodian government has formally approached Thailand to demand an explanation for the death of a teenager allegedly shot and burned alive by Thai soldiers.

In a strongly worded letter sent Tuesday to the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the death of Yon Rith, 16, an “act of cruelty” that breaks international law.

“The Royal Government of Cambodia considers these reported acts as a serious breach of internationally accepted humanitarian principle,
which should not be committed by any agent of a civilised state,” read the letter, according to a copy obtained Tuesday.

“Cambodia requests the authorities concerned in Thailand to take appropriate measures to prevent such atrocities from happening again,” it continued.

It is the first time the national government has officially weighed in on the death of the Oddar Meanchey province teenager, who was killed last week.

Provincial officials say Yon Rith and Mao Kleung, 18, were shot and “badly wounded” last Friday when they were allegedly caught logging illegally along the disputed Cambodia-Thailand border.

Mao Kleung escaped, but Oddar Meanchey officials claim Thai soldiers captured Yon Rith and burned him alive.

The boy’s father, Saing Yon, told the Post on Monday that he believed his son had been bound with rope to an ox cart before he was set alight.

Human rights activists Tuesday compared the Thai soldiers’ alleged actions to those of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

“They burned this man alive, just as Adolf Hitler did during World War II,” said Ny Chakrya, head of the investigation section of human rights group Adhoc. “This is an act of hatred that will be condemned by the international community.” The organisation is now planning its own probe into the death, he said.

Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for the rights group Licadho, called on the Cambodian government to launch a formal complaint with other neighbouring countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“The government should complain to ASEAN members and take legal action to prevent this from happening again,” Am Sam Ath said.

On Monday, the victim’s father vowed revenge and said he had no doubts that his son had been deliberately burned to death by Thai troops. “I will remember this, and I want revenge on the Thai soldiers, but I won’t tell anyone what I will do to them,” he said.

The scandal follows the arrest of several Cambodians accused of illegal logging in Thailand last month.

The 12 men, currently being detained in a Thai prison, were due to be visited by relatives in Thailand today, said Touch Ra, deputy chief of the Cambodia-Thailand Relations Office at the Chom International Border Gate. A further 16 men arrested in July along the Oddar Meanchey border in similar circumstances are still awaiting trial in Thailand.

Neither the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh would comment on Tuesday.

Govt criticises Mu Sochua’s US testimony

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 15:04 Irwin Loy and Cheang Sokha


THE government has issued a statement condemning last week’s US congressional hearing on human rights in Cambodia.

The statement, released Tuesday, focused especially on Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua, who told the Washington hearing on Thursday that Cambodian democracy is “experiencing an alarming free fall”.

In its statement, the government responded, “[The Cambodian government] totally reject[s] any unfounded accusations made by Mu Sochua.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen, the statement continued, “has always enhanced the reputation and honour of the National Assembly at national and international levels and promoted debates in the adoption of laws without prejudice”.

It also slammed the US Congress for not inviting Cambodian government officials to testify, warning that the move could relations with the US.

“A hearing with only a small group from the opposition is not balanced and does not respect the principles of democracy and fairness,” the statement read. “Such an activity will affect Cambodia-America relation[s].”

The two-page statement finished with a defence of the country’s record on human rights.

“[The Cambodian government is] very proud to note that Cambodia … is making progress in all fields, especially in the areas of human rights and democracy.”

During her testimony, Mu Sochua called for visa sanctions on officials suspected of corruption and the suspension of US aid to Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence. She is currently travelling in the US but plans to return to Cambodia on September 23.

Preap Sovath

Cambodia (1992 – present)

Preap Sovath (ព្រាប​ សុវត្តិ) born February 27, 1972, in Kandal, Cambodia, is Cambodia/Khmer pop singer. Sovath started his singing career in 1992. He records for Rasmey Hang Meas (RHM), generally regarded as Cambodia’s most progressive recording label. Apart from being a singer, Preap Sovath is also an actor, restaurant owner and owner of a wedding boutique.

Preap Sovath performs the style of music known as “Khmer Karaoke”, the name derives from the fact that most sales are of VCDs rather than CDs and all VCD film clips come with karaoke-style subtitled lyrics.

Film shows boys living with disabilities – and land mines

Monday, 14 September 2009 15:00 Dianne Janes

Aki Ra’s Boys follows children injured by remnants of the war, as they live with a former Khmer Rouge soldier who disposes of the bombs he once planted

Feel Reviews
By Dianne Janes

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Boreak, a 12-year-old land-mine victim and the star of the documentary Aki Ra’s Boys; (right) the film’s promotional poster. Photo Supplied
They kept cutting it [amputated arm] shorter and shorter. now it's just a pain...

Help wash away the threat of land mines
THE New York International Gift Fair, a premier gift, home and lifestyle marketplace, in August incorporated efforts by the A+ Young Designers Platform. As part of the Accent On Design part of the fair, six emerging designers were spotlighted in a special exhibit chosen from among 200 applicants. One of designers spotlighted was Hideaki Matsui of Social Entrepreneurship
 Network, Inc, an award-winning New York- and Tokyo-based designer. He created a new product called Cleanup Soap, formed as a replica of a land mine. Sales raise funds for land mine removal and survivor assistance through the Cambodia Landmine Museum. Matsui developed the idea around the idea of the rosemary- or lavender-scented soap disappearing. Go to cleanupsoap.com to find out more. RELAXNEWS
THE young boy points to a large metal object.
"This one is Bouncing Betty," he says.

The next one is tall, with ridges all around.
"This is a pineapple mine."

He could be talking about his favourite lollies, or rides at a fun fair - but he's not.
At just 12 years of age, Boreak has an encyclopaedic knowledge of land mines, and he's giving us a tour of the exhibits at the Cambodian Land-Mine Museum where he lives.

It's a scene from Aki Ra's Boys, an observational documentary made in 2007 by Singaporean filmmaking team James Leong and Lynn Lee of Lianain Films.

The film centres on the young Boreak, an impish boy from a large family in a poor, heavily mined village 100 kilometres from Siem Reap.
Boreak was 6 when he lost his arm in a land-mine explosion that also killed his grandfather.

He endured painful amputation surgery and a recovery without painkillers; an agonising memory that he clearly remembers all too well.
"They kept cutting it shorter and shorter," he says ruefully, rubbing the pointy, sore end of his stump.

Now, though, "it's just a pain".
Boreak has been offered a chance at a better life by Aki Ra, who houses and educates young mine victims at his land-mine museum just outside Siem Reap.

The dusty, makeshift assembly of old mines doesn't look like much, but it's a big step up from the remote poverty Boreak's family endures in the provinces.

A visit home to his family reveals how differently the child is perceived now that he has regular contact with foreigners and tourists.
"In this family, you have the best luck of all," declares his mother, with no trace of irony.

She constantly encourages him to study hard and make the most of his opportunity.

Other family members now see him as something of a cash cow, asking him to buy them televisions, CD players and mobile phones.
"I'm broken-hearted about it," says Boreak, who just wants to fit in like everyone else.

Boreak is different wherever he goes - at home with his family he is an outsider by virtue of his association with wealthy tourists; in the broader community he is disabled and just another victim.

Only at Aki Ra's is he one of the gang, just like the other kids.
"He doesn't look down on people with disabilities," he says of his benefactor, "He loves us all the same."

The documentary Aki Ra's Boys focuses on Boreak's day-to-day life a little too heavily, though, at the expense of the story that puts his experience into context: his relationship with Aki Ra.

Another documentary is being made about Aki Ra that could potentially delve further into his life and the various aspects of his work.
As a young man, Aki Ra served the Khmer Rouge as a soldier, becoming an expert at laying land mines all around western Cambodia.

As an adult, he has assumed responsibility for helping to rid his country of these evil devices, working every day with simple equipment to dig up and defuse old bombs and unexploded ordnance.

In Aki Ra's Boys, his method puts the audience on edge, grimacing as he drags heavy anti-tank mines out of the dirt with his hands and slowly, painstakingly, disassembles them.

It seems a miracle he has never been injured in an explosion, despite having removed more than a staggering 30,000 explosive devices.
It is a testament to his skill, dedication and in-depth knowledge of the composition of the mines that he has been able to work this way for so long.

Since the documentary was made, Aki Ra has received funding and training from the UK and, mercifully. has adopted conventional demining safety measures.

Aki Ra's Boys was shown at Meta House recently.

Wet weather still lethal

Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:04 Tep Nimol and Chrann Chamroeun

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Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Flooding across the country killed at least seven people last week, officials said. Four people were killed in Kampong Thom province, Governor Chhun Chhorn said. Two men from Prasat Balaing and Kampong Svay districts drowned when their raft overturned, and two children from the province’s Stoung district also died. Three were killed in Ratanakkiri province, where local authorities discovered a boy who had drowned in a hole in the province’s Seda district, and two at Boeung Yeak Loam Lake Resort, where a man died trying to save a woman from drowning. Flooding had declined in Kratie province as of Monday, when the Mekong River receded to its normal water level of 19.05 metres, and also in Preah Vihear province, where Khuoy Khun Ho, active head of Preah Vihear provincial hall, said that no evacuations would be necessary despite continued rainstorms.

CTN 21

ECCC Part1

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