Malaysians urged to hire maids from Thailand, China, Cambodia

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysians have been encouraged to look to Thailand, China and Cambodia to hire maids due to a shortage of Indonesians keen to work in the neighbouring country, reports said Monday.

Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho said that Indonesian women were now more keen to work as maids in the Middle East, Taiwan or Hong Kong, where wages are higher than in Malaysia.

'That's why employers must look for other alternatives such as employing non-Indonesian workers, as there are also many good workers in the other countries,' Tan was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Indonesian women, along with maids from the Philippines, are the preferred choice of Malaysian employers due to similarities in culture and language in both countries.

'That's why employers must look for other alternatives such as employing non-Indonesian workers, as there are also many good workers in the other countries,' Tan was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Indonesian women, along with maids from the Philippines, are the preferred choice of Malaysian employers due to similarities in culture and language in both countries.

'In our country, they are only paid between 450 ringgit (132 dollars) and 600 ringgit (176 dollars),' Tan said. 'I understand they can earn as much as 1,000 ringgit (294 dollars) in other countries. That's why they prefer to work there.'

By June 2006, official records showed 1.84 million registered foreign workers in Malaysia, of which 26.9 per cent - or 500,000 people - were foreign maids.

The largest nationality of maids in Malaysia are Indonesians, followed by Filipino maids who make up about 20,000 workers. Read more!

WB, Australia to offer 36 mln dollars for Cambodia to maintain roads

The World Bank (WB) and the Australian government will respectively provide 30 million U.S. dollars and six million U.S. dollars in aid for regular road maintenance in Cambodia, local media said on Sunday.

"The Australian government will send experts to help us in road maintenance" at the cost of six million U.S. dollars, Cambodian newspaper the Rasmey Kampuchea Daily quoted Sun Chan Thol, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, as saying.

The World Bank will also provide Cambodia with six million U.S. dollars each year for five years for regular road maintenance, he added.

In 2007, Cambodia will maintain 2,337 km of roads, including national and rural roads, at the cost of about 23.8 million U.S. dollars, said official statistics.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Expert praises new book on Khmer Rouge

By KER MUNTHIT
Associated Press Writer

"Cambodians are at last beginning to investigate and record their country's past," said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an independent group documenting the Khmer Rouge crimes.

Unlike Khamboly Dy's "A History of Democratic Kampuchea," to be released Wednesday, Youk Chhang said previous books about Cambodian history have been written almost exclusively by foreigners. Cambodia was named Democratic Kampuchea during the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge rule that led to the deaths of some 1.7 million people.

Cambodian schools currently teach little about the Khmer Rouge, largely because the subject is sensitive among political groups and high-profile individuals once associated with the now-defunct communist movement.

The book, written for high school teachers and students, will also be available to the public for free, Youk Chhang said. No Cambodian historian had previously written about the Khmer Rouge because of fears of reprisal, he said.

The education ministry in January approved the book as a "core reference" material for history textbooks but not as part of the core curriculum, Youk Chhang said.

"A History of Democratic Kampuchea," Youk Chhang said, "is a major step showing that Cambodians are capable of telling their own history" despite the limited status imposed on the book by the government.

"By taking responsibility for teaching Cambodians through books such as this, the country can go forward and ensure that the seeds of genocide never again take root in our country," he said.

Cambodia and the United Nations have created a tribunal aimed at prosecuting the few surviving Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity. The tribunal, led by Cambodian and international judges, was expected to begin this year.

Read more!

Cambodia's co-ruling party to beef up membership for general election in 2008

The co-ruling Funcinpec Party has conducted a seminar to strengthen its membership at all levels across the country to secure its success in the general election to be held in July 2008.

"This seminar will help us find our weakness and strength our membership," said Keo Puth Rasmey, party president and son-in-law of retired King Norodom Sihanouk, while mentioning the party's waterloo in the commune councils election, which was held on April 1 to degrade Funcinpec from the second largest party of the kingdom to the fourth.

"(Through the seminar) we also find some good strategies to secure our success in the general election in 2008," he said in the party's headquarters in Phnom Penh.

"I strongly hope we will win in 2008," he added.

Meanwhile, he stressed Funcinpec's determination to continue its cooperation with the major ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), even if Funcinpec was unsatisfied with its performance in the recent election.

"We did not get the majority of votes because we reformed our party too late in October 2006. So our supporters have hesitation for voting for us," he said.

"The matters of turmoil caused by the previous leader are also factors that led to our defeat," he added.

Funcinpec replaced Prince Norodom Ranariddh with Keo Puth Rasmey in October 2006 for the prince failed to live up to its duty and being unable to cooperate with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The party was originally established by former king Sihanouk to win independence from France and lead the kingdom's first cabinet in 1993. It later switched to co-ruling party, as CPP gained more and more popularity.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Vietnam ecstasy ring on trial, 14 dealers may get death

A Ho Chi Minh City court is set to try 23 people this week, part of a ring smuggling a substantial amount of ecstasy, 14 of whom are liable to face the firing squad.
Investigators smashed the ring in March 2005, apprehending ringleader Le Van Tien and 22 gangsters.

They seized 4,354 tablets of ecstasy, dozens of packs of methamphetamine – an illegal stimulant, and other equipment meant for processing and producing ecstasy, commonly known on the street as ‘e’.

After being released from jail in July 2003, Tien imported 1,000 tablets from Cambodia from a ring led by associates Long and Son.

Since December 2003, Tien worked his clandestine ops with Nguyen Chuc Ly, also in Cambodia, buying from Ly around 10,000 ecstasy tablets of assorted types, 700gr of powdered methamphetamine, and 600gr of other drugs until March 2005, when Tien was arrested.

Long, Son, and Ly remain at large in Cambodia, the police said.

Tien also allegedly bought ecstasy powder, molds, and artificial coloring from Cambodia with intent to produce ecstasy in Vietnam.

Ecstasy is a non-addictive stimulant that can cause an artificial sense of euphoria, a distinct sensitivity to light and sound, and side effects that can include dehydration and paranoia.

The trial is set to get underway Tuesday and wrap up by Sunday.

Reported by Le Nga – Translated by An Dien Read more!

S. Korea donates 100,000 USD to train taekwondo players for Cambodia

South Korea has donated some 100,000 U.S. dollars to train taekwondo players for Cambodia, a sports official told Xinhua here on Saturday.

The finance will be used for sending 10 Cambodian taekwondo players to be trained in South Korea for two months and hire a South Korean taekwondo coach to teach Cambodian players in Cambodia, said Lak Sam Ath, senior official at Ministry of Education and Sport.

"The fund will also be spent for accommodation of South Korean players who will come to Cambodia to exchange skills with Cambodian players," he said.

"We have tried to train our taekwondo players to join the Sea Game to be held late this year in Thailand. We expect that they will get good results," he added.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Vietnam, Cambodia join efforts to improve sports

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam and Cambodia will play on the same side in training sportspeople and hosting sports events, stated a Vietnamese sport senior official in Phnom Penh.

Minister cum Chairman of the Committee for Sports and Physical Training and the National Olympics Committee Nguyen Danh Thai made the statement with Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Kol Pheng on April 22, and with Chairman of the Cambodia National Olympics Committee Thong Khon on April 21.

Discussions focused on developing a five-year cooperation programme between the Vietnamese Committee for Sports and Physical Training and the Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to be implemented this year.

Cambodian officials both expressed their hopes that the visit by Minister and Chairman Thai would clear the way for resumption of the two countries’ national-level sport cooperation after a period of stalemate.

(Source: VNA) Read more!