Cambodian FM names 9 new ambassadors

PHNOM PENH, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has named new ambassadors to nine countries, including Kuwait, which is to receive Cambodia's first diplomatic posting there, and Japan, where the minister's son Hor Moniroath is expected to head the Cambodian mission, state media reported Saturday.

The Japanese government had been notified of the appointment, which is awaiting the approval of the Cambodian and Japanese governments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.

"We have notified the Japanese government but we haven't received any response yet. We need the agreement of the host country first before sending the new ambassador," he said.

Hor Namhong's son Hor Nambora is currently serving as Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, making Hor Moniroath's appointment the second top diplomatic posting in the minister's family.

Japan is Cambodia's largest bilateral aid donor, according to the Cambodia Daily.

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Thailand protests Cambodia over religious ceremony at disputed temple

BANGKOK, Nov 15 (TNA) - Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest against Cambodian authorities who performed a religious ceremony at a temple located in Thai territory.

In an Aide-Memoire dated November 13, the Thai government protested Cambodia’s Kathin ceremony which was held at Keo Sikha Kiri Savara pagoda on November 12.

Thai officials in the border province of Si Saket reported seeing around 500 Cambodian people at the temple.

"Such action was considered a blatant and willful violation of Thailand’s sovereignty as the crowd had entered Thai soil without permission from the Thai government," said the aide-memoire.

The statement also mentioned Thailand still maintained its standpoint in working constructively and closely with Cambodia within the existing framework of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary or JBC to resolve their border conflict in a peaceful manner. (TNA) Read more!

A reason for the little ones to smile

MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH MediaCorp DJ Carol Smith joins Operation Smile mission to Cambodia to help less fortunate children

FOR the first nine years of his life, the people in Thanh’s village called him “Sut” — which means “split lip” in Vietnamese — as a result of his cleft lip. On his first day of school, he was teased so badly by the other children that he refused to go back.

All this changed, however, after he received cleft lip surgery from medical specialists during an Operation Smile mission trip to the southern Vietnamese city of Vung Tau.

Thanh is just one of more than 115,000 children and young adults who have received free surgeries for facial deformities such as cleft lips, cleft palates, facial tumours and burns since Operation Smile was founded in 1982. Every year, the international medical charity coordinates medical missions to 26 countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Operation Smile Singapore serves as a resource centre for the Asian region, covering Cambodia, China, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. It is also the adopted charity of MediaCorp radio station Class 95FM for 2008.

This November, as part of a partnership between MediaCorp and DBS, Class 95FM DJ Carol Smith will join an Operation Smile mission to Cambodia as a non-medical volunteer, where she will accompany beneficiaries and their families through the entire process.

Explaining why she “jumped at the opportunity” to be a part of this mission, the 33-year-old radio personality said: “The child beneficiaries of Operation Smile have been through a lot of discomfort, fear and anxiety. All of us know what it’s like to be ostracised for being even a little different, so imagine what these children go through.”

In developing countries, one in 500 children are born with correctable facial deformities, which can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatising. Around the world, 200,000 children are born every year with a facial deformity and tens of thousands remain untreated. Many of these children have difficulties eating or speaking, and some are kept out of school.

On a typical two-week Operation Smile mission, approximately 300 to 500 patients receive free medical evaluations, and an average of 100 to 150 are given free surgical treatment.

Besides changing these children’s lives through surgeries which can take as little as 45 minutes, Operation Smile provides education and training to medical volunteers in its partner countries, and provides key medical equipment – laying the groundwork for sustainable healthcare systems.

Carol — who is currently single, although she half-jokingly revealed that she hopes to have enough children for “a football team one day, if not more” — said: “I get a lot of joy from interacting with children because of their innocence, charm, and purity. I think Operation Smile brings hope to each child, and I’d like to be there to comfort them, and be their friend on their journey of hope.”

In addition to helping to “put a smile on the children’s faces” this November, Carol hopes to accomplish two other key goals: To better understand their circumstances, and to bring their plight to the attention of others.

She said: “I’d like to be part of the journey of the beneficiaries while I am there, to get a real feel of life as seen through their eyes, and to listen and bring back their stories to share with fellow Singaporeans – who will, hopefully, be moved to help in their own way.” LYNETTE KOH
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