Viettel wins award for its Cambodian service

VietNamNet Bridge – Metfone Viettel, the Cambodia-based affiliate of Vietnamese military-owned mobile phone service provider Viettel, was named "the most promising service provider of the year" on June 10 by the global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, becoming the only representative of Indochina to be honoured in the category in the firm’s Asian Pacific ICT Awards this year.

Viettel inaugurates mobile phone network in Cambodia

VN sets its sights on dominating Cambodia’s telecom market

Telecom operators expand overseas

The award reflected international recognition of Viettel’s role in the growth of Cambodia’s telecommunications industry. The industry could now be ranked at the same level with other countries in the region and world due to the contribution of the Metfone brand.

Metfone Viettel director Nguyen Duy Tho said the award was earned by Cambodia’s telecommunications industry over the past few years, of which Metfone was just a representative.

"Metfone is honoured to bring pride to the country," Tho said. "I would like to express the sincerest thanks to the Government, ministries and agencies, people, customers and other operators for their support so far."

Metfone quickly became the leading mobile phone service provider in Cambodia after its introduction in the country last year.

In the past year alone, mobile phone density in Cambodia has increased from 15 to 40 per cent, with 120 base transceiver stations (BTS) and 1,000km of optic cable for every million people. Internet broadband use also rose from 0.5 to 2 per cent.

Cable infrastructure could now satisfy the requirements of 3G technology and provide free internet for 10 per cent of Cambodia’s schools.

"The award recipients have demonstrated their great success despite the difficulties of the economic downturn," said Frost&Sullivan partner and Asia-Pacific managing director Manoj Menon, adding that the recipients were the leaders of the industry in the region.

Frost & Sullivan’s ICT Awards were presented annually to companies that demonstrated the best practices in their industry. Past awards have often honoured firms from Japan, South Korea, South Asia and China, Frost & Sullivan said in a press release. This year, representatives from emerging markets were recognised, including Telkomsel (Indonesia) and Axiata (Bangladesh) as well as Metfone.

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World Notes: Palestine, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Angola, Honduras, Iceland

Palestine: Amnesty International diagnoses collective punishment

Amnesty International reacted to Israel's decision June 17 to allow more civilian goods into Gaza by condemning that nation's continuing siege of 1.4 million Gazans as collective punishment. Quoted by IMEMC News, Amnesty spokesperson Malcolm Smart called upon Israel to "comply with its obligations as the occupying power under international law." He criticized Israel also for destroying Gaza's economy through barriers placed on exports of goods and free movement of residents. Interference with Gazans seeking medical care outside the enclave was seen as particularly odious, a point reinforced by the World Health Organization's condemnation the next day of non-functioning medical equipment at Gaza City's Ash-Shifa Hospital. The blockade excludes spare parts and servicing engineers.

Cambodia: Garment workers plan big strike

Despite Labor Minister Vong Soth's plea two weeks earlier to delay strike action pending completion of negotiations, the Free Trade Union of Workers, representing 86,000 garment workers, on June 15 announced a three-day strike in mid-July. The union is demanding a monthly minimum wage increase from $50 to $70, according to phnompenhpost.com. Union head Chea Mony asserted, "All the workers should raise their voices in order to achieve a reasonable salary and better conditions for work." An Interior Ministry spokesperson warned of legal consequences if the strike leads to violence. The potential strike is also aimed at supporting 87 workers unable to work at the Tack Fat garment factory following their refusal to accept in-factory job transfers.

Uzbekistan: Summit promotes Russia-China cooperation

The June 11 summit meeting in Tashkent of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was the occasion for solidifying relations between Russia and China. In their third encounter this year, Presidents Hu Jintao and Dmitri Medvedev reaffirmed plans for humanitarian and cultural exchanges, widened commercial ties, and Medvedev's upcoming visit to China. SCO member nations China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan agreed to new internal administrative measures and to procedures for admitting new member states. The summit reaffirmed collective efforts aimed at dealing with the world economic crisis and promoting regional stability and economic development. Representatives of Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran attended as observers. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was an invited guest.

Angola: Oil riches fuel social gains

A recent nationwide survey, undertaken by the government and UNICEF and reported by Afrol News on June 15, showed progress toward five of eight Millennium Development Goals: malnutrition; education; gender balance; child survival and malaria; and HIV/AIDS. Since 2002, malnutrition is down 12 points to 23 percent, and 76 percent of age-appropriate children attend school, although primary school completion rates lag. Maternal mortality remains high, and only 42 percent of people have access to safe drinking water, a backward step. Angola, ranking 143rd out of 158 nations in the UN 2009 Human Development Report is criticized for corruption in oil income distribution. Some 30 percent of governmental spending, derived overwhelmingly from oil exports, is now dedicated to social programs.

Honduras: Violence mounts

Outside Tegucigalpa on June 14, gunmen killed television reporter Luis Arturo Mondragon, the ninth journalist killed this year. Attempts on her life forced television journalist Karol Cabrera to escape to Canada a week earlier. Amidst agitation by public sector workers for wage increases and a national minimum wage, two men gunned down Oscar Molina, a beverage union leader's brother-in-law, on June 10. In mid-June, gunfire spared labor leaders Carolina Pineda and José Luis Baquedano, the latter active with the National Resistance Front. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier in June had urged Latin American leaders to accept the present government, successor to that of coup-deposed Manuel Zaleya, a "left-leaning president," according to The New York Times.

Iceland: Fraud investigators have worldwide beat

Following collapse of the Icelandic Banks Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir in 2008, proprietors and directors have lived abroad. Parliament last month blamed them for extracting "inappropriate loans from the banks," reported estrategumtrading.com on June 14. Alleging theft of $2 billion, Glitner Bank liquidation overseers are suing former bank officers for fraud in a New York court. They are also targeting auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for obscuring fraudulent transactions. The worldwide assets of former bank director Jon Asgeir Johannesson have been frozen, among them two top-end New York City condominiums worth $25 million. And former President Sigurdur Einarsson of Kaupthing Bank "does not intend to return to Iceland so they can arrest him," preferring instead to reply on rights afforded him in Great Britain.

Photo: Chinese President Hu Jintao, fifth left, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, third right, meet on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 10. (AP/RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov, Presidential Press Service)

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Ultimatum Issued in Mu Sochua Court Fine

The Phnom Penh municipal treasury department has issued a court order to opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua that requires her to pay a court-mandated fine and compensation to Prime Minister Hun Sen or face a jail term.

Mu Sochua, who lost a Supreme Court appeal in a guilty verdict for defamation this month, is in the US. She has said she will not pay the fine and compensation, a total of around $4,500, in a countersuit brought by Hun Sen after she sued him for allegedly degrading remarks in public speeches.

If a warrant is issued for her arrest, she will be the second Sam Rainsy Party member to be abroad and facing a jail term.

Sam Rainsy himself remains in exile and faces a two-year sentence for destruction of border markers in Svay Rieng province. He is facing additional criminal charges for publishing a map on his website alleging improper border demarcation by the government.

Both lawmakers have been without their parliamentary immunity since 2009, and both have said the courts are being politically manipulated by the ruling party to damage the opposition.

In a letter last week to Mu Sochua, the municipal treasury department said she would have two weeks to pay her fine.

Mu Sochua is currently traveling in the US to promote a documentary film on human trafficking she helped produce. She was not immediately available for comment.

Municipal court prosecutor Sok Roeun told VOA Khmer Monday he will soon issue his own letter giving Mu Sochua 10 days to comply with the fines.

“If she still opposes, she will be arrested,” he said.

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China catches up

By Boston Herald Editorial Staff


China’s industrial workers have started striking again for higher wages, notably at Honda plants. Yes, you read that right.

Chinese factory owners long have been able to pay rock-bottom wages. Life in the countryside was so grinding that young people fled to industrial areas whenever they got the chance.

Often living in dormitories, their lives highly regimented by management down to the number and timing of bathroom breaks, the workers sent much of their wages to their parents back on the farm

That was then. Today factory workers know they can live in a real apartment. (China has a real estate bubble of its own.) Mom and dad are doing better; the worker has a little money to spend and believes he or she deserves more.

It’s exactly the sequence of events that started in Britain in the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s and the United States in the 1870s.

Some factory owners may be able to move to Vietnam, Cambodia or Sri Lanka. But an automobile transmission plant is hard to move; stoppage of production is extremely costly and replacement workers may be unwilling to face strikers. The Honda strikers have been winning wage increases.

In any developing country, labor costs tend to rise. Forty years ago complaints about low-wage Japanese workers stealing American jobs were common; recently an hour’s labor in Japanese manufacturing has ranged from 80 percent to 100 percent of the cost of an hour in the United States. Down the road the Chinese may complain about low-wage Sri Lankans.

It’s all part of what we call progress
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Dance fest to help Cambodian kids

By Katheleen Conti


Lowell’s United Teen Equality Center will host a break-dance competition, or B-boy battle, from 3 to 8 p.m. today to help a Tyngsborough teen raise funds to assist children in Cambodia.

Rachel Field, 17, was invited by best friend, Andrew Sinuon, and his family to vacation with them June 27 in their homeland, but she said she “didn’t feel right’’ going to a poorer country on vacation “and not do something about it.’’ Field will bring funds raised to the Green Gecko Project, a school for poor children in Cambodia. Field said, she’ll partner with friends of the Sinuons to travel and donate food and goods to local villages.

Field will film her experiences for a possible documentary, as well as her blog, www.changeforcambodianchildren.blogspot.com. Through events including a yard sale and car wash, Field, a member of United Teen Equality Center, has raised about $1,000.

Tickets for the break-dance competition, featuring Lowell and Boston teens, are $8 at the door, 34 Hurd St., Lowell. Checks should be made out to UTEC, with the memo “Change for Cambodian Children.’’ Read more!

40 Years Later, Combing Cambodia for Missing Friends

Tim Page, a photographer, during the latest of many fruitless trips to find the remain of his friend Sean Flynn who disappeared during the vietnam war.


By Seth Mydans

PKHAR DOUNG, Cambodia — “Let’s rock and roll,” said Tim Page, once one of the wild and daring young photographers of the Vietnam War, strapping himself into the front seat of a four wheel drive van.

“Like Flynn and Stone, three intrepid journalists left Phnom Penh on a hot morning headed for Kampong Cham,” he said, narrating his departure recently with two colleagues.

He settled back for the long ride, past the town of Skun, known for its fried spiders, past hypnotic rows of rubber trees, out to this dusty village near the Mekong River where he believed the bones of two missing war photographers, Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, were buried.

It was not an unusual journey for Mr. Page. Now 66, he has been on this hunt for years, determined to find answers and to come to terms with the war that has dominated his life.

Just 40 years ago, the missing men had headed down an empty road with their cameras in search of Khmer Rouge guerrillas. They were never heard from again.

Their fate has become one of the enduring mysteries of the war, two young journalists — like movie adventurers — riding their motorbikes into no-man’s-land and losing a bet against fate.

Mr. Flynn, the dashing and glamorous son of the film star Errol Flynn, had in fact briefly been an actor, and he brought an aura with him to Vietnam that gave his disappearance at the age of 28 a mythic quality.

“Sean Flynn could look more incredibly beautiful than even his father, Errol, had 30 years before as Captain Blood,” wrote Michael Herr in his classic book about the war, “Dispatches.”

“But sometimes he looked more like Artaud coming out of some heavy heart-of-darkness trip, overloaded on the information, the input!”

Mr. Page had shared some of those journeys into darkness, and his visit to Pkhar Doung was the latest of many forays in what he calls “a 25-year madness” in search of the bones of the man he calls his brother.

Weeks earlier two bounty hunters had made a false claim to have found them, reviving interest in the disappearance and spurring American investigators to step up the search for the missing journalists.

“I don’t like the idea of his spirit out there tormented,” Mr. Page said, a wandering ghost that could only find rest, as many in Asia believe, after proper funeral rites. “There’s something spooky about being M.I.A.”

Mr. Page is also seeking a measure of peace for his own soul, scarred like his body from the traumas of combat, from nearly fatal wounds and the loss of friends, trying to put together what he calls “an enormous jigsaw puzzle, bits of sky, bits of earth.”

“I don’t think anybody who goes through anything like war ever comes out intact,” he said. “I suppose the closure of Sean’s fate also has to do with closure of the whole war experience.”

Theirs was an intimacy forged by shared danger and by what Mr. Page calls the magnetic pull of two only sons searching for a bond.

“We could have been brothers, and felt as though we were,” Mr. Page wrote in a memoir, “Derailed in Uncle Ho’s Victory Garden.” “We would sit for hours in the same room, hardly speaking yet in total communication, a vibration as intimate as between lovers.”

For Mr. Page a lonely intimacy has continued, and he hears what seems to be the voice of his friend from time to time, the voice of a tormented spirit.

“We have conversations in strange moments, and often enough to remind me of the presence of his spirit,” Mr. Page said on his recent drive to Pkhar Doung. “It’s there but not there, and you’re aware that there’s something somehow lurking, just out of reach.”

He said that as he drives past the rubber trees, whose rapid regular repeated rows create the illusion of some ghostly shifting world in the distance, he often hears his friend’s voice, “What are you doing, man? What are you doing, boy? What are you doing, mate?”

Mr. Flynn’s lost bones and wandering soul are not alone in Cambodia, where as many as a quarter of the population died in the late 1970s during the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge. Many of their remains, like those of Mr. Flynn, are still unidentified in killing fields around the country.

Cambodia was a particularly dangerous place for foreign journalists during five years of war before the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975. At least 37 died or disappeared, including 15, along with Mr. Flynn, in a six-week period in April 1970.

After pursuing various theories and false trails, Mr. Page said he now believes that Mr. Flynn survived for a year after his disappearance and may have been killed by lethal injection at a field hospital here. On a visit last year, Mr. Page recovered some medical vials and turned them over for analysis to the American military office in Hawaii that seeks to recover the remains of missing soldiers.

This new visit to Pkhar Doung did little to solve the mystery. Since the bounty hunters had ravaged the site with a backhoe, the American military office, known by its acronym as JPAC, had sealed it off. Mr. Page was turned away by the local police.

In the future, he said, he planned to talk with nearby villagers who might have some memory of captive foreigners long ago and what became of them.

Even if he never does succeed, Mr. Page said his search had helped him honor both Mr. Flynn and other journalists who died or disappeared in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

His pursuit has inspired a documentary, a new memorial to dead and missing journalists in Phnom Penh, journalism courses for local reporters and most significantly a book called “Requiem,” which includes the work of 135 photographers from all sides who died covering Indochina’s decades of war.

Mr. Page, who grew up in Britain, taught himself photography and covered the war as a freelancer from 1965 to 1969, sending pictures to major American and French publications including Time and Life, Look and Paris-Match.

He became known for his vivid combat pictures and also for the risks he took and the wounds he survived. At the time Mr. Flynn disappeared Mr. Page had suffered his most severe injuries, from a mine explosion that sent shrapnel into his brain and body.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, he said, but surgeons revived him for a long and painful recovery. The thin borderline between life and death still seems to draw him.

“At the end of the day, the mysticism of it — living, not living — becomes a mystery,” he said, “and I don’t think we are ever privileged except on death’s doorstep to actually understand it.”

He hovers close, though, pouring his energies into his search for the unmarked grave of his friend, then sometimes finding comfort in the quiet of a cemetery.

“It’s always peaceful in a cemetery,” he said. “Everyone there has found rest. All the tribulations of life are over, and you return to the peace of nothingness".

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Advisor to Cambodia's PM apologizes for making statue

An advisor to Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has apologized for making a statue without permission.

In a letter made available to the media on Friday, Om Yintieng, advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen said he had made a statue of the Prime Minister in a way to express his respect and gratitude, but without knowledge or consent from him.

He thus made a public apology and asked for forgiveness from the premier.

Om Yintien made the apology soon after the Cabinet of Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a statement on Thursday saying a number of places have been displayed with statues of the country's leaders or certain artists make sculpture or reproduction in objects of the leaders for decoration at homes or as souvenirs.

The statement said the gesture has affected the country's tradition and culture which does not allow any statue or sculpture of the leaders be displayed while they are still alive.

In the letter of apology, Om Yintieng did not mention the details of Hun Sen's statue that he had built and where exactly it will be displayed, but local media has reported Friday saying the premier's statue was designed for display inside the premise of government's anti-corruption unit, where is chaired by Om Yintieng.

The statue which was seen Thursday by reporters under the wraps was already removed from the site on Friday.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Exhibition Celebrates Khmer Bronze Casters, With Hope for Action

While museum-goers in Washington enjoy a new display of ancient Cambodian bronzes on loan from the National Museum of Cambodia, a US scholar says artifacts smuggled out of the country in the past should be returned home.

“All people who study Cambodia and all people who visit Cambodia know how important it is that monuments in Cambodia remain as intact as possible,” Hiram Woodward, a emeritus curator of Asian art, told VOA Khmer after his lecture and a tour of the “Gods of Angkor” exhibit Saturday.

“There are now treaties concerning bringing stone sculptures into the United States,” he said, “and one hopes that some of the objects that have been removed from Cambodia in past years will eventually make their way back to Cambodia.”

Both countries signed an agreement in 2003 banning the illegal import of Cambodian artifacts to the US.

Ork Sophon, director general of the Ministry of Culture, told VOA Khmer Monday that illegal smuggling has decreased as a result, while the US has confiscated and returned a number of antiquities.

However, some artifacts that were purchased before the 2003 agreement remain in the US, and Cambodia is trying to convince collectors to voluntarily return them, Ork Sophon said.

“We have so far directly contacted US private collectors who are now getting old and have no children to take care of the items [and asked them] to return them to us,” he said.

Cambodian officials hope the “Gods of Angkor” exhibit, which is currently on display at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington in collaboration with Cambodia’s National Museum, will raise artifact awareness and inspire more participation in the fight against smuggling.

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U.N. envoy warns of failing judiciary in Cambodia+

PHNOM PENH, June 17 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Concluding a 10-day working mission in Cambodia, the U.N. special envoy on human rights in Cambodia said Thursday the country's judiciary is facing tremendous challenges.

"The judiciary in Cambodia is facing tremendous challenges in delivering justice for the people of the country, especially the poor and marginalized," Professor Surya Subedi, the U.N. special rapporteur, said.

While considering the overall state of the judicial system in Cambodia, he raised specific concerns relating to the judiciary's role in protecting freedom of expression and in cases involving land- related rights.

"I am troubled by the impact of land disputes, land concessions and resettlements on the lives of ordinary people, both in rural and urban areas, miscarriages of justice and the narrowing of political space for critical debate in society due to the disproportionate use of defamation, disinformation and incitement lawsuits against journalists, human rights activists and political opponents," he said in a statement.

He called on the government "to introduce appropriate measures to enhance the independence and capacity of the judiciary to enable it to function as an institution capable of providing justice to all in Cambodia."

"If you are poor, weak and dispossessed of your land, you seem to have limited chance to obtain redress either through existing administrative land management systems, or through the courts," he said.

Subedi did, however, welcome the adoption of a series of new laws in recent years, including a new penal code, an anticorruption law and a criminal procedure code that are designed to strengthen the system of justice.

But, he warned, a combination of a lack of adequate resources, organizational and institutional shortcomings, a lack of full awareness of the relevant human rights standards and external interference, financial or otherwise, in the work of the judiciary, has resulted in an institution that "does not command the confidence of people from many walks of life."

Subedi was on his third mission to Cambodia since being appointed special envoy last year.

During his stay, he met with Cambodian leaders including King Sihamoni, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee Om Yentieng and President of the Supreme Court Dith Munthy.

But he failed to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen despite having a prior arrangement to do so.

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US returns stolen Angkorian sculptures to Cambodia

PHNOM PENH — The United States on Thursday returned seven sculptures created in the great Angkorian era that had been smuggled from Cambodia, a US embassy spokesman said.

John Johnson said the sandstone artefacts, dating from between 1000 and 1500 AD, arrived by ship and were blessed by Buddhist monks in a handover ceremony in the southwestern port of Sihanoukville.

The sculptures, which include a head of the Buddha, a large bas-relief and an engraved plinth, were recovered by US immigration and customs enforcement officials in Los Angeles in 2008, Johnson added.

The great Angkorian empire emerged as a powerful regional force beginning in the ninth century and built the stunning Angkor temple complex in northwestern Cambodia, which remains the country's main tourist attraction.

But the country's key temples suffered huge damage from looters during three decades of civil war, which ended in 1998.
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Travel: Cambodia, Myanmar photo workshop

Viewpoint Photographic Art Center and Rick Murai will host Cambodia/Myanmar: Through the Lens photography workshop, Jan. 2 through 17, 2011. This is a good opportunity to produce unique and personal photographs amidst exotic cultures, ancient temple architecture and stunning landscapes.

Noted Penn Valley fine art photographer Rick Murai will present his photographs from Southeast Asia and discuss the itinerary and highlights of this custom tailored workshop at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, at Viewpoint Gallery, 2015 J St., Sacramento. Admission is free and all are welcomed to attend.

The cost is $3765/person and includes intra Asia airfare, lodging, land travel, guides and most meals. The workshop is limited to 14 participants.

Participants of this travel workshop will photograph and experience remote cultures, ancient temple architecture and stunning landscapes. Designed for photographers of all proficiency levels and varied mediums, this custom crafted workshop will insure ample time to effectively photograph at each location. There will be early morning and evening photo sessions, guest speakers, group/individual formal and informal instruction and image sharing.

Photographers will visit Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital and Tuol Sleng prison and the Killing Fields. The tour will then journey to the villages and markets of Siem Reap and the sprawling temple complex of Angkor Wat. The next stop is Myanmar's capital, Yangon, for visits to the imposing Schwedigon Pagoda and then on to the revered ancient sacred center of Bagan to photograph its thousands of pagodas. The tour will end with the intriguing floating villages of Inle Lake.

Murai is widely exhibited and published and a recipient of the 2008 UK Travel Photographer of the Year award. His extensive global travel is sure to make this a fascinating and highly productive experience. Read more!

Fish stock in northeastern Cambodia to be sustainably managed by local people

On 11 June, 2010 Mondulkiri province's Fisheries Administration Cantonment officially transferred management rights of the Sen Kangha Community Fishery to local Indigenous people living along the Srepok river in Koh Myeul Leu and Koh Myeul Krom villages of Koh Nhek district. Representatives from both parties signed a three-year long agreement aiming at sustainable management and use of local fishery resource.

With support from WWF, the signing ceremony was organized by the Fisheries Administration Cantonment at their office in Sen Monorom town and was attended by 60 participants from the Provincial Governor's Office, Fisheries Administration, Sen Kangha Community Fishery, WWF and many other local authorities.

His Excellency Chan Yieun, Governor of Mondulkiri, who presided over the ceremony, encouraged effective implementation of the agreement and urged all members of the Sen Kangha Community Fishery to sustainably manage and conserve fish stocks for long term benefit.

"I would like to ask all relevant authorites, especially the Fisheries Administration Cantonment, to cooperate with and provide support to the Sen Kangha Community Fishery in effectively implementing the Fisheries Law, National Strategy on Fisheries Management and other fishery-related regulations," the Governor said as he was delivering the opening speech at the event.

Rapid population growth and illegal fishing practices have led to over-fishing and falling fish yields. Due to the high dependency on fisheries for local livelihoods and food security, the Forestry Administration in collaboration with WWF, have been supporting the establishment of the Sen Kangha Community Fishery since 2007.

"With decreased fish yields observed over the past years due to illegal fishing activities, local communities are worried about potential disappearance of some fish species," said Mr Moul Phath, WWF’s Provincial Conservation Planning Specialist.

The community fishery provides an opportunity for people in Koh Myeul Leu and Koh Myeul Krom villages to conserve fish resources for their long term benefit.

In his speech, the Governor also highlighted that many of Mondulkiri's important zones of natural fish stocks, especially in Koh Nhek district, could, if managed sustainably, supply enough fish to meet the provincial consumption, as well as support other people living at the border of Ratanakiri province.
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International Festival of Art & Ideas calendar for June 16

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ART & IDEAS

Tickets for all performances with admission price may be purchased online at www.artidea.org/tickets, at the Shubert Theater Box Office (247 College Street, New Haven) or by phone at 203-562-5666 or 888-736-2663. For a complete listing of events, visit www.artidea.org.

June 16

Noon-8 p.m., “Susurrus” (every 30 minutes, noon to 6 p.m.) Playwright David Leddy’s “Susurrus” is part radio play, part avant-garde sonic art, part stroll in the park reflecting themes of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and includes music from Benjamin Britten’s opera. Audience listens to “Susurrus” through an iPod while following charted path through Edgerton Park, starting at Sarah T. Crosby Conservatory, Edgerton Park, 75 Cliff St., New Haven, $30, sturdy shoes encouraged.

Noon, New Haven Ballet Performing “Sei por Quattro” by Artistic Director Noble Barker to music of Nino Rota and “River of Diversion,” inspired by the Quinnipiac River, Elm Street Stage, free.

Noon, Walking Tour: Ingalls Rink: Newly Restored Famous Yale Whale Wes Kavanagh, senior design associate, Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, and Wayne Dean, senior associate director of Athletics, lead a tour of Eero Saarinen’s masterpiece (all ages), space limited, reserve at 888-ART-IDEA, meet at Sachem Street entrance to rink, free.

12:20 p.m., Walking Tour: From Drips to Dots: Selections from the Collection of Richard Brown Baker With Jennifer Farrell, the Florence B. Selden assistant curator, Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs (teens and adults), meet at Yale University Art Gallery, free.

1:45 p.m., Nicki Mathis’ Afrikan Amerikan Jazz Reflects her ties to Africa as well as Mexico and Brazil, Elm Street Stage, free.

5:30 p.m., Ideas: Rebuilding Culture in Iraq & Cambodia - From Crisis to Recovery Joseph Roach, Sterling Professor of Theater and English Director , Yale University, U.S. Marine Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, who led investigation into and recovery of artifacts from the looting of the Iraq Museum, moderated by Helen Ibbitson Jessup, specialist in the art and architecture of Southeast Asia and Cambodia,,founder of Friends of Khmer Culture Yale Center for British Art, 1080 Chapel St., free, reservations recommended: www.artidea.org.

5:30-7:30 p.m., Bike Tour - Eye on New Haven: A Photographic Tour Bring your camera and join an experienced local photographer on ride to some of New Haven’s most picturesque places, several stops to shoot, all riders (10 miles), meet at Festival Info Booth, Church and Elm streets, free.

6:30 p.m., Thomas Bergeron Quintet Trumpeter presents impressionist interpretations of Claude Debussy piano preludes with his jazz quintet, Elm Street Stage, free.

7 p.m., Book Signing, Matthew Bogdanos, author of “Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine’s Passion to Recover the World’s Greatest Stolen Treasures,” proceeds from books donated to the Iraq Museum, Atticus Bookstore/Cafe, Chapel Street, free.

8 p.m., Courtyard Concerts: Joyce Moreno One of Brazil’s most influential artists, Grammy Award-nominated singer/songwriter and guitarist combines samba rhythms and jazz harmonies with intelligent lyrics, Yale Law School Courtyard, 127 Wall St., $30 general admission, must be reserved.

8 p.m., “Khmeropédies I & II” French-Cambodian choreographer Emmanuèle Phuon’s collision of classical Khmer court dance with contemporary Western movement techniques, Frederick Iseman Theater, 1156 Chapel St., $25; call to reserve.

8 p.m., “Moby Dick” Conor Lovett in his one-man performance of his adaptation of Herman Melville’s novel, accompanied by original music by Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh, $15-$40, Long Wharf Theatre, Mainstage, 222 Sargent Drive, all seats reserved.

Tickets for all performances with admission price may be purchased online at www.artidea.org/tickets, at the Shubert Theater Box Office (247 College St., New Haven) or by phone at 203-562-5666 or 888-736-2663. Visit www.artidea.org. Read more!

Check out these itineraries on Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises is offering adventurous passengers two opportunities in 2011 and 2012 to experience one of travel’s most grand voyages: The World Cruise.

Encompassing multiple continents and dozens of the globe’s treasured places, these fascinating itineraries will give travelers the unique opportunity to experience the world along with Princess’ style and service.

Let’s let the company explain its offerings:

The intimate Pacific Princess will sail on a 107-day journey from Ft. Lauderdale to Venice, departing January 13, 2012, offering the line’s popular small-ship cruising experience. For an Australian-style world cruise, Dawn Princess will sail roundtrip from Sydney on May 25, 2011.

Travelers on these voyages will be able to experience UNESCO World Heritage Sites – such as Fiordland National Park in New Zealand, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and historic Cairo. It also is possible to travel beyond the ports in some locations with overland excursions to such must-see destinations as the Great Wall of China and Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Pacific Princess will also introduce three new ports for Princess – Santa Marta, Colombia; Puerto Quepos, Costa Rica; and Manama, Bahrain.

Pacific Princess – 107 days – January 13, 2012:

This Ft. Lauderdale to Venice itinerary will visit 38 destinations in 28 countries, including the mighty Panama Canal, the idyllic South Pacific, plus the “down under” experience of Australia and New Zealand.

Passengers will explore a variety of vibrant Asian cities such as Toyko, experience the bustle of India and Egypt’s legendary monuments, and see some unique European ports, such as Dubrovink, before finally arriving in Venice.

Three new ports debut on this voyage: Santa Marta, the oldest city in Colombia, is the site of the last days of Simon Bolivar, the liberator for whom Bolivia is named. From this port, passengers can visit a number of historical sites, including the oldest church in Spanish America, or can enjoy Tayrona National Park for ecological tours and time at the beach. Puerto Quepos offers an off-the-beaten-path experience in Costa Rica, near the ecotourism destination of Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. Manama, the main port for Bahrain, a small island country in the Persian Gulf, is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fort of Bahrain or Qal’at al-Bahrain (the Ancient Harbour and Capital of Dilmun) plus other numerous archeological sites.

Pacific Princess passengers will also have the opportunity to experience a variety of other UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These remarkable places that make up the planet’s cultural and natural heritage include Fiordland National Park in New Zealand, Sydney Opera House, the Great Blue Mountains near Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef (from Cairns), the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the historic center of Macau (from Hong Kong), the Taj Mahal (from Mumbai), ancient Petra (from Aqaba), historic Cairo (from Alexandria) and the old city of Dubrovnik. Passengers may also take in UNESCO sites such as the Great Wall of China and Cambodia’s Angkor Wat with several overland adventures available during the voyage.

The full itinerary for the Pacific Princess world cruise adventure starts in Fort Lauderdale, followed by calls in Aruba and new port of Santa Marta (Colombia), before transiting the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal. The ship then heads up the coast to new port of Puerto Quepos (Costa Rica), and San Juan del Sur (Nicaragua), to San Diego.

Passengers will then enjoy crossing the Pacific with visits to Honolulu, Kauai (Nawiliwili), Pago Pago, Tonga (Nuku’Alofa), and then Auckland, and Fiordland National Park in New Zealand.

In Australia, the ship visits Burnie, Tasmania and spends two days in Sydney, plus visits Cairns for the Great Barrier Reef. Heading for Asia, the ship calls at Guam, then Tokyo, Hiroshima, Busan, Shanghai, and two days in Hong Kong. Next is Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Singapore and Phuket. In India, passengers will experience Chennai and Mumbai (for a full-day tour to the Taj Mahal), then the ship reaches Bahrain for the new port of Manama, followed by an overnight call in Dubai. Then it’s on to Salalah, Safaga (for Luxor/Karnak), Alexandria (for Cairo/Giza), and a transit of the Suez Canal. Once in the Mediterranean, the ship calls at Dubrovnik and Koper (for the capital of Slovenia, Lubljana), and then finally on to the final port of Venice.

Sailing roundtrip from Sydney, this world cruise features an Australian flavor. Dawn Princess will call at 43 intriguing ports on six continents and will introduce some new destinations not seen on her previous global voyages, including Costa Rica, Morocco, Jordan, Israel, Scotland and Norway. Popular destinations such as Singapore, Dubai, the Mediterranean, the Panama Canal and the Hawaiian Islands are also included.

The full cruise itinerary will take passengers from Sydney to Darwin, then across the Equator to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), and Langkawi, Malaysia. Then the ship sails to India with calls at Cochin, and Mumbai (for the Taj Mahal).

The cruise continues to Abu Dhabi, Dubai (overnight), Muscat (Mina Qaboos), and Aqaba in Jordan (for Petra). Dawn Princess will then sail through the Suez Canal to reach Port Said (for Cairo/Giza), followed by Jerusalem (Ashdod). Then it’s on to the Mediterranean with visits to Mykonos, and Istanbul, with a cruise by ANZAC Cove. The classic ports of Athens (Piraeus), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii), Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Monte Carlo, and Barcelona come up next, followed by Casablanca (for Rabat), Lisbon, Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), and then on to London (Dover). Northern Europe ports include Amsterdam and Bergen, Norway as the ship then sails to Britain and Ireland with calls at Edinburgh/Glasgow (Greenock), Dublin, and Cork (Cobh – for Blarney Castle).

Dawn Princess next crosses the Atlantic with a stop in Bermuda on the way to Ft. Lauderdale. Passengers will then visit Cartagena and transit the spectacular Panama Canal. Sailing up the Pacific Coast, the ship reaches Costa Rica (Puntarenas), Acapulco, Manzanillo, and then Los Angeles. Passengers will then enjoy sailing across the Pacific to Honolulu, Tahiti (Papeete), Bora Bora, and Apia (Western Samoa), as the ship heads for home with a final call in Auckland before reaching Sydney once again.

World cruises can also be booked in segments, ranging from 15 to 32 days. Full cruise fares begin at $21,995 per person and segment fares start at $2,495, based on double occupancy. The Pacific Princess sailing opens for sale June 17, 2010, the Dawn Princess world cruise is currently available for booking.

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS, or by visiting the company’s website at www.princess.com.

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About Princess Cruises:

One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises is a global cruise and tour company operating a fleet of 17 modern ships renowned for their innovative design and wide array of choices in dining, entertainment and amenities, all provided in an environment of exceptional customer service. A recognized leader in worldwide cruising, Princess offers its passengers the opportunity to escape to the top destinations around the globe, ranging in length from seven to 107 days. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:CCL; NYSE:CUK). Read more!

Drug-resistant bugs on rise globally: report

Many such drug distribution programs may be driving drug resistance and endangering the lives they are meant to save, according to the report from the Center for Global Development.

"Drug resistance is a natural occurrence, but careless practices in drug supply and use are hastening it unnecessarily," the Center's Rachel Nugent, who led the group writing the report, said in a statement.

Millions of children in the developing world die every year from drug-resistant strains of malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS and other diseases, the report found.

Since 2006 donors have spent more than $1.5 billion on specialized drugs to treat resistant bacteria and viruses, and this could worsen, the report cautions.

So-called "superbugs" such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas, or MRSA, now cause more than 50 percent of staph infections in U.S. hospitals.

Bacteria and viruses begin to evolve resistance to drugs almost as soon as they first encounter them. If drug treatment leaves even one microbe alive, it will reproduce and whatever genetic attributes helped it survive will be multiplied in the next generation.

Last week, experts told a Congressional panel that U.S. regulators need to provide a clear path for drug companies to develop new antibiotics and should consider offering financial incentives.

The Center's report looks for even broader action, urging WHO to lead others, including pharmaceutical companies, governments, philanthropies that buy and distribute medicines, hospitals, healthcare providers, pharmacies and patients.

The report finds clear links between increased drug availability and resistance. For instance, in countries with the highest use of antibiotics, 75 to 90 percent of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains are drug-resistant, it found.

Poor quality drugs, counterfeit drugs, incomplete use of drugs and other factors all contribute to the problem, the report found. And this problem will worsen as drug access programs succeed, it cautions.

"The number of people being treated for HIV/AIDS, for example, increased 10-fold between 2002 and 2007; there was an 8-fold rise in deliveries of (drugs) for malaria treatment between 2005 and 2006, and the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility has expanded access to drugs for TB patients, offering nearly 14 million patient treatments in 93 countries since 2001," the report reads.

"While increased access to necessary drugs is clearly desirable, it brings challenges in preserving the efficacy of these drugs and ensuring they are used appropriately."

For instance, in 2008, an estimated 440,000 cases of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis emerged.
The Center for Global Development, an independent, nonprofit group, specializes in research on global poverty and inequality.
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Japanese ship, officers arrive in Cambodia on medical aid mission+

PHNOM PENH, Japanese medical officers arrived in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville on Tuesday aboard a Japanese maritime Self-Defense Force transport ship on the second leg of a two-nation mission to participate in a U.S. Navy-led medical aid program in Asia.

While in Cambodia, they will take part in medical aid activities for about two weeks under former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's "Fraternity Boat" initiative.

The 8,900-ton MSDF transport ship Kunisaki, with roughly 200 crew members on board, arrived together with the U.S. Navy hospital ship Mercy on Tuesday morning, an official of the Japanese Embassy in Cambodia said.

The embassy said doctors and Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel will conduct medical and cultural activities with U.S. Navy personnel and nongovernmental groups as part of this year's Pacific Partnership program.

Prior to its mission in Cambodia, the Kunisaki took part in the Pacific Partnership program in Vietnam.

The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh said the Pacific Partnership 2010 is the fifth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors aimed at strengthening regional partnerships and increasing navy-to-navy contact with host and partner nations, U.S. interagency groups, and international humanitarian and relief organizations.

Pacific Partnership 2010 brings together military medical and engineering professionals from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, and Britain, according to U.S. Embassy officials.


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60,000 protest against Cambodia land grab

The United Nations' human rights office in Cambodia has condemned a government ruling that banned a peaceful march by people at risk of losing their land.

Early on Tuesday, dozens of armed riot police blocked several hundred representatives from delivering a petition to the home of the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen.

Sixty thousand villagers whose land is under threat across the country signed the petition, which calls on Hun Sen to help them.

Instead, the villagers were forced to hand over the petition to officials from Hun Sen's cabinet at a nearby park.

Land-grabbing is arguably Cambodia's most pressing problem, but a weak judiciary has proven no match for powerful interests behind the scourge.

The municipality banned the planned march late on Monday, but did not give a reason for doing so.

The United Nations' local human rights office described the ban as "regrettable", adding that it was given without reason or justification - and therefore contrary to the new law regulating demonstrations. Read more!

CAMBODIA: Strike threats loom while pay talks stall

By Leonie Barrie


The threat of a strike by garment workers in Cambodia appears to have abated while talks on a rise in the minimum wage get underway between manufacturers, unions and local government officials.

Union representatives said in late May that they would launch a strike this month after becoming frustrated at a lack of progress on the pay talks.

They had agreed at a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee in February to form a working group to conduct pay negotiations, with a view to implementing changes by the end of this year - but it seems a specific date to begin the discussion has still not been set.

Indeed, Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), confirmed to just-style the industry group is still "waiting for the government to organise such meetings and negotiations."

Unions are keen to see the monthly minimum wage for Cambodian garment workers lifted from its current level of US$50 to between $70 and $93 per month to cover basic living costs such as food, housing and travel expenses.

If agreed, this would be the first wage increase in around two years.

"GMAC received a letter from [the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTUWKC)] in late May," Ken Loo said "informing us of the intention to conduct this strike as well as indicating their request for a revision of the minimum wage.

"Our government responded on 5 June that there are procedures that have been put in place and committees that have been formed to look into this issue, and have requested that the union in question submit their request to the respective committee."

He added: "GMAC's position is that we would follow the instructions of the government and wait for them to organise such meetings and negotiations."

The International Labour Organization (ILO) also notes that while "a basic framework for these [new minimum wage] negotiations has been agreed, important details of the process remain outstanding."

While it waits for government action, GMAC is holding a meeting on the minimum wage and draft trade union law on Thursday (17 June) to discuss the issues with factory owner, directors and managers.

Despite being hit hard by the global downturn, Cambodia's garment sector has seen exports rebound this year, with exports up 7.2% in the first quarter.

Crucially there has been a strong recovery in exports to all of its major markets, with shipments to the US up by 4.1% and to the European Union up by 7.3%.
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Moya Dayen wins US$13.4m contract for water project in Cambodia

By Jonathan Peeris


SINGAPORE : Catalist-listed environmental engineering firm Moya Dayen has clinched a US$$13.4 million contract from the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority in Cambodia.

The contract is for the supply, delivery and construction of an intake tower around 25 metres high located in the Mekong River.

It also covers the construction of a raw water pumping station with a capacity 135 million litres per day and a raw water transmission main connecting the station to the water treatment plant site, as well as other ancillary works.

The contract is scheduled to start this month and is expected to take 30 months to complete.

This is the second contract that Moya Dayen has clinched with the Cambodian authority since 2006.

The contract is not expected to have a material impact on the firm's earnings for the financial year ending in September. - CNA /ls
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China’s Workers Strike Back

As a wave of strikes at Honda and protests over worker suicides at Foxconn led the firms—two of China’s major foreign manufacturers—to offer workers significant pay raises, China watchers are wondering whether the country is facing the end of cheap labor. After a string of suicides among employees at Foxconn’s plant in Shenzhen, where the starting wage was a paltry $130 per month, the company effectively offered to double many workers’ salaries. Simultaneously, 1,900 workers at Honda’s transmission plant in nearby Foshan staged a two-week walkout to demand better pay from a firm that recently announced record sales in China. Workers at two other Honda plants followed suit, halting production again.

The Honda strike was “a watershed,” says Ian Crawford, executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, since it marked “the first time a big international company [in China] has had a formal mass withdrawal of labor over wages, with at least tacit union acceptance.” The incidents suggest that China’s migrant workers are increasingly unwilling to accept bottom-of-the-barrel wages or the -military-style discipline of factories like Foxconn’s. “Workers today are more aware of their rights—they can go online, they get information about what happens abroad,” says Liu Kaiming, a migrant-worker expert at Shenzhen’s Institute of Contemporary Observation.

China’s one-child policy—which has reduced the supply of able-bodied youth—also puts migrant workers in a stronger position, says Liu. In fact, Shenzhen now faces a labor shortage, as workers move to Shanghai and other cities where the minimum wage is higher. A new law on labor-dispute resolution, introduced two years ago, has also enhanced workers’ confidence by giving them easier access to legal redress.

A more assertive migrant workforce is putting pressure on trade unions, too. Traditionally, the unions have represented government interests, which have often coincided with those of big business. But when the Foxconn crisis erupted, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions quickly appealed to private employers for higher wages and better treatment for workers across the country. Unions still see themselves as a bridge between workers and management, says Crawford, but they are now more likely to demand pay raises if they think workers are being treated unfairly. A recent Peking University survey found that unionized companies usually offer higher wages, better pensions, and slightly shorter working hours.

The risk for China is that companies, especially those on narrow margins, may consider relocating to Cambodia or Indonesia, where wages are lower and the workers potentially more pliable. Those which do remain—and Western consumers, too—may have to get used to a rise in what economists call “the China price.” Read more!