By Nguon Sovan
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has seen a positive sign towards achieving its self-imposed target of one million-ton- rice exports by 2015 as the sector has been attracting a number of large investments from China.
In last August, the government launched the rice export policy in a bid to boost the exports of one million tons of milled rice by 2015.
"The main challenges to achieve this target are the shortages of sophisticated post-harvest technologies and capital to buy rice paddy from farmers," Kong Putheara, director of the Commerce Ministry's Planning and Statistics Department, told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.
However, the issues have gradually been broken through as a number of large Chinese firms have signed up to build a hi-tech rice processing plant and to purchase Cambodian rice for Chinese market.
Among those firms is the China Grain Reserves Corporation ( Sinograin) Guangzhou Branch.
The firm signed up on Aug. 16 to buy up to 200,000 tons of milled rice per year from Cambodia and has put its initial investment of 20 million U.S. dollars with a local T.T.Y Corporation to buy rice paddy from farmers to process for the exports to China.
And the China's Yunnan Overseas Investment Co., Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a local Soma Group of Cambodia to build a high-tech rice processing plant to process rice for China.
Also, China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) signed a deal with Cambodia's Angkor Rice this week to buy Cambodian rice.
"A lot of foreign investors have been looking at Cambodian rice potentials, especially China," said Putheara.
"Chinese investors have been leading investments in Cambodian rice sector for now," he said. "Moreover, I believe that China will also be the largest purchaser of Cambodian rice in the future. "
Besides China, he said the Philippines, Brunei, Senegal, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bangladesh has also approached Cambodia for rice purchase despite no deal signed yet so far.
Phou Puy, president of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Millers Associations, said Saturday that currently the country has had only a few modern post-harvest technologies and also had a few large-scale rice storage.
He added that the country's sophisticated rice processing plants are capable to process only about 200,000 tons of rice per year at the moment, so to meet the target of exporting 1 million tons a year by 2015, it needs to be invested other four or five times in modern rice processing plants.
"Therefore, Chinese investment in the rice processing plant is on the right time," said Phou Puy, who is also Chairman of the rice exporter Baitang Kampuchea Co., which invested in a modern post-harvest technology in Battambang province.
The company had exported nearly 20,000 tons of processed rice in the first half of this year, double rise compared to the same period last year.
Puy said the Baitang Kampuchea had also signed a MoU with a Chinese firm for the supply of 10,000 tons of milled rice to China per year and the exports will be starting from next year.
He said his plant is capable to process an average of 130,000 tons of rice per year.
Chan Sophal, president of Cambodia Economic Association, said on Saturday that European countries and China will definitely be the big markets for Cambodian good quality rice in the future.
Cambodian government has simplified procedures for rice exporters; however, the high cost of electricity and transport compared with its neighboring Vietnam and Thailand is still a concern for investors, he said.
Currently, Cambodia has about 35 rice exporters; the country had exported 80,442 tons of good-quality milled rice in the first half of this year, 369 percent increase from 17,144 tons at the same period last year, showed the statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.
However, this country can export only small amount of its milled rice so far due to the lack of sophisticated post- harvesting technologies, storage, and capital to buy rice paddy from farmers; therefore, most of the rice paddies have been sold to Vietnam and Thailand without recycling.
In a year, Cambodia lost about 600 million U.S. dollars from rice production that exported without recycling, Prime Minister Hun Sen said last year during the launch of rice export policy.
Chan Sophal said that the government's rice export policy would broaden and strengthen the foundation of economic growth while accelerating poverty reduction and improving the people's livelihoods through job creations when more rice post-harvest technologies have been built in Cambodia.
With a series of Chinese investment plans in the sector, it's believed that Cambodia will be able to achieve its target of exporting one million tons of milled rice by 2015.
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Saturday, August 27, 2011
Cambodia's rice export scheme sees good omen with Chinese investments
Friday, August 26, 2011
Lack of Research Among Academics a ‘Problem’: Lecturer
Cambodia’s higher education would do well to include more research and critical thinking demands on its professors, a university lecturer said Thursday.
Peou Chivoin, a lecturer of media theory and research at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
“When [academics] do research, it is like they are exercising and it requires them to think critically, thus boosting the overall quality of their abilities and work,” said Peou Chivoin, a lecturer of media theory and research at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. “When people conduct research, they get to know social phenomena and try to determine problems that arise and come up with solutions.”
In much of Cambodian academics, the focus is on teaching, but not on research, he said.
Peou Chivoin is a Fulbright scholar and a PhD candidate of sociology at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
“At universities in developed countries like the US, Australia or Singapore, they have already turned primarily to research,” he said. “That means professors have their own research projects and try to publish their work, whereas Cambodian professors only teach.”
Not only are they not researching, he said, but Cambodian lecturers and professors work more than one job, thanks to pitifully low salaries. That creates a problem, because research would mean less time spent earning money.
Government subsidies could help, but no such support currently exists. A lucky few are able to take on research through the funding of grants or other outside help.
The problem is then passed on to the pupils, he said.
“When most professors do not do research themselves, it’s a problem when they lead their students to do research,” he said. “So there must be strengthened institutions to ensure more attention is paid to research.”
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CAMBODIA: H&M investigates mass faintings at factory
H&M has said that it has not found any plausible causes for a series of mass faintings that have taken place in a Cambodian factory making its clothes.
The statements follow local press reports that a total 284 workers at an M&V International Manufacturing site fainted on Tuesday and Thursday. According to the reports, workers smelled something bad coming from the shirts.
A spokesperson for the retailer told just-style today (26 August) that it was aware of the incident and that the "government, local authorities and International Labour Organisation have done investigations and have not found any plausible causes so far".
The spokesperson said H&M has also carried out an initial probe, with local staff immediately visiting the affected factories for an inspection and interviews with workers, but said the cause is "difficult to establish".
It said it has partnered with external experts and is in "close contact with the Better Factories Cambodia and the Employer Association GMAC" to figure out the root causes and solutions to these "discomforting incidents".
Inneke Zelderust, co-ordinator of the Clean Clothes campaign, said this is not the first time that there have been mass faintings in a Cambodian garment factory, citing a similar situation at a Puma factory in April.
An investigation following that incident found that overtime, poor chemical storage and heat were the causes for the faintings.
Zelderust described as "nonsense" M&V's excuse in the local press that the faintings were a "psychological phenomenon."
She suggested that high inflation levels are eroding salaries so that workers are not earning a living wage. "Workers are foregoing meals and doing lots of overtime which is leading to low nutrition levels," said Zelderust.
Zelderust called for other brands to be "proactive" in investigating worker health and occupational health and safety in their factories following the incidents, suggesting that it might be difficult to "pinpoint one cause" driving these mass faintings. "Take these as indicators of a broader problem," she emphasised.
According to a report released last week by the ILO's Better Factories Cambodia initiative, while working conditions in Cambodian garment factories are continuing to improve, there are still persisting worries over discrimination, overtime and occupational health, and safety.
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Donor governments asked to review Cambodia aid if NGO law is passed
Human rights groups call on UK, US and Australia to apply pressure on Cambodia if severely restrictive draft law is adopted
Human rights organisations are calling on donor governments to reassess their aid programmes to Cambodia if the country passes a law that can be used to muzzle local and foreign NGOs.
Ten groups have written to William Hague, the foreign secretary, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and Australia's foreign minister Kevin Rudd, sounding the alarm on a draft law now before Cambodia's council of ministers.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), Global Witness and others say the draft law, if passed in its present form, threatens to severely restrict civil society's right to freedom of association and expression.
"As such, the law will limit the ability of Cambodia's development partners to ensure that programmes reach their intended grass-roots beneficiaries," the letter says.
The letter urges the foreign ministers to make it clear to the Cambodian government that, if the proposed changes are adopted, they will reassess their aid programmes and urge multilateral aid agencies to review their assistance.
The key concern for human rights groups is a provision under the law which states that associations and organisations cannot operate in Cambodia unless complex registration applications have been formally approved by the government.
"The draft law will effectively authorise arbitrary decision-making by officials as it fails to adequately define terms or set clear guidelines, and it creates burdensome and expensive registration and reporting processes that will particularly disadvantage grassroots citizens' associations and groups," the letter says.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, said the Hun Sen government was seeking to stifle the one clear source of opposition to the government, having reduced the opposition to rump status and cowed the international community.
"Hun Sen is growing increasingly sensitive to critical NGO voices which are working with local people facing dispossession of their land for commercial use for cash crops such as sugar cane," said Robertson. "There has been a plague of land seizures and it is an issue that goes to corrupt governance."
An estimated 30,000 people are driven from farmland or urban areas every year to make way for property developments or mining and agricultural projects.
The World Bank earlier this month suspended new lending to Cambodia in a dispute over the eviction of thousands of poor landowners to make way for a property development in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Two thousand people have been evicted already and another 10,000 face eviction to make way for the project in the Boeung Kak lake area. The development is led by China's Inner Mongolia Erdos Hongjun Investment Corp, an unlisted firm that has pledged to spend $3bn in Cambodia on property, metal processing and power generation, and which has close ties to Hun Sen. Robertson said the Cambodian government has since agreed to put back on the table an onsite resettlement plan, which showed that international pressure can work.
The Cambodian government recently suspended a local NGO, the Sahmakum Teang Tnaut, which has been working with communities affected by major projects in Phnom Penh, including the Asian Development Bank/USAid-funded railway rehabilitation project, and the Boeung Kak lake development.
The suspension, say human rights groups, shows how the Cambodian government may use the draft associations and NGO law if it is passed.
In other recent moves against critics, the government earlier this month closed down two newspapers reproachful of the Cambodian ruling party – the Water & Fire News, and the World News. Their publishing licences were revoked because of "a perceived insult to the ministry of information".
One of Asia's poorest countries, Cambodia receives between $50m and $70m a year from the World Bank. It is looking increasingly to China for aid and development. China is Cambodia's biggest source of foreign direct investment, with stated plans to spend $8bn on 360 different projects during the first seven months of 2011. Read more!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Cambodia's Bill to Limit NGOs Threatening Land Rights
If Cambodia passes a law to regulate NGO activity, what influence will it have on the work of land rights activists?
The Cambodian government is on its way to passing a law that critics say threatens the country's lively civil society groups and NGOs.
The third draft of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations (LANGO) would more tightly control the eligibility of civil society organisations and how they are run.
Even before the law's passage, the government seems to be already be exercising what it aims to accomplish.
The Al Jazeera's stream asks is civil society development in Cambodia at a crossroads?
This is the case with NGOs supporting land rights protesters who have spoken out against the proposed law, saying that it would give the government too much authority over their work.
"If the law is passed in its current form, everyone will lose out, from civil society to investors with an eye on Cambodia, but, above all, the Cambodian people in whose name NGOs and associations work," said Virak Ou, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.
LANGO requires all NGOs to register with the government but does not include an appeals process for denied applications. Without a guarantee of objectivity or an appeals process, some NGOs fear that they will be unjustly shut down.
"Ultimately," Ou said, "the fear is that the law may be used as a legislative weapon to stifle grassroots democracy and freedom of expression and association in Cambodia, in violation of the Constitution and the principle of the rule of law."
Some of these groups have been issued warnings and one organization was even suspended for five months.
Land evictions are a controversial topic in Cambodia, where many construction and economic developments are taking place. In Southeast Asia, Cambodia is seen as a model of development thanks to foreign investment from China and South Korea.
The Cambodian organisation, Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), which supported land rights protesters, received a government letter to suspend its activities on ambiguous terms.
In a joint statement, 130 NGOs claimed the suspension lacked legal justification. They believe the government's move was a symbol of increased efforts to block NGO activity so that land development projects of private and foreign companies can go ahead with greater ease.
NGOs play an integral role in educating civil society of their rights. As Cambodia launches more controversial development programs, land rights disputes and forced evictions are on the rise. In the video above we discuss the issue including how human rights NGOs are working with citizens to launch campaigns to remain on their land and to protect their livelihood.
Read more!
51% of HIV-affected households in Cambodia live in hunger: UNDP
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 51 percent of the HIV/AIDS- infected households in Cambodia are living in hunger, said a new UN survey released here on Thursday, calling for more attention to the need for HIV-sensitive social protection mechanisms.
The survey on the Socioeconomic Impact of HIV at the Household Level in Cambodia is the largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted in Cambodia. It was produced by the National AIDS Authority and the United Nations in Cambodia.
It had been conducted on 4,172 households including 2,623 HIV- affected households and 1,549 non-affected households.
The study found that 51 percent of HIV-affected households reportedly suffered from hunger and not having enough food to eat, compared to 35 percent of non-affected households.
It said that stigma and discrimination happened more often on HIV-positive women than men. Some 23 percent of women reported experiencing verbal abuse as a result of their HIV status, compared with 16 percent of men, while seven percent reported experiencing physical threats or abuse as a result of their status, compared with four percent of men.
The report also found that 65 percent of people living with HIV epidemic being low self-esteem, 49 percent feeling ashamed of their status, while 47 percent felt they should be punished, and 16 percent reported having suicidal thoughts.
On the economic side, 27 percent of respondents said they lost their jobs or other source of income since being diagnosed with HIV, and it also decreased income for caregivers. Over 25 percent of the HIV-infected people have caregivers, and 18 percent of caregivers reportedly left their jobs.
It added that 65 percent of HIV-affected households had a least one loan.
In addition, the report predicted the national HIV epidemic would be responsible for an overall decline in GDP of 16.5 percent between 1993 and 2020. However, the report estimated high coverage of anti-retroviral therapy, up to 96.7 percent, successfully averted 21,497 labor force deaths between 2003 and 2009 and reduced GDP loses by 100 million U.S. dollars a year.
Currently, an estimated 75,000 Cambodian people in 60,000 households are living with HIV/AIDS, said the report.
"The report will be an important base for us to find ways to improve the livelihoods for the HIV-affected households," said Tia Phalla, vice chairman of the National AIDS Authority.
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Helping Hands: A fire truck for Cambodia
Summit resident holding fundraiser to buy and donate third rescue vehicle
By Kathryn Corazzelli
Since 1997, Summit County resident Doug Mendel has made 17 trips to Cambodia. His first, as a traveler for three days, got him hooked.
“I fell in love with the country: the people, the culture, the weather, food and crafts,” Mendel said.
On his third trip in 2001, Mendel spotted a fire station in Sihanoukville, a southern province of the country. A volunteer firefighter for the Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue at the time, Mendel realized the locals were responding to fires in flip-flops, T-shirts and shorts.
“I figured I could probably help them out,” he said.
So Mendel started collecting supplies and gear — bunker pants and coats, boots, helmets, gloves and suspenders. He was able to bring his first three boxes over in 2003.
Mendel kept his efforts up, and in 2005 earned his nonprofit status. The Douglas Mendel Cambodian Relief Fund was born. At the nonprofit's height, Mendel was helping six different fire stations with donated supplies and gear.
The first fire truck he delivered was in March 2006. Red, White and Blue Fire District donated it, and Mendel raised $18,000 to ship it. The truck went to Sihanoukville, where it lived for about six months before moving 20 miles north to a small town called Prey Nop. About once a year, a huge fire would break out in the town, and by the time the closest truck was able to make it from Sihanoukville, whatever had been on fire was gone. Right after the truck was transferred, a market with multiple stalls caught on fire. Because the vehicle was there, 100 stalls — and 100 families' livelihoods — were saved from going up in smoke.
In 2007, Mendel again donated a fire truck. He had one built in country before donating it to a station in a northeastern province.
The Cambodians love American fire trucks, Mendel said. They believe they're built better and are more durable.
“It's nice to see the firefighters using the supplies and gear I give them,” Mendel said. “It seems like they have more pride; that they know that somebody cares about them.”
An 18th trip
Two months ago, Mendel heard about a fire truck for sale in Fairplay — a 1977 American LaFrance 50-foot ladder truck, to be exact. The news captured Mendel's heart because there is currently only one ladder truck in all of Cambodia; in the capital Phnom Penh, which has a population of two million people. The extra vehicle would “help protect life and property.”
So Mendel, along with Red, White and Blue, are holding a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 5-8 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Breckenridge firehouse on Main Street to help purchase the fire truck. He's hoping to raise $10,000, which would pay for the vehicle, and then a little bit extra in case he needs to foot the cost of shipping. Mendel has been working with Cambodia's Ministry of Interior to see if they will pay for shipment — which runs $16,500 — but he won't find out for another few weeks.
“If they don't pay for shipping, I'll just move on to the next project: raising $16,500,” Mendel said. “It's nice having a project that's so much bigger than myself.”
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U.S. and Cambodia Chamber of Commerce ink deal on trade loan guarantees
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) and the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) inked the Memorandum of Understanding on trade loan guarantees to boost trade between the U.S. and ASEAN member countries, according to a statement released by the U.S. embassy here on Thursday.
The MoU was signed between the U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, Carol A. Rodley and Kith Meng, the CCC's president, earlier this week.
The agreement between the two entities reflects an initiative under the U.S.-ASEAN Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA), said the statement.
"Under the agreement, Exim Bank provides loan guarantees to underwrite the risk of nonpayment of medium- and long-term loans extended by commercial banks to ASEAN buyers of U.S. goods and services," it said.
The CCC will now join business chambers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam under this framework, it added.
In June 2009, President Barack Obama determined that Cambodia became eligible to receive financing for purchases of U.S. exports by its private-sector buyers under the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945.
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Thai-Cambodian regional border meeting begins
BANGKOK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Thai-Cambodian Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting was kicked off on Wednesday at a hotel in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province to discuss several issues including troop withdrawal.
The meeting was co-chaired by Lt-Gen Thawatchai Samutsakhon, Thailand's Second Region Army commander, and Cambodia's Fourth Region Army commander Lt-Gen Chea Mon together with Deputy Defense Minister Neang Phat.
Among the 15 agenda, troop withdrawal from the disputed area around Preah Vihear Temple would be raised for discussion.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ruled on July 18 that both countries should withdraw their forces from the disputed area around the contentious ancient temple in a bid to create a provisional demilitarized zone, following Phnom Penh's request.
On this occasion, Cambodian representatives also congratulated the new Thai government led by Pheu Thai Party which assumed the office following decisive victory in the July election.
The two-day talks will focus on issues including national security, border peace, land development, environment and anti- narcotics measures.
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Cambodian dental nurses gain work experience in Western Isles
THE Western Isles Dental Centre is currently hosting two Cambodian Dental Nurses who are visiting for a month for work experience.
Srey Ny and Ratana both attended a course for dental nurses in Phnom Penh in Cambodia which was run by local dentist Kenneth MacDonald and senior nurse Carolyn MacDonald.
Srey Ny and Ratana both work in a large modern dental clinic run by Dr. Tith, and such was the competition to visit Stornoway for work experience that 30 staff had to take an examination to test their knowledge and language to select the best two for further training.
Mr MacDonald said: “The two nurses will be watching the procedures in the surgery and following the role of our senior dental nurses in the new Western Isles Dental Clinic.
“Srey Ny and Ratana are really enjoying the experience of working in the Western Isles Dental Clinic and are keeping a diary of everything they learn to take back to Cambodia. They find the temperature and food a bit harder to get used to but they tell their family and friends they are really happy in Stornoway.”
Kenneth MacDonald explained that the clinic in Phnom Penh where the girls work was the best managed practice he had seen as they have ‘ISO 9000’ quality management accreditation, use the same computer software as we do in the Western Isles, and provide the full range of dental treatments from oral surgery and implants to the latest cosmetic treatment.
Dr Tith realised the benefits of well trained staff and has sent most of his staff on the courses Mr MacDonald has been running in Cambodia. More recently, he decided to develop his senior nurses to be able to train their new staff.
Kenneth MacDonald initially went out to Cambodia to work in a Rotary sponsored clinic that provided care for orphans in Phnom Penh, but as he is the chief examiner with SQA and City & Guild for dental nurses he has more recently been asked to provide a training and mentoring role for dental staff and students providing care for orphans and the poor of Cambodia.
With the use of Skype and the internet, Kenneth is almost in daily contact with the staff at the charity’s clinics and able to give help and advice. He returns to Cambodia in November for four weeks to do further training and clinics.
Read more!
Vietnam assures stronger ties with Cambodia
Really?How strong would be strong enough for Yuon in this relationship? Yuon had no strong enough confidence to grab more land. Yuon Tang Dung is asking Hor Namhong to support all Yuons who are living in Cambodia for a safe heaven.
The Vietnamese Government will do its utmost to join efforts with Cambodia to develop bilateral ties in a deeper, more practical and effective manner.
The statement was made by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Hor Namhong, in Hanoi on August 23.
The PM said potential for co-operation between the two sides was great, especially in trade, investment, tourism, education and training, and the two sides needed to accelerate bilateral co-operation to gain benefits for both.
The two sides should continue to co-operate at the ASEAN forum, contributing to building a prosperous ASEAN community and with the Mekong River Commission to use the Mekong River’s water in an effective and sustainable manner, he said.
The two sides also needed to co-operate in the border marker programme, and help the Vietnamese community to reside legally in Cambodia, he added.
Deputy PM Hor Namhong highly valued the results of bilateral ties in all aspects, particularly trade and investment, assuring that the Cambodian Government will create all favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to engage in long-term investment in the neighbouring country.
Deputy PM Hor Namhong was on a visit to Vietnam to attend the 12th session of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Economic, Cultural, Scientific and Technological Co-operation, held in Hanoi on August 23. Read more!
Cambodia Khmer Rogue leaders genocide trial delayed
Testimony in the trial of four surviving Khmer Rouge leaders before a UN-backed war crimes court is unlikely to start this year, tribunal sources and observers said, marking another delay in proceedings against the elderly defendants.
The court had previously said it expected the presentation of evidence and witnesses in the case, the second to come before the tribunal, to begin in mid-2011 before it pushed that date back to October.
But its recent decision to order a psychiatric assessment on the former social affairs minister Ieng Thirith to determine her mental fitness for trial meant there is now little prospect of a 2011 start.
The behaviour of Ieng Thirith, whose sister suffered from schizophrenia, has been at times erratic. At a preliminary hearing in 2009, the Shakespeare scholar made headlines when she warned her accusers they would be "cursed to the seventh circle of hell."
Court spokesman Lars Olsen said late Tuesday that the court would "shortly" appoint national and international psychiatric experts. He said testimony could start once the court had ruled on Ieng Thirith's mental fitness and a number of other preliminary legal issues.
"At this point, it's not possible to say when that will be," Olsen said.
International prosecutor Andrew Cayley said he "sincerely hoped" the case would start this year because Cambodians and donors to the cash-strapped court needed to see progress.
"But we will see," Cayley said, conceding there "are serious factors influencing the start date which have to be addressed."
However Anne Heindel, a legal adviser at the genocide research organisation DC-Cam, said the chances of testimony starting this year were now "practically nil," echoing the opinions of some court staff not authorized to speak on the record to the media and other tribunal observers.
The four surviving leaders, aged 79 to 85, have denied charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 rule.
The other three defendants are: Nuon Chea, known as Brother Number Two, who was deputy to the late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot; former head of state Khieu Samphan; and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary.
On Monday, the court is to assess the medical reports on three of the defendants to determine their physical fitness to stand trial.
The tribunal estimated 1.7-million to 2.2-million people died in less than four years of rule by the Khmer Rouge, which emptied Cambodia's cities as it advocated a rural, agrarian society. The court said 800 000 of those deaths were violent with the rest attributed to overwork, starvation and illness.
In its first case, the court last year sentenced the regime's security chief, Comrade Duch, to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The verdict on his appeal is pending.
Read more!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
China's security chief goes on tour - How is Asia reacting?
In Zhou's wake, the narrative has tended to follow the same plot-line: first, China's state media proclaims “mutually beneficial cooperation” and “longstanding friendship” between Beijing and the local government. Then a raft of trade deals or bequeathing of military goodies is announced. Finally, an undercurrent of unease follows, with regional analysts wondering about China's growing economic and security might.
Last Saturday, Zhou was in Cambodia, where he met with Prime Minister Hun Sen. In addition to various mining, road-construction and farming deals, China has agreed to supply nearly $200 million in helicopters to Cambodia. Beijing is already the Southeast Asian nation's largest foreign investor, and Hun Sen, who has quietly evolved into one of Asia's longest-serving strongmen, has been vociferous in his support of China. His enthusiasm for Chinese largesse stands in marked contrast to his feelings toward Western donors who tend to attach pesky strings like human-rights commitments to their aid. The Phnom Penh Post quoted a local researcher worrying that “Cambodia will become subservient to China.”
Before that in Nepal, Zhou oversaw the signing of more than $50 million in trade and aid. Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal has turned into a kind of proxy ground tussled over by the two Asian giants. The Chinese delegation arrived just days after Nepal's Prime Minister had resigned. Political dysfunction, though, didn't stop the caretaker government from trying to profit from what China's 60-person delegation had to offer. During the Chinese security czar's stay, members of Nepal's Tibetan refugee community were warned against expressing any sentiment that might be considered “anti-China.” (Zhou's previous political duties have included serving on a Beijing committee that deals with Tibet; he helped oversee a crackdown on Tibetan activity in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan.)
Zhou's travels produced some consternation in India, which shares a long border with China and has skirmished with its northern neighbor over the contested boundary. On August 22, the Times of India reported that the Indian Army was considering the creation of a Mountain Strike Corps to counter a Chinese military build-up in Tibet, which borders India. Ultra-light howitzers and light tanks would possibly be stationed along parts of the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control, according to the Times. Despite such tough talk, however, it's unclear whether India is really willing to commit financial resources to a military expansion.
Luckily for China, the official reaction to Zhou's visit was far rosier in communist Laos. According to China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, Laos' President Choummaly Sayasone announced last week that “China has become a significant force in the international community and is playing a key role in promoting regional and global peaceful development, which reveals the vitality of socialism and greatly encourages the Lao people.” Socialist brotherhood doesn't get any better than that. Read more!
Cambodia Town made official
Despite being 72 years old and living with the effects of a stroke, Chhang Song, a former Cambodian Information Minister, wasn’t a minute late in arriving to salute the recently installed Cambodia Town sign in Long Beach, California.
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| The Long Beach Public Works Department installs one of the first two signs in Cambodia Town on Friday, July 8. Photo by: EDWARD SANA TAN |
Wheelchair-bound, he gave a moving speech at the official unveiling of the sign on July 16, saying he was very proud and excited to be able to observe the historic event. The signs, which are visible along several streets and highways in Long Beach, are a visual representation of the resiliency and determination of the millions of Khmer currently living outside their home country.
“I wanted to say ‘thank you, Long Beach’. I wanted to embrace and thank the young men and women who made the birth of Cambodia Town possible in America,” Chhang Song says.
Having served the Cambodian government between 1970 and1975, Chhang Song was fortunate enough to have left the Kingdom bound for the United States, Virginia specifically, before the Khmer Rouge took hold of the capital in 1975. Obviously, millions of others weren’t so lucky. If being captured, murdered or put to work wasn’t one’s fate, fleeing the capital for refugee camps located near the border of Thailand was another.
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Chhang Song delivers a speech at the official unveiling of the Cambodia Town sign in Long Beach, California. Photo by: MICHAEL BURR |
“We succeeded in having the Dole-Solarz Amendment passed by both houses of the US Congress in 1978,” says Chhang Song, who later moved to Long Beach to assist with the refugee resettlement. “By virtue of the Dole-Solarz Amendment, a total of 150,000 Cambodians who fled Pol Pot and lived in border camps in Thailand were processed for admission into the US.”
Chhang Song says the areas in which these Cambodians resettled were initially horribly depressed, though the community worked together to clear rubbish, organise self-help services and establish non-profit agencies and law offices. A new way of life was slowly becoming a possibility.
More and more Cambodian-run businesses popped up around the neighbourhood, including doughnut shops, car repairers, jewellery stores, restaurants, beauty salons, pharmaceutical clinics, fabric shops and supermarkets. Khmer culture also began to thrive with the construction of Buddhist temples, Khmer language centres and library programmes which focused on the Kingdom’s rich history.
Sithea San, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide who narrowly escaped the atrocities of the Pol Pot regime by crossing the landmine-riddled border into Thailand to settle in a United Nations refugee camp immigrated to Long Beach with her family in 1981. Upon arrival she spoke no English, yet went on to become fluent and graduate from high school in 1986. She then went on to tertiary study – a time which would change her own, and many others’ lives.
While studying for her bachelor of science in business management at California State University, Sithea San helped organise the first Cambodian Cultural Show through the college’s Cambodian Student Society. It was due to this event she says she developed a burning desire to continue to promote the development of a Khmer community in California.
“From these beginnings, my commitment to preserve and share my cultural traditions became the driving force for my work within and on behalf of the community,” she says.
While in the process of organising the Cambodian Cultural Show, Sithea San met her husband, Richer San, and in 2001 the pair was invited to attend a community meeting organised by the Cambodia Town Initiative Task Force. The meeting was intended to garner support for the establishment of the Cambodia Town Economic Development Project, both from members of the public and local politicians.
Now 44, Sithea San has been the chairperson of community-based organisation Cambodia Town Inc. since 2005, and says the establishment of the Cambodia Town Economic Development Project has been the most challenging experience of her professional life in the US, not least because of a complete lack of funding.
“There were no funds available to hire consultants or staff or for expenditure on publicity or public relations. This all-volunteer effort was built and funded from the ground up,” explains Sithea San, adding that the project also experienced strong opposition from certain sections of the Long Beach community.
“The critics … said the establishment of the Cambodia Town Business and Cultural District would result both in inter-ethnic gang wars between the Cambodian and other ethnic communities, and the isolation of the Cambodian community from the rest of the local communities in Long Beach,” she says.
Cambodia Town Inc. and its board members persevered, however, and spent countless hours lobbying elected officials and municipal staff, as well as leaders of other ethnic communities. Finally, after seven long years and with a 1000-strong crowd packing the council chambers, the proposed resolution of the Cambodia Town project was brought before the city council for approval on July 3, 2007.
Members of the council voted eight to one for the establishment of the Cambodia Town Business and Cultural District and the rest, as they say, is history.
While it did take four years and additional fundraising, in February of this year, Cambodia Town Inc. received approval from the city council to install the Cambodia Town signs. Come July 8 and the first two signs, erected on Anaheim Street, were installed, marking the district’s western and eastern boundaries. July 16 then saw a traditional Khmer ceremony take place, complete with blessings by Buddhist monks and a rendition of the Khmer Wishing Dance, while the remaining three posts were erected. And that’s not the end.
“We are currently collaborating with Long Beach city officials to install 14 additional signs marking the district’s northern and southern boundaries,” Sithea San says, adding that she anticipates the completion of the project by the end of this year.
It’s been a long process, one not yet done, but one that holds significance for thousands of Cambodians. In 2005, the US Census Bureau reported that the number of Cambodians residing in the US was 241,025. And according to Chhang Song, Long Beach is today believed to be home to some 50,000 of them, the highest concentration, he says, of Cambodian immigrants living outside Southeast Asia.
Chhang Song believes now that Cambodia Town, while being primarily a cultural district, will also attract businesses geared toward Khmer communities and facilitate exchanges between Cambodians, between Cambodians and other communities, and between America and Cambodia on a global scale. He says that due to this, Cambodia Town’s official existence will go on to make for meaningful economic, cultural and educational advancement for Cambodians living in the United States.
“I feel that, from this moment onward, cultural, business and other forms of trade and exchange will no longer remain the same for the Cambodians [in Long Beach].”
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Cambodian, Thai travel agents to meet as border row eases
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai tour and travel operators are scheduled to meet over the weekend to discuss ways to boost the two neighboring countries' tourism after being affected by continuous border dispute since 2008, the Chairman of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) Ang Kim Eang said Tuesday.
The one-day meeting will be held on Aug. 27 in coastal Preah Sihanouk province, some 230 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, he said, adding that it will bring together 28 Cambodian tour and travel agents and 66 Thai travel agents.
"As military tension over the border conflict has eased and normalcy has returned to border, the two countries' travel associations want to create close connection to boost respective tourism," he said, "Both sides will promote each country's tourism destinations and seek partners for cooperation."
Thai tourists to Cambodia have constantly declined since the two neighbors have been involved in border dispute since July 2008 when Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, but Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple.
Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulting in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides.
However, the border tension between the two countries has eased since the Pheu Thai Party won a landslide victory in the July 3 general election.
The latest statistics showed that Thai tourists to Cambodia had declined by up to 36 percent to 48,136 in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year of 75,695.
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Monday, August 22, 2011
Angelina Jolie inspired to adopt by Tomb Raider
By Bang Showbiz
Angelina Jolie was inspired to adopt by her role in 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'.
The actress played a daredevil archaeologist - based on the character from the popular 'Tomb Raider' video game series - in the 2001 movie and she has revealed it was the scenes she shot in Cambodia which convinced her to adopt her first child, son Maddox, from the Asian country.
She said: "A turning point in my life came when I made 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider', in England. It also involved filming, partly, in Cambodia. I learned that the world is bigger than I thought it was and there were more important things than a film. I did not know much about Cambodia. I did not appreciate how beautiful it was and I had never met such open-hearted people."
Angelina - who went on to adopt two more children, son Pax from Vietnam and daughter Zahara from Ethiopia - also credits the film with helping her turn her back on her hard-partying behavior and live a healthier lifestyle.
She explained: "That film also helped me get in to shape. I smoked a lot, drank far too much, had way too much coffee and suffered from insomnia. The fitness coaches on 'Lara Croft' adjusted me. I had a certain amount of water, protein checks, vitamins, my cigarettes were taken away and I was not allowed to drink alcohol. As for that role, I was loud and insane. I had too much fire for everyday life, so fitted into Lara Croft's world perfectly."
Although Angelina had to fight robots and dodge booby traps in the adventure movie, the 36-year-old actress insists being a parent to Maddox, now 10, and his five siblings, Pax, seven, Shiloh, five, Zahara, six, and three-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, is harder than being a Hollywood hero.
She said: "Once I became a mom, I realized it was far harder than being Lara Croft. I want my kids to appreciate how fortunate they are in life, compared with so many people who have nothing.
"If anybody ever tells me that I am a mother to them like my mom (Marcheline Bertrand) was to me, it will be a great compliment."
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China to lend Cambodia $195m to buy its helicopters
China has agreed to lend $US195 million to Cambodia so it can buy Chinese military helicopters.
It is the latest deal in a flurry of trade and investment between the two countries.
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Chinese Zhi-9 helicopters, the type Cambodia is believed to have ordered, fly past during exercises in southern Kazakhstan. [Reuters] |
The Z-9 is a license-built version of the French-made Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin II first used in the 1980s. Much of Cambodia's military equipment is outdated and in need of repair, with only a few helicopters currently in use.
Cambodian defence ministry spokesman Chhum Sucheat could not confirm how many helicopters would be purchased or when they would be delivered.
China last year donated more than 250 jeeps, trucks and ambulances to Cambodia's army after the United States cancelled plans to provide it with 200 vehicles, in response to the government sending 20 ethnic minority Uighur asylum-seekers back to China in 2009.
As well as government-to-government loans, Chinese firms' Cambodian investments are mainly in construction, agriculture, mining and energy.
Chinese companies last year pledged to invest $8 billion in 360 projects in the impoverished South East Asian country in the first seven months of this year, almost as much as the country's annual gross domestic product.
Among the deals agreed at the weekend was for China's Huawei technologies to help cellphone operator CamGSM to build Cambodia's first satellite. Read more!
AP ENTERPRISE: Sand for Sale; Environment Ravaged
By DENIS D. GRAY Associated Press
KOH KONG, Cambodia August 22, 2011 (AP)
Round a bend in Cambodia's Tatai River and the virtual silence of a tropical idyll turns suddenly into an industrial nightmare.
Lush jungle hills give way to a flotilla of dredgers operating 24 hours a day, scooping up sand and piling it onto ocean-bound barges. The churned-up waters and fuel discharges, villagers say, have decimated the fish so vital to their livelihoods. Riverbanks are beginning to collapse, and the din and pollution are killing a promising ecotourism industry.
What is bad news for the poor, remote Tatai community is great tidings for Singapore, the wealthy city-state that is expanding its territory by reclaiming land from the sea. Sand from nearby countries is the prime landfill and also essential building material for Singapore's spectacular skyline.
As more countries ban its export to curb environmental damage — entire Indonesian islands have been all but wiped off the map — suppliers to Singapore scour the region for what still can be obtained, legally or not. Cambodia, a poor country where corruption is rife and laws are often flouted, is now the No. 1 source.
Singapore is by no means the only nation taking part in what is a global harvest of sand from beaches, rivers and seabeds. Officials and environmentalists from China to Morocco have voiced concern and urged curbs. As construction booms in emerging economies and more sources dry up, however, exploitation of the remaining ones is likely to intensify.
Sand mining began anew in May on southwestern Tatai River, which empties into the ocean almost directly north of Singapore, across 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of open water.
Despite denials by the main owner of sand mining rights in Koh Kong province, two Cambodian officials told The Associated Press that the sand is destined for the island nation.
Singapore will not say where its sand comes from; the Construction and Building Authority said it is not public information. The National Development Ministry said the state's infrastructure development company buys it from "a diverse range of approved sources."
The mining visible on the Tatai River clearly violates some of Cambodia's own legal restrictions, not to mention a recent government order to suspend it temporarily.
Vessels of a Vietnamese company were tracked by boat from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) upriver to the Gulf of Thailand, where nearly a dozen seagoing barges, tugs hovering around them, took on the sand.
The AZ Kunming Singapore, a 5,793-ton (5,255-metric ton) barge pulled by the AZ Orchid, was seen arriving empty from the open ocean, its tug flying a Singaporean flag. Both are registered with the Singapore government, which would not comment on the barge's cargo or destination.
Ships from several countries, including China, were spotted in sand-mining operations in Koh Kong province, where residents joked about going to Singapore and planting a Cambodian flag there.
The vessels included one from Winton Enterprises, a Hong Kong-registered group that was subcontracted to export sand to Singapore, according to Global Witness, a London-based environmental group that published a detailed account of the trade last year.
The report said that miners had penetrated protected mangrove, estuary and sea grass areas, breeding grounds for marine life along a coastline and hinterland harboring some of the country's last wilderness areas.
Cambodia's cabinet spokesman, Siphan Phay, who was investigating the issue in Koh Kong, appeared angry that the temporary halt order was being ignored. He described the activity as illegal mining destined for Singapore, a surprising statement given that government ministers awarded the concession.
A police officer in the economic crime division, who demanded anonymity given the issue's sensitivity, also said the sand is going to Singapore.
Ly Yong Phat, who holds the major concession in Koh Kong, has at times openly acknowledged the Singapore connection. But in a recent AP interview, amid tightening restrictions and mounting criticism, he said his company had not shipped sand to Singapore for more than a year because "our sand did not meet their standards."
The dredging, he added, was for local sale and to deepen river channels.
However, a Malaysian company, Benalec Holdings, said it was ready to tap up to 530,000 tons for a reclamation project in Singapore from several sources in Cambodia, including Ly Yong Phat's LYP Group.
Known as the "King of Koh Kong," Ly Yong Phat is one of Cambodia's biggest tycoons and a senator with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen. His holdings include hotels, a casino and agricultural plantations.
Land reclamation has enlarged Singapore by more than a fifth, and up to 100 square kilometers (nearly 40 square miles) more are slated for reclamation by 2030. What was once seabed is now Changi, among the world's finest airports, and more recently the Marina Bay complex, which includes a 2,560-room hotel and casino developed by Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Mountains of sand are needed for such fills. U.N. statistics show Singapore imported 14.6 million tons last year, ranking it among the world's top customers. Global Witness estimated that nearly 800,000 tons a year, worth some $248 million, were streaming to Singapore from Koh Kong alone.
The U.N. figures show that Cambodia supplied 25 percent of Singapore's imports in 2010, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. With its secrecy and lax enforcement of environmental regulations, Myanmar could emerge as a major supplier.
The damage caused by sand extraction has spurred clampdowns on exports.
Malaysia imposed a ban in 1997, though the media there frequently report on massive smuggling into neighboring Singapore. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad complains that sand pirates are "digging Malaysia and giving her to other people."
An Indonesian ban came in 2007, following years of strained relations with Singapore over the sand on islands lying between the two countries. When miners finished with Nipah Island, reportedly all that was left was three or four palm trees protruding above the waterline. Environmental groups say smuggling is believed to be continuing.
Vietnam banned exports late last year.
Cambodia outlawed the export of sand from rivers in 2009 but allows it from some seabeds. Recently, some government officials said that rivers where seawater flowed into fresh water, replenishing sand naturally, were exempt.
Global Witness spokesman Oliver Courtney said the trade in Cambodia revealed a "mismatch between Singapore's reliance on questionably sourced sand and its position as a leader for sustainable development." The city-state prides itself on environmentally sound urban planning.
The dredging of the Tatai River began on May 17 "with a fury," creating a veritable traffic jam on the water, said Janet Newman, owner of the riverside Rainbow Lodge.
"Before you could see crab pots bobbing in the river everywhere and fishermen going out. Now there is nothing and nobody," the British woman said.
Chea Manith of the Nature Tourism Community of Tatai said 270 families along the river have seen an estimated 85 percent drop in catch of fish, crab and lobsters and were being forced to eke out a living from small garden plots. Tourists have all but vanished.
Armed with a petition, village leaders, tourism operators and a wildlife group met with Ly Yong Phat in early July. He appeared sympathetic, Newman said. He substantially reduced the dredging and has promised to stop altogether in October.
A subsequent letter from the Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology ordered the LYP group to halt operations temporarily on the Tatai, citing a breach of regulations. The letter was obtained by Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post newspaper, which made it available to the AP.
Hun Sen himself expressed concern over the mining in the river.
"We hoped that the prime minister's recent promise to review the impacts of the sand trade would lead to proper regulation of dredging operations," said Courtney of Global Witness. "Unfortunately, the pledge does not appear to have been followed up with meaningful action."
The mining has continued on the Tatai, and violations, such as dredging closer than 150 meters (165 yards) from riverbanks, were clearly evident.
The Post also obtained a Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy letter extending LYP Group's concession in Koh Kong until Sept. 2012.
"We are just little people. We cannot do anything," Chea Manith said.
Newman sounded a more optimistic note. "It's my hope that the LYP Group will become sympathetic through this experience of having seen the reaction from people passionate about protecting their environment," she said. "It would be sad if they just went somewhere else to dump the same on others."
———
Associated Press writers Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Alex Kennedy in Singapore; Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines; Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Myanmar; and Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, contributed to this report. Read more!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Ruling parties of China and Cambodia expect closer cooperation
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Cambodian People's Party (CPP) agreed here to promote inter-party cooperation on Saturday.
At a meeting with Chea Sim, CPP Chairman and also President of the Senate of Cambodia, visiting CPC senior official Zhou Yongkang conveyed best regards from Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo.
Zhou highly spoke of the CPP's achievement in leading Cambodian people to develop economy, reduce poverty, promote ethnic reconciliation, secure national stability and play an increasingly active role in regional and international affairs.
The CPC is willing to carry out more active inter-party exchanges with the CPP to share experience in state governance and administration, and further upgrade the China-Cambodia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Chea Sim said Cambodia would deepen mutual-beneficial cooperation with China in politics, economy, culture and other areas. He said he believes Zhou's visit will be an opportunity to enhance the Cambodia-China ties and benefit both peoples.
After the meeting, Zhou and Chea Sim attended a signing ceremony of a document on inter-party exchanges between the CPC and CPP.
Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, arrived here on late Friday to pay an official good- will visit at the invitation of the CPP and the Funcinpec Party.
Cambodia is the third leg of Zhou's five-nation Asian tour after Nepal and Laos. He is set to leave Cambodia on Sunday and continue his visit to Tajikistan and Mongolia.
Cambodian maids tell of abuse by their employers
The government says it condemns abuse of maid but has not done anything to review the laws to protect them, say human rights activists.
KUALA LUMPUR: Hok Pov had never been beaten and never known hunger until she came to work in Malaysia in April.
In the six weeks that she worked as a maid for a Malaysian family, she says she lost 10 kilograms while toiling 20 hours a day with little to eat. Often she was slapped and punched by her employer, she says.
“I was so hungry that I even ate chicken bones,” a sobbing Hok Pov, 31, said at the office of Malaysian rights’ group Tenaganita that rescued her in June with the help of police.
“There was always lot of work to do and I had to suffer beatings. Once I was slapped so hard that my tooth fell off. Who can bear this?” Hok Pov said in her first media interview
She is among 41 Cambodian maids rescued this year by the group, highlighting the frequent abuse and exploitation of foreign domestic workers due to inadequate laws .
Concerns of abuse of Cambodian maids came under the public spotlight after a Cambodian maid was found dead last month outside the home where she worked, while another was rescued by Malaysian police after she was allegedly abused and had her head shaved bald by her employer.
According to the embassies of Indonesia and Cambodia — which have supplied the bulk of more than 230,000 foreign maids in Malaysia — about 2,000 women come forward every year with complaints of abuse.
Although that’s a tiny fraction of the total number, rights groups say every instance of abuse shows Malaysia in poor light and emphasizes the government’s uncaring attitude to the problem.
Malaysia’s rising prosperity has meant that fewer locals want to do menial, low-paying jobs. The gap has been filled by foreigners, mostly Indonesians who can be seen on construction sites, palm plantations and in homes as maids.
But a string of high-profile abuse cases, including deaths, led Indonesia to ban its women in 2009 from working in Malaysia. The number of foreign maids fell from 280,000 three years ago to about 230,000 today. Some 50,000 of them are Cambodians, of which 30,000 came this year alone.
Stop sending maids here
The government says it condemns abuse of maid but has not done anything to review the laws to protect them. Malaysian immigration officials in charge of foreign domestic workers couldn’t be reached for comment on the issue, despite repeated attempts to contact them.
Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez said that maids who come from poor countries are all vulnerable to abuse, except for Filipinos who are better protected by their government.
She said abuse is institutionalized here as maids aren’t allowed to retain their passports and get no days off in a week.
“Instead of addressing the root problem of putting an end to abuse, the government is turning to other poor countries vulnerable to abuse to source for maids,” she said.
Tenaganita is urging Cambodia also to stop sending maids to Malaysia until the government puts in place tougher laws, or at least an agreement that protects the maids from abusive employers. Indonesia has negotiated such an agreement and is expected to lift the ban on its maids soon.
To ban or not to ban
Hok Pov, who said her hair was cut short like a boy’s, was promised a monthly salary of RM650 — double her wage as a factory worker in Cambodia. She has not received any money from her employer.
“I just want my salary and get out of here. I don’t ever want to come to Malaysia again,” said Hok Pov, who is married and has an 8-year-old son.
“They are rich, educated and religious people but why don’t they have any compassion for the poor like me? I have no one to turn to. Every night I cried myself to sleep. It was one and a half months in hell,” she said.
Tenaganita official Liva Sreedhana said it was difficult to file criminal charges against Hok Pov’s employer as she has no physical injury or scars to show, and only has her words.
The group is now negotiating with the employer, who is refusing to give Hok Pov any money and is dodging meetings.
Men Chaveasna, who also lives in Tenaganita’s shelter with Hok Pov, completed her two-year work contract last August but never got her wages.
Her Malaysian employer bought her a flight home and ditched her at the airport.
Chaveasna, 30, who came to Malaysia to work to support her farmer parents, won a case in the labour court this year to demand wages totaling RM7,700 owed to her. But her employer appealed to the high court and the case is pending.
“It is better not to work in Malaysia because we may not get paid,” she said. “There are many new factories in Cambodia and I can find jobs back home.”
Cambodian Ambassador Norodom Arunrasmy said that Malaysia is the only country that recruits Cambodian maids, giving the poor a lifeline.
She said the Cambodian government was in the process of drafting a new law to protect its maids, including screening the employer to ensure the girls would be properly housed and not overworked.
“To ban or not to ban would be up to the high decision of my government … but they [the government] also know that our people need work and jobs in order to survive,” Arunrasmy said in an e-mail.
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