Halo Group, Inc. Tremendous Growth is Paralleled by Giving Spirit

The Allen-based Halo Group, Inc. (Halo) has been experiencing unprecedented growth over the past several years. The nationwide holding company now has eight subsidiaries within the consumer financial services industry. Ranking number three in the Comerica Bank Collin 60 of the fastest growing companies, Halo continues to be recognized for excellence and achievement in their market space. However, what is not widely known is the commonly held servant attitude and actions that characterize the Halo employee. Those actions include domestic service projects such as post Katrina clean-up efforts to various wellness and service missions to Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cambodia, South Africa, and India to name a few. Halo has been in support of such projects from the beginning. “It falls in line with Halo’s mission to serve and stand above reproach. Halo’s mission as a company has always been to serve the American consumer in financial distress and offer solutions to strengthen the economy. It stands to reason that we as individuals enjoy serving outside the walls of Halo as well,” states Jimmy Mauldin, chief strategy officer at Halo Group, Inc.

One such employee is Neelka Smith, executive assistant at Halo Group, Inc., who has spent over 18 years involved in missions, having lived in 45 countries during that time including Central Asia, India, China, Angola, North Korea, and Guatemala. Today she continues to serve as a project director for Team Mania Global Expedition, a position she has held now for nine years. She is currently heading up a food factory initiative that will bring 250,000 meals a day to underserved countries. Neelka began her mission work while in college using summers to do work abroad in refugee camps in Nepal and Buton through Global Christian Network. Her heart has always been for young people and works locally, as well as, abroad as a child advocate working to put a stop to child prostitution. “Halo offers me the flexibility and the support that allows me to fulfill my commitment to serve others,” adds Neelka.

Another good example is Jeffrey Rasco, vice president of government relations & compliance at Halo Group, Inc., who spent eight days in Nicaragua to work with an orphanage providing facility and land maintenance, and much needed care to the community of children. “In addition to serving the financially-distressed American consumer, the culture at Halo also allows me to take time away from the office to serve those with even greater needs. Working with a group of orphans in Nicaragua for a week makes you realize how truly blessed we are as Americans, and brings a greater sense of purpose to my work, both here at home and abroad,” offers Jeffrey.

Throughout the year, there are many others serving locally and nationally through churches and shelters. Jonathan Whitt, operations assistant at Halo Group, Inc., enjoys serving through his church in the Dallas area, as well as abroad. He has made several trips to Mexico and is currently raising money for a trip to Cambodia this winter. The wellness mission to Cambodia will include teaching English and providing preventative healthcare to improve quality of life. Brianne DeVries, a receptionist at Halo Group, Inc., works with the homeless in Dallas serving locally in shelters and running clothing drives. “The character of the employees we hire is a real consideration in the interview process,” states Derek Stringer, executive vice president at Halo Group, Inc. “Halo believes in the integrity of its employees and the work that they do both corporately and in acts of service.”

About Halo Group, Inc.

Halo Group, Inc. is a nationwide holding company based in Allen, TX with subsidiaries operating primarily in the consumer financial services industries including debt, mortgage, real estate, credit, loan modification, and insurance. For more information about Halo Group, Inc., visit www.myhalogroup.com. Read more!

AAA Network channels launched in Taiwan

AETN All Asia Networks (AAA Networks), a joint venture of A&E Television Networks and ASTRO All Asia Entertainment Networks Limited, have announced the launch of its channels in Taiwan with four key Multiple System Operators (MSOs): TBC, kbro, CNS and TFN Media.

AAA Networks’ portfolio of four factual channels – HISTORY HD, HISTORY, The Biography Channel (BIO), and Crime & Investigation Network (CI) – have recently launched on both TBC and kbro’s digital platforms; while CNS and TFN Media will soon debut HISTORY HD, a 100 percent HD content channel.

Louis Boswell, General Manager, AAA Networks, said, “Taiwan is such an important pay TV market, it is unthinkable not to have our channels available there. We believe the Taiwan cable TV industry has developed extensively and the digital revolution is underway. We are pleased to offer our channels on the digital platforms of the four key MSOs. Taiwan viewers can now enjoy more in-depth, high quality factual entertainment programmes than ever before.”

All four channels are fully subtitled with traditional Chinese. Boswell continued "Subtitling is only the first step; as in every market we will continue to focus our efforts on the localisation of content through acquisition and production."

AETN All Asia Networks launched in June 2007 with HISTORY and CI. In just two years, the company’s channel portfolio has grown to include BIO and HISTORY HD. Distribution now covers Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Macau, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Read more!

Cambodia: ‘AIDS Colony’ Violates Rights

Source: Human Rights Watch

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
The Cambodian government should urgently address dangerous conditions in a de facto AIDS colony it has created and immediately stop sending HIV-affected families there, more than 100 international HIV/AIDS and social justice organizations and experts said in a joint letter delivered on July 27, 2009 to Cambodia's prime minister and health minister.

In June 2009, the Cambodian government forcibly relocated 20 HIV-affected families living in Borei Keila, a housing development in Phnom Penh, to substandard housing at Tuol Sambo, a remote site 25 kilometers from the city. Another 20 families were moved there on July 23. The families were resettled into crude, green metal sheds that are baking hot in the daytime and lack running water and adequate sanitation. Just meters away, higher-quality brick housing is being built, with the assistance of a nonprofit group, for other homeless families slated for resettlement at Tuol Sambo. Even before the HIV-affected families were resettled at the site, local people referred to the green sheds as "the AIDS village."

"By bundling people living with HIV together into second-rate housing, far from medical facilities, support services, and jobs, the government has created a de facto AIDS colony," said Shiba Phurailatpam of the Asia-Pacific Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS. "It's hard to understand how a government that has received international recognition for its HIV-prevention efforts could so callously ignore the basic rights of people living with HIV."

Dozens of organizations and individuals based in the Asia-Pacific region signed the letter, joined by groups and individuals from many nations, ranging from Canada and the United States to India and Tanzania.

The letter stresses that conditions at Tuol Sambo do not meet minimum international standards for even temporary emergency housing. The shelters are flanked by open sewers, with only one public well for all of the relocated families. They are crowded into the poorly ventilated metal sheds, where the afternoon heat is so intense they often cannot remain in their rooms, and they fear their antiretroviral (ARV) medication will deteriorate.

"The housing conditions in Tuol Sambo pose serious health risks for families living there," said Rebecca Schleifer, health and human rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. "People living with HIV have compromised immune systems and are especially vulnerable. For them, these substandard conditions can mean a death sentence or a ticket to a hospital."

The organizations also expressed deep concern about discrimination against HIV-affected families in the screening and allocation process for on-site replacement housing being built at Borei Keila. After two years of denying eligibility to HIV-affected families for this housing, the authorities have now said that at least 11 HIV-affected families previously slated to be sent to Tuol Sambo are in fact eligible. Those families remain at Borei Keila, but are still waiting for the housing they have been promised.

Increasing property values in Cambodia's capital city have left thousands of urban poor people vulnerable to forced evictions to make way for commercial development. The development of the Borei Keila site was approved in 2003 with the understanding that the developer would build new housing on site for those displaced by the project. With few exceptions, however, the HIV-affected families thus far displaced have not even been screened for eligibility for this housing.

When living at Borei Keila, these people worked as day laborers, motorcycle taxi drivers, cleaners, and seamstresses. Now, most have no prospects of work at or near Tuol Sambo. Their economic situation is worsened by the fact that a return trip to Phnom Penh to go to work or to visit hospitals costs the equivalent of about US$5 - for families who earn only $1.50 to $3 a day.

"The Cambodian government needs to establish a fair and open process for all to receive the housing and services they need," said Kevin Moody of The Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+). "People living with HIV - like all others - need adequate living conditions that do not threaten their health and a way to earn a livelihood, so that they can provide for themselves and their families. Grouping families affected by HIV in this way exposes them to further stigma and discrimination; steps must be taken to end this discrimination now."
The groups called on the Cambodian government to:

Cease moving HIV-affected families to the Tuol Sambo site;

• Improve conditions at Tuol Sambo to meet minimum standards for adequate shelter, sanitation, and clean water;
• Ensure full access to quality medical services, including antiretroviral treatment, treatment of opportunistic infections, primary health care and home-based care;
• Work with relevant agencies and consult with the families already at Tuol Sambo to address immediate and long-term concerns regarding housing, health, safety, and employment, and reintegration into society in a manner that protects their rights and livelihoods; and
• Employ a transparent and fair screening process to determine eligibility for on-site housing at Borei Keila, and allow eligible families to move in immediately (including the 11 HIV-affected families already approved). For those found ineligible, authorities should provide other adequate housing.

"Living with HIV with dignity means more than just ARVs," said Aditi Sharma of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition. "It means these families should have a healthy environment with adequate nutrition, proper sanitation and a continuum of care that addresses the social, psychological, legal, and economic consequences of living with HIV."

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Rash of lawsuits sees Cambodia crack down on dissenters

By Tim Johnston in Bangkok


Asia is no stranger to governments using the courts to muzzle their detractors, but the Cambodian government's current legal attack on its opponents is causing concern in the region.

Hang Chakra, former editor of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, is sharing a cell with 50 other convicts in Phnom Penh's notorious Prey Sar prison, serving a one-year sentence for articles that alleged corruption among government officials.

Moeung Sonn, head of the Khmer Cultural Civilisation Foundation, was last month sentenced to two years in jail in absentia for "disinformation" after suggesting that a new lighting system at the Angkor Wat temple complex might damage the 600-year-old buildings.

And on Friday, a court is to hand down its verdict in a case against Mu Sochua, an opposition parliamentarian accused of defamation against Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister.

"I'm sure I will be found guilty unless there is some magic in the air, and I don't feel that there is," she said yesterday.

"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said last week.

The case against Mu Sochua, a former minister for women and veteran's affairs, is based on her allegation that Hun Sen called her "strong leg" - a cutting insult in Khmer culture - in a speech in her constituency in early April. When he declined to apologise, she called a press conference in which she alleged that not just herself, but all Cambodian women had been insulted.

That allegation provoked a counter-suit from Hun Sen. The courts threw out her case but agreed to hear Hun Sen's complaint.

Her lawyer withdrew after he came under pressure, provoking a protest from the office of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Mu Sochua declined to find a different attorney. "I am not going to put another lawyer through that torture," she said.

If she is found guilty, she will face a fine of about $2,500 (€1,760, £1,520). More importantly, she could lose the right to sit in parliament. Some analysts say that might be Hun Sen's intention.
"The concept of pluralism hasn't got any roots in Cambodia," said David Chandler, a professor of history at Monash University in Australia. "The opposition is almost by definition disloyal."

Son Chhay, another outspoken opposition parliamentarian, says the recent crackdown is a symptom of a government that is trying to address the issues facing the country, such as corruption, land seizures and economic stagnation.

"Like many dictatorial regimes in the region, because they are unable to solve the problems, they resort to measures to control the people and shut them up," he said.

"If he allowed Mu Sochua to challenge him, other people might go down the same path," said Son Chhay.

In the early 1990s, the international community invested some $1.5bn in a UN operation to restore civil government to a country that Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge cadre, had run since 1985.

The opposition fears the prime minister is using his parliamentary majority - the CPP won 90 of the 123 seats in parliament in elections last year - to destroy fragile institutions that have taken years to build.

Read more!

Cambodian cases intensify concern

By Tim Johnston


Cambodia's government is under fire because of its legal attack on opponents. Hang Chakra, former editor of the Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, shares a cell with 50 other convicts in Phnom Penh's notorious Prey Sar prison, serving a one-year sentence for articles that alleged corruption among government officials.

Moeung Sonn, head of the Khmer Cultural Civilisation Foundation, was last month sentenced to two years in jail in absentia for "disinformation" after suggesting a new lighting system at the Angkor Wat temple complex might damage the 600-year-old buildings.

On Friday, a court is to hand down its verdict in a case against Mu Sochua, an opposition parliamentarian accused of defamation against Hun Sen, Cambodia's prime minister. "I'm sure I will be found guilty unless there is some magic in the air - and I don't feel that there is," she said.
"The . . . government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.


Read more!

Exchange Programme For Cambodian Legal Officers

SHAH ALAM, The Asean Law Association of Malaysia will organise an exchange programme for eight officers of the Cambodian Justice Ministry with the objective of providing better understanding of Malaysia's law and legal system.

"The pilot project is also to promote cooperation and solidarity among members of the legal profession between Malaysia and Cambodia," said S. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Standing Committee on Asean Students Exchange Programme, Asean Law Association of Malaysia.

The programme is organised with the support and assistance from Cambodian Ambassador to Malaysia Princess Norodom Arunrasmy and staff of the Cambodian embassy.

Radhakrishnan said Cambodia was the first country in the Asean region to be invited to join the programme which will take place on Aug 2-8.

"The eight officers will be attached to four legal firms throughout the programme," he told Bernama.

He said the Asean Law Association of Malaysia would consider extending the programme to other Asean countries based on the evaluation and feedback upon the completion of the pilot project.

Chief Justice Tan Sri Zaki Azmi, who is also the Asean Law Association of Malaysia president, is scheduled to launch the programme at the Royal Selangor Club, Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 3.

Ambassadors and high commissioners from the Asean countries are expected to attend the function.

The Asean Law Association of Malaysia, established in 1980, is the Malaysian chapter of the regional organisation known as the Asean Law Association (ALA).

The primary objective of ALA is to promote greater cooperation and better understanding among members of the legal profession in the Asean region.

The secretariat of the regional body is in Bangkok, Thailand.

-- BERNAMA
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Vietnam invests 200 mln USD on Cambodian Air, banking

PHNOM PENH, A signing ceremony was held on Sunday by Cambodia and Vietnam on the establishment of Cambodian Air Carrier which was a joint venture between Vietnam Airline and National Cambodia Air Carrier namely Cambodia Angkor Air.

"Vietnamese side has invested 100 million U.S. dollars capital in Cambodia Angkor air," Sok An, deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, said at the signing ceremony which was presided over by Prime Minister Hun Senand visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, who is also representative of the prime minister of Vietnam.
"Cambodia will have 51 percent share and Vietnamese side controls 49 percent," Sok An said, adding that the Cambodian new airline will help to push the tourism sector in the Kingdom while the world has met with global economic and financial crisis. The Vietnamese investment on Cambodia Angkor Air will be processed for30 years, Sok An said.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has also invested another 100 million U.S. dollars to open the Bank for Development and Investment of Vietnamand Insurance sector in Cambodia.

This investment has showed the confidence from Vietnamese side on the economic growth of Cambodia, Sok An said, adding that it is the pride of the country that we have our own national flag in aircarrier. He stressed that the new airline we will launch the official flight tomorrow.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said at the ceremony that "I would like to urge the new Cambodia Angkor Air to strengthen the management on safety and security for all travelers".

Additionally, Thong Khong, Cambodian Tourism Minister told reporters that tourism is one of the key sector in the country and"this year we expected to have two to three percent increase on this sector." For the first six month of this year, the tourism sector decreased about one percent across the country, however, incapital Phnom Penh it has increased 14 to 16 percent so far.

Last year, Cambodia achieved about two million of the foreign tourists.

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Cambodia A/H1N1 flu case rises to 17

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia's confirmed A/H1N1 flucases have increased to 17 and the latest case is a 22-year-old Irish woman who traveled from Vietnam, health officials said here on Sunday.

"So far, nobody has died in the country," said Ly Sovan, deputydirector of the communicable disease control department. The latest person is in a stable condition and is recovering well.

Mom Bun Heng, Cambodian health minister, told reporters that his ministry has strengthened the tracking system at two main airports, Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap International Airport by using thermal scanners.

"Our officials also have been observing the travelers coming into the country through border gates," he added. Earlier this week, Cambodian Health Ministry issued a call to appeal people notto travel to neighboring Thailand if they were not in urgent need.

Cambodia's first case of influenza A/H1N1 was confirmed on June23, 2009.

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China plans ethanol plant in Cambodia.

AN official at Cambodia's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says China National Petroleum Corporation is looking to invest US 58 million dollars in an ethanol plant that would use cassava as its raw material to generate fuel.

CNPC is China's largest oil and gas producer and this project would be funded by a Chinese government loan.

The official told the Phnom Penh Post no decision has been taken as the factory would require 40 million to 50 million tonnes of cassava annually, about 15 times current domestic production.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the official says the project would require a huge amount of land, and with concessions a contentious issue, the ministry needs to confer with other ministries.

Cambodian law states that a land concession cannot be larger than 10,000 hectares.
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Fake and Substandard Drugs Threaten Malaria Treatment in Cambodia

TASANH, Cambodia A stream of poor-quality and counterfeit malaria drugs coming into Cambodia is contributing to a growing resistance to treatment for the disease near the Thai-Cambodian border.

Many of the drugs are cheaply made and don't contain the right chemistry, or are stored at incorrect temperatures, while others are deliberate fakes that have authentic-looking pills and packaging but contain only a small percentage of the active ingredient in each pill.

People in Cambodia are unknowingly using "improper drugs and fake drugs which create resistance," Duong Socheat, director of the nation's malaria control program said. The problem is fueled by the country's many informal pharmacies and merchants that don't have the proper training to provide the correct drug regimen, he said.

Of the drugs the country has confiscated, most were traced to China and Thailand, according to Socheat. India is also known to be a large manufacturer of counterfeit and substandard drugs.

There have been some attempts to crack down on the lucrative industry, such as putting in place greater penalties for counterfeiting, but without much effect, said Roger Bate, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute who researches counterfeit drugs.

"They do not regulate -- and cannot regulate -- things as well as the U.S. or Europe. It's not that they don't want to but they have a massive counterfeit problem and they don't have the money," Bate said.

Fake and substandard drugs of all kinds are a problem around the world, but the scale is difficult to gauge. The World Health Organization estimates that as much as 25 percent of the drugs sold in the developing world are counterfeit. A 2009 report from the International Policy Network found that fake tuberculosis and malaria drugs alone may kill about 700,000 people a year.

In Cambodia, the risks extend even beyond loss of life because the area of western Cambodia near the Thai border has historically been at the heart of development of resistance to antimalarials. Resistance to chloroquine surfaced there in the 1970s, followed by resistance to sulfadoxinepyrimethamine and mefloquine.

Recently, two independent studies carried out in western Cambodia found that early stages of resistance is developing for artemisinin, now considered the first-line treatment for malaria.

Being exposed to low levels, or incorrect dosing of a medication can help grow resistance. A 2006 study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found that 68 percent of anti-malaria drugs found in Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia did not contain the correct amount of active ingredient.

Use of monotherapies can also breed resistance, leading to a World Health Organization ultimatum for artemisinin to only be produced and sold as part of combination therapy, called ACT. However artemisinin monotherapy, a fraction of the price of the combination therapy, has continued to be produced and sold as a cheaper alternative.

In Thasanh, Cambodia, the site of U.S.-funded resistance trials, researchers say patients have brought in a wide range of medications. Some are monotherapies, some are clearly just "fever packs," plastic baggies filled with a variety of pills not really intended for malaria, while others appear to be ACT but may not be the real thing.

In an effort to provide access to good quality malaria medications, and also decrease manufacture of fakes, monotherapies and cheaply made medications, the Global Fund and international partners are launching a $225 million program called the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria, known as AMFm.

The program aims to flood pilot countries with cheap, high-quality malaria medications to reduce the use of improper or fake medications by patients, and to make the market less desirable for producers of the products.

"If there is an economic incentive for illegal production of a product in all likelihood it will happen," said Dr. Olusoji Adeyi, director of AMFm at the Global Fund.

"So by introducing into the market high quality drugs at rock bottom prices it will reduce the economic incentive for the producers and marketers of fake drugs."

Cambodia is the only non-African country among the 11 invited to participate, and was included because of its history with development of drug resistance, said Adeyi.

Once approved, each country will decide how to implement the program through the public and private sectors. If the drugs are not offered for free to the public by the country, they will be available for a small amount of money said Adeyi.

By negotiating with the manufacturers of ACT and subsidizing the cost of the medicine, AMFm would reduce the cost of ACT treatment for the buyer from about $6 to $10 down to 20 to 50 cents.

The group is moving quickly to start the pilot programs and is aiming to begin distribution in early 2010. But not everyone is convinced the scheme will work.

"I like the idea in principle but I have gone on the record as against it in practice as it currently stands," Bate said. There is not yet a complete understanding of how this intervention will affect the market in each country, he argues.

The United States has also not backed the plan yet, citing a lack of data showing the subsidies will work once implemented.

Adeyi counters that time is short and the pilot program is a smart way to move forward before any attempt at a larger roll out.

"As of today, collectively the global health community has tried many things to achieve universal access to malaria medication and collectively we have not succeeded," he said.

"If we stay on this track we will lose artemisinin [to drug resistance] ...we need to have open minds to a new approach." Read more!

Cambodian PM calls for peaceful border with Thailand

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia and Thailand should try to prevent armed conflicts and to secure a border of peace, security and development, the official news agency AKP (Agency Kampuchea Presse)reported on Friday.

Hun Sen made the remarks when he met with visiting Thai Parliament President and speaker of the House of Representatives Chai Chid Chob on Thursday. The premier stressed that "any dispute could have negative impacts on Cambodia-Thailand trade," according to Ieng Sophalet, assistant to the premier.

Meanwhile, Chai Chid Chob asked Hun Sen to help maintaining good relationship between Cambodia and Thailand and praised him for his right decision to reduce tension between the two neighboring countries.

On the same day, Chai held talks with Cambodian National Assembly President Heng Samrin. During the meeting, Heng Samrin asked once again the Thai Parliament to push the Thai government to accelerate the negotiations by using bilateral existing mechanisms and to withdraw its troops from the Preah Vihear Temple's area.

According to Koam Kosal, cabinet chief and assistant to Heng Samrin, Chai affirmed to bring these recommendations to the Thai government.

During his meeting with Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim, Chai Chid Chob shared the same idea with Chea Sim, especially withCambodia's stance to solve the border dispute peacefully and to avoid confrontations, Pheng Kunthea Borey, head of protocol of Chea Sim, told reporters after the talks.

The delegation of Thai Parliament arrived here on Thursday for a two-day official visit. It was also granted an audience by His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia on Friday.
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Cambodia’s child prostitutes need help

When Shari Newman of Lake Oswego made her first trip to Cambodia three years ago to investigate child sex trafficking, she was stunned by what she found.

“It was really emotional. It was so unbelievable,” Newman said. “I actually saw brothels and poverty. At the trauma recovery center there were little girls 3-feet tall and 5 years old holding my hand. They had been prostitutes. It was very taxing, emotional and heart wrenching.

“I’ve done a lot of mission trips, and that was the hardest one I’ve ever done. Other places you came away with a plan of action. There, you ask, ‘How can you do it?’”

What seemed hopeless in 2006, however, has a spark of hope in 2009. While the statistics on child sex trafficking in Cambodia are still overwhelming, young girls are being helped to recover from criminal abuse and awareness is spreading.

You could see how much at the “Children: Not for Sale” conference on July 7 at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church. A capacity audience of 120 people was on hand to hear Haiday Ear-Dupuy, advocacy and communications manager for World Vision Cambodia, talk about a problem that is so shocking when people hear about it for the first time: Cambodian girls being turned into sex slaves.

The statistics faced by Ear-Dupuy and her World Vision colleagues are these: 5 million Cambodians are trafficked in sex and labor.

A native of Cambodia who had barely managed to escape the genocidal reign of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, Ear-Dupuy’s decision to return to Cambodia to work for World Vision seemed unbelievable to many people. Especially her parents.

“They said, ‘We took you out of the lions’ den. Now you’re going back in,’” Ear-Dupuy said. “I explained to them why it’s important that I am in Cambodia. Once I started, it became very personal.

“It was like I was looking at my own face in the face of every child I met.”

True, Cambodia is no longer racked by war. But it is plagued by extreme poverty, an ever-widening gap between the rich and poor, a huge HIV/AIDS rate, severe social justice issues and an economy that is sinking.

Selling sex is one way to make dollars in Cambodia. “Sex tourists” from all over the world, especially the U.S. and Asia, come looking for young girls.


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A Humane Trade Reform

By Michael Gerson


There was a time when international trade was the subject of poetry. In "Locksley Hall," Alfred Tennyson "[s]aw the heavens filled with commerce, argosies of magic sails/Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales."

Recently, however, trade has inspired more resentment than verse. During a recession, the threat of foreign competition can seem more real and present than the opportunities of foreign markets. According to the World Trade Organization, 30 countries have imposed trade-restricting measures since the onset of the economic crisis. China included a "Buy Chinese" provision in its stimulus package. The U.S. Congress has variously threatened to impose tariffs as an instrument of climate policy, limited bailed-out banks in hiring foreign workers and encouraged states receiving stimulus funds to "Buy American."

All this is politically understandable -- and economically insane. With the world experiencing the largest drop in trade volumes since World War II, actions that restrict global trade will delay global recovery. Protectionism is economically self-destructive: Won't American companies eventually want to compete for contracts in India and China? Protectionism is diplomatically self-defeating: Do we really want to pick trade fights with our closest friends, such as Canada and Mexico? Protectionism is outdated: The distinction between foreign and domestic companies is blurred when many use transnational supply chains. And protectionism is unjust: The world's poorest countries are often the most dependent on exports.

Fortunately, after a fling with union-pleasing protectionism during his campaign, President Obama has largely adopted the pro-trade consensus of his predecessors. He has signaled support for bilateral trade agreements with South Korea and Panama, and openness to a pact with Colombia. At the recent Group of Eight meeting in Italy, he joined other leaders in calling for the conclusion of a global trade deal in 2010 to comprehensively reduce tariffs and quotas.

Unfortunately, grand goals are the cynical staple of summits. Completing the global trade negotiations begun in Doha in 2001 will require developing countries such as China and India to open their manufacturing and service sectors, and the United States and Europe to dramatically reduce agricultural subsidies and barriers. And it will require Obama not merely to acknowledge the need for trade but also to press the arguments for trade on Capitol Hill and within his party.

All of this is unlikely (though not impossible). But even in the absence of a global trade agreement, America has a responsibility to fix its tariff system -- a system that often punishes the poor.

Current law is supposed to allow developing nations to export duty-free into U.S. markets. In practice, however, restrictions and limits are placed on imported clothing, textiles, footwear and agricultural products -- which are exactly the kind of labor-intensive products that many poor nations produce best. So American tariffs effectively single out the poorest nations for the highest international taxes. On average, these countries pay more than three times the tariff rates of our richest trading partners.

One example: According to the Center for Global Development, Cambodia and Bangladesh pay about the same total tariffs to America as do France and Britain -- even though those European countries export about 15 times more to the United States. And in 2006, America collected about $850 million in tariffs from Cambodia and Bangladesh, mainly on imported apparel -- which is about seven times more than we provided in foreign assistance to those impoverished countries.

How to change the system? Kimberly Ann Elliott, a senior fellow at the center, recommends that Congress provide 100 percent duty-free, quota-free access to American markets for 70 of the most vulnerable countries on Earth -- ending the discrimination against products produced by the world's poor.

There are good humanitarian reasons for this reform, which would help nations suffering from a global recession they did nothing to cause. There are national security justifications: America has a direct interest in promoting economic growth and stability in parts of the world otherwise prone to terrorism, criminal gangs and epidemic diseases.

And there is a domestic economic argument. The very products produced by the poor abroad -- clothing, shoes, food -- are necessities for the poor at home. Our current tariff system is a regressive tax on these goods.

The cost of this reform to American manufacturers would be minimal -- even under Elliott's proposal, less than 2 percent of American imports would come from the countries granted duty-free, quota-free access. But the effect in those nations could be large. Even if international trade is no longer cause for poetry, it is cause for hope. Read more!

Change of name for SAO Cambodia

SAO Cambodia, born at the Keswick Convention as a result of an impassioned plea by a man later to be martyred under Pol Pot, is focusing more clearly on its task with a new name – Cambodia Action.

This follows the realisation that the name needs to shout out for Cambodia and for the mission’s ongoing active role there.

In 1973 Keswick delegates heard a heartfelt plea from Taing Chhirc for British Christians to rise to the challenge of supporting the young, struggling church in Cambodia. And as a result of this appeal, SAO Cambodia was formed.

Tragically, Chhirc returned to church leadership in Phnom Penh the following year and was among thousands killed when the Khmer Rouge took the country back to ‘year zero’ in 1975.
SAO Cambodia is a mission agency dedicated to help the church and rejuvenate this once rich and plentiful nation back to recovery. In innovative and effective ways, it encourages communities to be self-sustaining.

Since 1990, the mission has had a significant input among local groups, improving their spiritual, social and physical well-being. Working with the local church and other partners, it is committed to see the nation fully restored.

Cambodia Action hosted a reception at the Keswick Convention this year to mark this further significant step. Rev John Wallis, a trustee of Cambodia Action commented: “There are so many opportunities to continue to meet the challenge from Chhirc Taing. We want to partner with others to achieve strong biblical leadership in the Cambodian Church.”

Jonathan Lamb of Langham Preaching said: “We are looking forward to working with Cambodia Action and Cambodian church leaders to establish ongoing training and support for pastors and lay preachers.” Read more!

US in key environment meeting with Mekong countries

PHUKET, Thailand — The United States held an unprecedented meeting Thursday with countries from the lower Mekong basin in what Washington said showed its commitment to combating climate change in Asia.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in the Thai island of Phuket during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum.

Each country in the meetings pledged to set up working teams to discuss further cooperation on water resources, education and human resources development, Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob said.

Low-lying areas around the Mekong, Southeast Asia's largest river, are considered some of the world's most vulnerable to climate change and there is concern over pollution levels in the water.
During their meeting, the five nations pledged to hold annual ministerial meetings to discuss progress.

"The US told Mekong countries it has had similar environmental problems with the Mississippi river, which resulted from natural and man-made causes," Vimon told reporters.

On Wednesday, Clinton said the meeting would discuss "our shared interests and our emerging partnership on issues related to water, health and the environment".

She also announced the US administration's "commitment to deepen our engagement in Asia on the critical issue of climate change".

They had asked Congress for a seven-fold increase in funding for climate change aid in the region, she said.

The Mekong is a vital source of protein for 60 million people who live along its lower basin and is the world's largest inland fishery.

The WWF said in June that pollution in the Mekong has pushed freshwater dolphins in Cambodia and Laos to the brink of extinction, sparking a furious Cambodian government denial.

The conservation group, which is investigating how environmental contaminants got into the Mekong, said it suspected that high levels of mercury found in some dead dolphins came from gold mining activities.

Read more!

Pinoy missionary preaches condom use in Cambodia

By David Dizon, abs-cbnNEWS


CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Filipino lay worker Arturo Ang has a mission in Cambodia - to help impoverished HIV sufferers in the country rebuild their lives as they suffer the ravages of the deadly disease.

To do that, Ang has resorted to both conventional and unconventional means. His program, Bridges of Hope, teaches HIV sufferers all about the usual modes of transmission of HIV and how to prevent it such as abstinence and being faithful to one partner.

He also teaches Cambodians to use condoms, a practice which may seem taboo to Catholic lay missionaries.

"The stand of our organization, of Maryknoll, which is a Catholic organization, is that we don't distribute condoms but our NGO gives education to people so we teach people about condoms for safe sex. Our program does have an element of family planning but it's more about positive prevention. We teach the ABCs of safe sex, which are abstinence, be faithful and condoms," he told abs-cbnNEWS.com

"We don't deny the people information about artificial family planning. We tell them where to get it and we teach them why it is important," he added.

The Philippine Catholic Lay Mission (PCLM) is a lay mission recognized by the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines'. It was founded by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in 1977, an American missionary group in the United States.

PCLM traces its beginnings to the Maryknoll’s missionary charism and the growth of small Christian communities in the then Prelature of Tagum in Davao in the 1960s. The Maryknoll evolved a program for small Christian communities in the Tagum prelature, and as the communities matured, it became a natural consequence for them to become missionary by helping neighboring villages, parishes and dioceses form small Christian communities.

Ang, a native of Davao City, said the primary goal of the PCLM is to recruit, train and send missionaries to establish small Christian communities. After serving in the PCLM for several years in Davao, the Maryknoll order invited him and two others to go to Cambodia where the need for mission work was great.

Ang and two other lay missionaries arrived in Cambodia in late 2003 and immediately started work on helping HIV sufferers in the country. At the time, Cambodia had the highest HIV prevalence in Southeast Asia. The mode of transmission was usually through heterosexual transmission mostly through sex workers and husbands passing it on to their wives.

He said many of the HIV sufferers they helped during the early days of the Bridges of Hope project in Phnom Penh were sex workers and widows.

"Because of ignorance, a lot of these AIDS sufferers go to Phnom Penh to seek treatment. They sell their property to seek treatment. Maryknoll gives them care, we visit them in their homes and we also have a halfway house where they could stay and get food," he said.

He said the Cambodian government started giving anti-retroviral drugs to HIV patients in 2002. This led to a lot of formerly sick HIV patients finally getting well enough to work but not having jobs.

Ang said more than 500 HIV sufferers have "graduated" from the Bridges of Hope program since it launched more than five years ago. All of the graduates are Buddhists.

"Cambodia is a Buddhist country. The way of doing mission work in Cambodia is by helping the poorest of the poor and uplifting the dignity of the human being. We don't preach or proselytize. We only want to help them and uplift their status. Once they start earning an income, they are no longer in the program because they have the ability to take care of themselves and we can accept more people. All of them are Buddhists and we do not convert them," he said.

Ang said he finds satisfaction in the knowledge that they are finally changing the HIV situation in Cambodia.

"When I first arrived, people with HIV were just dying in the hospitals, mostly due to infections and other AIDS-related illnesses. There were no medicines. Now they still die because of illnesses but in a sense, it is getting better. They live longer because the Cambodian government did a good job rolling out ART for HIV patients. Unfortunately these people are still poor so the socioeconomic aspect of the illness still needs work," he said.

He also denies that teaching contraceptive use is a betrayal of Catholic teaching.

"Personally for me it is not a betrayal of my religion. People are dying so how do you protect them? Of course we teach them to abstain or be faithful but if you have a husband who is already infected and the wife is not infected, how can they have sex if they don't have protection? You cannot risk infecting your spouse with HIV just because the Church doesn't allow condoms," he said.

Instead of dictating what people should or should not do, Ang said people should be given all the information they need and let them decide their conscience.

He also said the Philippines should be more pro-active in curbing HIV despite the low HIV prevalence in the country.

"Remember, Filipinos are going out of the country and we also have a problem with prostitution. It's possible that there are still many people in the country who are HIV positive who don't know it yet because they haven't been tested. We need to be more proactive and do more on HIV testing and prevention," he said.

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Philippines alarmed over growing number of 'drug mules'

Manila - The Philippine government on Thursday warned Filipino women against international drug syndicates that trick women into becoming unsuspecting "drug mules" to transport narcotics in Vietnam, Cambodia and China. The Department of Foreign Affairs said it received a report from the Philippine embassy in Hanoi about a growing number of Filipino women being used as couriers in the drug trade in the Indo-China region.

According to the embassy report, international drug syndicates recruit Filipino women by enticing them with a job offer that involves a lot of travel and pays 2,000 dollars per trip - a huge salary by Philippine standards.

Their contact buys plane tickets for them from the Philippines to China via Vietnam, the report said.

"The contact, now supposedly a benefactor, asks the Filipino a favour which involves bringing to China a present or an item from a friend based in Cambodia," it added. "The unsuspecting Filipino, thinking that she is doing her benefactor a favour,

From Vietnam, the victims usually travel to Cambodia by bus to pick up the items they will carry and return to Hanoi for their flights to China.

"The victims were banking on the job promised them in China, and for them, bringing personal items to China for their benefactor is just a small favour in exchange for the job," the Embassy said.

The embassy discovered the scheme when a Filipino woman sought assistance after she was stranded in Vietnam for failing to bring the package she was supposed to deliver to China for a Nigerian drug syndicate.

"The Nigerian contact in Cambodia had a miscommunication with the Filipino and the Nigerian contact in China," the embassy said.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, 111 Filipinos, mostly women, were arrested for drug-related offences in China, Hong Kong and Macau in 2008. The figure was up from 16 Filipinos arrested in 2007.
Read more!

Cambodia, Thailand: ilovethailand website sparks controversy

By Global Voices Online

The recently launched website ilovethailand.org is causing a stir online. Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced that the website is intended to restore the country’s image and unify the nation in light of recent unrest. The controversy stems from the website’s claims about Thailand’s “lost territory” — territory that is present day Cambodia.

KI Media reports:

The major English daily Phnom Penh Post reported that Cambodian officials are scurrying to investigate the claims. It quoted Mr. Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, as saying that “they (the Thai) are twisting the facts of history
. It is completely exaggerated.”

According to Phnom Penh Post, in 1794, Thailand – then known as Siam – annexed Siem Reap and Battambang provinces from the declining Khmer kingdom, but the territories were returned following a March 1907 treaty between Thailand and France.

Khmerization, posting at KI Media, informs us that ilovethailand.org has resulted in

the birth of ilovekhmer.org, a Khmer website created with the sole intention of countering the “provably false accusations” made by the Thai PM’s website, ilovethailand.org. The site proved an instant popularity with internet users, with its site metre hotly counting the numbers of visitors.

Thailand’s “lost territory” is illustrated in a video on the website. The Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok has requested the video’s removal from the website. Details are Sketchy, with comments from ThaRum, reports that ilovethailand.org is blocked in Cambodia, but it is unclear which side is censoring the site.

At Thai Intelligent News Weblog, there is news that the “site was also reported to have been hacked and down around the globe at many countries-as angry pro-democracy internet savvy Thais attacked the site.”

Thai Intelligent News Weblog goes on and balances nationalism against other concerns, stating:

For many reasons, Thailand has a very bad global image problem. The [Abhisit] solution is the global “I Love Thailand” Campaign. Thailand has gotten itself into trouble with neighbors before over this type of cultural and historical Nationalism-like with Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. Nationalism is good, as a way to build love and unity for the country, but when it means conflict with neighbors-that is taking Nationalism too far.

Another Thai blogger, Thai 101, points out that ilovethailand.org’s terms and conditions require self-censorship:

Looks like this site is a national “stimulus” program of a non-economic variety. A government-sponsored website on which only those who admit that they love the country more than their own lives are allowed to come and express nothing but adulation and praise for the country. I’m sure this will do wonders for encouraging open and thoughtful dialogue. Especially that veiled threat at the end. Just lovely.

The video is shown here and on Bangkok Crimes, which notes that the “fourteenth slice of lost territory is Preah Vihear.”

. Read more!

Chinese FM meets with U.S. Secretary of State

PHUKET, Thailand, China and the United States need to maintain high-level contact and deepen cooperation in various areas of common concern, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Wednesday in his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Yang said the two countries should also keep close communication and collaboration on global issues and properly handle disputes and sensitive issues in order to push forward bilateral ties.

Both Yang and Clinton are in the southern Thai resort Phuket to attend ASEAN Regional Forum scheduled on Thursday. The ASEAN, or Association of Southeast Asia Nations, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Clinton said that the U.S. hoped to closely cooperate with China in dealing with challenges and threats such as the global financial crisis and international terrorism to maintain world peace and security.

During the meeting, the two sides also mentioned the upcoming first U.S.-China strategic and economic dialogue.

The dialogue will be held in Washington, D.C. from July 27 to 28. Clinton and U.S. Treasure Secretary Timothy Geithner will be joined for the dialogue by their respective Chinese Co-Chairs, State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vice Premier Wang Qishan.

The dialogue will focus on addressing the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests.

On Wednesday, Yang also met with his counterparts from Russia, South Korea and Pakistan.
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Former Khmer Rouge interrogator recounts torture techniques

A former interrogator at the main Khmer Rouge prison told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal on Tuesday staff were taught to torture prisoners using electric shocks and suffocation.

Prak Khan, 58, recounted the grisly details during testimony against prison chief Duch, who is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people held at Tuol Sleng prison in the late 1970s.

"We were taught how to torture the prisoners and to avoid the prisoners dying, otherwise the confession would be broken and we would be punished," Prak Khan told the court.

The witness, who became an interrogator in late 1976 after initially being assigned to work as a prison guard, said Duch and other high-ranking Khmer Rouge cadres often taught torture methods.

"We were trained how to whip the prisoners with the sticks, on how to electrocute, (and) how to use the plastic bag to suffocate them," Prak Khan said.

He said the court interrogators were also taught a "light but painful" torture method in which they inserted a needle under prisoners' nails, and that sometimes inmates were forced to eat excrement.

"Detainees would be told not to make loud noises, not to curse or exchange swear words, or to shout slogans. And they were also warned not to scream while being tortured," he said.

He said also he occasionally witnessed medics extracting blood from prisoners until they died.

"As I noted, there were five bags of blood taken from one detainee until the person was dying. After blood was drawn, no one could ever live because they were dying already while their blood was being taken," said Prak Khan.

Prak Khan said interrogators would torture prisoners until they confessed to spying on the Khmer Rouge regime and provided names of others in so-called espionage networks.

In earlier testimony, Duch admitted he did not believe that confessions obtained through torture were accurate.

Prak Khan recalled that children were separated from adult prisoners and exterminated, adding that he once saw a Tuol Sleng guard kill a seven or eight-month old infant.

"(A guard) took the baby from the mother and he dropped the baby from the upper floor to the ground and later on I was ordered to bury that dead baby," Prak Khan said.

The 66-year-old Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role governing the jail and begged forgiveness near the start of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But the defendant has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and says he never personally killed anyone.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.

Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders are in detention and are expected to face trial next year at the court, which was formed in 2006 after nearly a decade of wrangling between the UN and the Cambodian government.

The troubled tribunal faces accusations of interference by the Cambodian government and claims that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

Read more!

Preparations for Thai-Cambodian border meet held in Bangkok

BANGKOK, July 21 (TNA) – The preparation meeting for the Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) was held in Bangkok to prepare for the session set to be held in September, with the venue yet to be decided.

The Joint Secretariat Meeting was co-chaired by Thai Border Affairs Department Director, Lt-Gen Nipat Thonglek, and Cambodian Deputy Defence Minister, Gen. Neang Phat.

The meeting prepared information for the GBC in all aspects to promote good relations and mutual understanding between the two countries’ armed forces.

Thai Defence Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan and his Cambodian counterpart, Gen. Tea Banh, will head the delegates to the upcoming border meeting which will cover three topics comprising 17 issues including survey and demarcation of land boundary; prevention and suppression of drug trafficking, and cooperation on border trade.

The most recent GBC meeting was held in April, at Cambodia’s Siem Reap, where the official name of the ancient temple of Preah Vihear (Phra Viharn in Thai) in the two bordering countries has not been agreed.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia. Clashes have occurred frequently near the 11th-century temple after it was listed as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s World Heritage Site as both countries maintain their claims on the area adjoining the temple. (TNA) Read more!

Help make kids’ smiles a little brighter on i-to-i’s new trip in Cambodia!

i-to-i's new trip in picturesque rural Cambodia sees volunteers making a real difference to the lives of kids by helping them learn how to clean their teeth!


Cambodia is home to plenty of wonderful sights: majestic temples, energetic cities, lush countryside… and classes full of excitable kids splashing around as they learn how to wash their hands and clean their teeth! On i-to-i’s (www.i-to-i.com) new week-long Children’s Health and Sanitation Programme in the picturesque Cambodian countryside, volunteers make a real difference to the health of Cambodian children
as they help them learn about the importance of keeping their teeth and hands squeaky clean.

Due to Western influence, a lot of sweets and other sugary snacks are being introduced into the Cambodian diet, but kids in rural areas are often unaware of the dangers of not looking after their teeth properly. That’s where our volunteers come in – on this project they help kids at a rural primary school understand the importance of good oral hygiene, show them how to clean their teeth properly and dish out toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Those volunteering on the project also help the kids learn about the importance of washing their hands and get stuck in with the soap and water showing them how! Poor hand hygiene is one of the main reasons communicable diseases are spread so quickly through children, so by showing them how to wash their hands properly, volunteers can have a really positive impact on the lives of these kids.

The project is based in the picturesque countryside surrounding Kampong Cham, Cambodia’s third largest city. While the area has seen some improvements since the devastation caused by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, it is still one of Cambodia’s poorest areas. As a result, the work i-to-i volunteers do in the area is welcomed by locals and gives them a chance to gain a privileged insight into the ‘traditional’ way of life in rural Cambodia.

Volunteers stay in a comfy guesthouse in Kampong Cham itself, which is a charismatic city resting on the banks of the mighty Mekong River. An English-speaking guide accompanies the volunteers throughout their trip, meaning they’ll have no problems getting to know the city and some of the locals, who are incredibly friendly. Transport to and from the project in the surrounding countryside is included, so travellers are free to focus on helping the kids on the project, rather than struggling with organising things!

As the project is only a week long, it’s perfect for travellers who only have a limited amount of time to spend away from home. At only £495 for the week, it’s also incredibly good value, with a tour of Phnom Penh at the start of the trip and all transfers included in the price. For those who are planning a longer trip, this project makes it easy to stop off and give something back while exploring this fascinating and beautiful country, which boasts spectacular temples, elegant riverside towns and stunning scenery. Travellers can even combine work on the project with one of i-to-i’s other fantastic volunteer trips in Cambodia – for more details visit www.i-to-i.com/cambodia/ or call our travel experts on 0800 011 1156.

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Thailand to fulfill 5 targets as ASEAN chairmanship

PHUKET, Thailand, As the 2009 chairmanship of the ASEAN, Thailand aims to complete five concrete steps to make the regional grouping move toward the goal of a full ASEAN community in 2015, official from the Thai Foreign Ministry said here on Tuesday.

Director-General of the ASEAN Affairs Department of the ministry Vitavas Srivihok was speaking during his participation in the 42nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Post Ministerial Conferences and 16th ASEAN Regional Forum, which have been organized in a southern province of Phuket on July 17-23.

Vitavas said the first agenda is the implementation of the regional reserve pool, known as Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), as Thailand aims to implement this step at the ASEAN Summit to be held on Oct. 23-25 in Thailand, he said.

In early May, finance ministers of the ASEAN Plus Three nations, China, Japan and Republic of Korea, reached the agreement on all main components of regional reserve pool.

The agreement on the CMIM includes the individual country's contribution, borrowing accessibility, and the surveillance mechanism.

The total size of the CMIM is 120 billion U.S. dollars with the contribution portion between ASEAN and the Plus Three countries at20 percent versus 80 percent.

China and Japan will each contribute 38.4 billion U.S. dollars to the pool, while South Korea will contribute 19.2 billion dollars.

Secondly, Thailand, as agreed by the other ASEAN member countries to be the hub of the antiviral vaccine production, will speed up the vaccine production, he said.

"This is the immediate issue, which is agreed on Tuesday by the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting that the ASEAN countries will have a joint procurement of medicine," said Vitavas.

Thailand, which is coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO), will produce enough vaccine with an affordable price for the ASEAN countries, he said.

However, a price of the antiviral vaccine for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, or the CLMV countries, could be lowered than that to be sold to other ASEAN member countries, he said.

Thirdly, it is concerned with the food security as another top agenda among the ASEAN Plus Three countries, he said.

Thailand plans to complete transforming a temporary office of the emergency rice stockpile center into the permanent emergency rice stockpile center in Thailand at the ASEAN Summit in October, he said.

By now China and Japan have pledged that they will contribute their rice to this center, while South Korea is also expected to follow China and Japan's step, he said.

The fourth and fifth concrete steps are concerned with the ASEAN-community building process, including of the ASEAN Human Rights Body and the ASEAN legal personality, he said.

The ASEAN foreign ministers adopted Monday the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the ASEAN human rights body, naming it the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

The adoption of the final draft of the Terms of Reference of an ASEAN Human Rights Body (AHRB) will pave the way for the inauguration of the body at the 15th ASEAN Summit in October.

Lastly, on Monday the foreign ministers also approved the legal personality of ASEAN and approved a draft agreement on privileges and immunity of ASEAN.

The foreign ministers agreed to extend the mandate of High Level Legal Experts' Group on Follow-up to the ASEAN Charter (HLEG)to finalize dispute settlement mechanisms and other legal issues under the ASEAN Charter for the consideration at the 15th ASEAN Summit in October.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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ASEAN welcomes U.S. impending accession to TAC

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday welcomed the United States' impending accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia.

A signing ceremony for the U.S. accession to the TAC will be held Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will represent her country to sign documents with the ten ASEAN foreign ministers.

"We warmly welcomed the impending accession by the United States of America to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia as a strong signal of its commitment to peace and security in the region," said a joint communique issued Monday after the ministers' meeting.

The TAC, a peace treaty, was signed in 1976. It is the group's founding non-aggression pact aimed at promoting regional stability. It was amended on Dec 15, 1987 by a protocol to open the document for accession by states outside Southeast Asia.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Cambodia Court Cases Against Opposition Mount

By SETH MYDANS


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia’s courts have been busy in recent weeks with cases of defamation, disinformation and incitement brought by the government in what critics say is part of a broad assault on civil liberties.

“If you’re just walking into the situation, it seems like a series of ridiculous lawsuits,” said Sara Colm, a senior researcher for the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch, who said at least nine suits had recently been filed against critics and political opponents by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his supporters.

But she and other analysts say the targets seem carefully chosen to send a chill through the free press, independent judiciary, political opposition and civic organizations that were introduced by the United Nations in the early 1990s.

The surge in lawsuits amounts to “a serious threat to democratic development which may undermine the efforts of the past 16 years to rebuild a tolerant and pluralistic environment in Cambodia,” the United Nations human rights office in Cambodia said in a statement last month.

In the most prominent cases, two opposition politicians have been stripped of their parliamentary immunity and sued for libel by Mr. Hun Sen and his associates. Threatened with a lawsuit and disbarment, their lawyer has abandoned the case, apologized to the prime minister and pledged allegiance to the ruling party.

The editor of one of the country’s last opposition newspapers was sent to prison last month for stories he had published and another, soon afterward, apologized and agreed to shut down his newspaper to avoid court action.

A young political activist was convicted last month of defamation and jailed for spray-painting slogans critical of the government on the walls of his house. An advocate for cultural preservation was sentenced on July 15 to two years in jail for warning of potential damage to the temple of Angkor Wat.

“The court has always been used as a political tool,” said Theary Seng, whose leadership of a human rights group, the Center for Social Development, is being challenged in what she says is a politically motivated court case. “But recently, there is a concentration of cases which seem to be very political and which seem to use the court as a political tool to silence opposition voices.”

Mr. Hun Sen dismisses, and even appears to parody, his critics, declaring earlier this month that he was acting in the interests of democracy by stripping the two lawmakers of their parliamentary immunity so that they could face prosecution in the courts.

“From now on we are strengthening democracy and the rule of law,” he said. “This is not an anarchic democracy. Democracy must have the rule of law.”

Together with land seizures that are driving tens of thousands of people from their homes, analysts say these actions demonstrate a sense of impunity in a government that has resisted efforts to strengthen the rule of law in Cambodia.

In the most recent evictions, about 150 poor families were forced from their homes on prime land in Phnom Penh on Thursday and Friday, part of what the World Bank called “a major problem” in Cambodia’s fast-growing cities.

The court cases come at a time when countries in the region are looking increasingly toward China as a political and economic model and questioning the democratic and humanitarian values of the West.

In recent years, China has become a major donor and investor in Cambodia in projects that do not demand the standards of good governance that generally accompany assistance from Western nations and aid organizations.

“We have been fearing all along that Cambodia’s government is looking eastward toward China and Vietnam as models,” with their strong central governments and intolerance of dissent, said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.

“Now there are a lot of activities recently that confirm our fear, and so it’s pretty scary,” he said. “What they are trying to do is to have only one strong party, and ultimately probably only one party.”

The aggressiveness of the government has been matched by what appears to be resigned acquiescence among many of its opponents to the dominance of Mr. Hun Sen and his ruling elite in the Cambodian People’s Party.

Nothing demonstrates this more sharply than the apologies that Mr. Hun Sen apparently requires as the price of leniency.

“I ask permission to demonstrate deep respect and bow down to apologize,” said Dam Sith, editor in chief of Moneaksekar Khmer, a pro-opposition newspaper, as he promised earlier this month to cease publishing his 10-year-old newspaper.

“I have in the past committed inappropriate acts again and again,” he said, adding that his only hope to avoid a defamation conviction is the “compassion and forgiveness” of Mr. Hun Sen — which he duly received.

Mu Sochua, a leading member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, is fighting back, though she acknowledges the odds she faces.

In April, she filed a defamation suit against Mr. Hun Sen after he used a rude expression in criticizing her political activities. He countersued.

The courts dropped her original suit. This week, she faces a court hearing on his charge that she defamed him by bringing a defamation suit against him.

It was her lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, who dropped her case under pressure, apologized and joined the ruling party. Ms. Mu Sochua acknowledged the overbearing power of the prime minister and she said she did not blame her lawyer for giving in. “I understand and respect him,” she said.

Unable to find another lawyer to step forward in his place, she said she would proceed in her case alone.


Read more!

Influenza A/H1N1 continues to threaten Asia-Pacific region

Hong Kong, Influenza A/H1N1 has continued to threaten the people in Asia and Pacific region as more than 200new flu cases were confirmed on Sunday in the region.

Singapore's Health Minister said on Monday that 53 percent of the new flu cases are A/H1N1 positive.

The number spiked from 13 percent in a span of just four weeks, according to Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who was quoted by local TV broadcaster Channel News Asia in his update in Parliament.

He also warned that A/H1N1 flu prevalence in Singapore should peak within a week or two, adding that more Singaporeans will get infected, reaching a peak before the numbers start to decline.

He explained Singapore remains in yellow alert because unlike seasonal flu, the at-risk groups involve younger adults with underlying medical problems.

According to Philippine's TV network GMA News reported on Monday, more than 100 inmates in two Philippine jails were quarantined for suspected A/H1N1 influenza, raising fears that an outbreak might occur among the confined population.

Over 60 inmates have developed flu-like symptoms in the central Philippines' Mandaue city jail, where 100 inmates were placed under observation.

In northern Bulacan provincial jail, ten inmates were quarantined after showing sings of A/H1N1 influenza, the report said.

The suspected outbreak has prompted jail officials to shorten families' visit hours and to conduct thermal scanning on visitors before they enter the jail.

The Philippines is among the worst-hit by the A/H1N1 influenza in Southeast Asia as the authorities confirmed 2,688 cases by July9, with four deaths.

On the same day, Vietnamese Ministry of Health confirmed 45 more influenza A/H1N1 cases, bringing the country's tally to 383.

All the newly confirmed cases are in the southern provinces, said the ministry.

So far, 299 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. The rest are being quarantined and treated in stable conditions.

China's Hong Kong confirmed 76 new cases of A/H1N1 flu infection in the 24 hours up to 2.30 p.m. on Monday, medical authorities said.

According to a spokesman of the Center for Health Protection, the new cases involve 36 males and 40 females, aged between one and 81.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 1,886 in Hong Kong, the spokesman said.

The city's Hospital Authority said in a release later in the day that currently a total of 41 confirmed patients are staying in public hospitals for treatment and five of them are in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) said that six newly cases of Influenza A/H1N1 were confirmed, bringing the total number of such cases to 127 so far.

The newly confirmed cases included three men and three women whose ages ranged from eight to 42, according to SAR's Health Bureau.

The Indonesian Health Ministry announced 15 new positive A/H1N1cases on Monday. Of the 15 patients, five were male and ten were female.

"Five of them have a history to go overseas, one to Malaysia, two to the United States, and another two to Singapore," said Prof. Tjandra Yoga Aditama, a disease control official of the ministry.

By now, the cumulative cases of positive influenza A/H1N1 in Indonesia amounted to 172, involving 86 men and 86 women.

Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that 862 out of the total patients of the disease had recovered, seven were still under treatment in hospitals, while five of them were receiving out-patient treatment.

Liow said the total cases of the flu comprising 567 imports and307 local transmissions.

He said his ministry would continue in monitoring cases of the disease being brought to the hospitals, including cases of cluster "influenza-likeness illness".

Owing to a sharp rise in the number of influenza A/H1N1 cases in the world and the region recently, Cambodia government on Monday called on its citizens to avoid traveling to its neighboring country of Thailand.

The Cambodian Health Ministry made the call in order to prevent the large scale outbreak of A/H1N1 flu in the country.

"Without the need for the time being, Cambodian citizens should avoid traveling to Thailand in order to prevent the wide-spreading of the epidemic in Cambodia," the Health Ministry's statement said.

According to local media reported that as of July 19, Thailand had found at least 4,000 cases of confirmed influenza A/H1N1, while 24 people died of the flu.

Cambodia now has a total of 14 confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu, but most of them were imported and no one died of the virus so far in the country.
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Criticism of Asian rights body rebuffed

By Tim Johnston in Bangkok


South-east Asian foreign ministers have rejected criticism that a new human rights commission in the region will be toothless.

Members of the Association of South East Asian Nations set out plans on Monday at a meeting in Phuket, Thailand, for a regional human rights body, putting an emphasis on rights promotion rather than rights protection.

But there is no provision for Asean citizens to complain to the new body, which in turn will lack any power to investigate or prosecute purported abuses. “There are a few countries in Asean that are among the most repressive in Asia, if not the world,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “I could never see how this group could ever agree on anything with teeth.”

Enrique Manalo, Philippine deputy foreign minister, responded by saying: “I don’t think it’s toothless . . . The important thing is everyone’s prepared to recognise it’s a process. What’s there is not final.”

Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister and Asean chairman, said: “Progress will first be made on the front of promotion.” He did not detail how the Inter-Governmental Commission of Human Rights would promote rights. “But the protection side is not going to be ignored. It is better to make a start.”

Asean’s democratic members, including Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, had been pushing for a more robust human rights body, while more repressive members including Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had sought to water down its role.

Kasit Piromya, Thailand’s foreign minister, said the body was born of compromise.

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ASEAN welcomes China's increasing role in Asia-Pacific region

China can play an important role in the peace and security of the Asia-pacific area, which the ten-member Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) welcomes, Thai Foreign Minister said Sunday.

China can play a role in the peace and security of the Asia-pacific area and it can also help economic development in the Asia-Pacific at large, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters.

Kasit made the remark in the press conference held after foreign ministers of ASEAN convened for the first time in their annual ministerial level meet. Their meeting focused on the human right issue and dispute-settlement mechanism among ASEAN nations.

"China's position is very important. It's reemerging as a world power. Its position has a positive aspect in the sense that it has become a very important market for the ASEAN countries," he added.

"So we welcome the increasing role of China as a very important member of the international community," the Foreign Minister said.

Ministers of ASEAN and China are scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Source:Xinhua Read more!

48 hours in Kampot, Cambodia

Got 48 hours to explore Kampot? The quaint, riverside town in southwestern Cambodia is attracting more tourists with its relaxed atmosphere and run-down yet fine French architectural legacy.

FRIDAY

6pm: Relax with a drink at one of many bars on Riverside Road, which runs along the Kampong Bay River. The east bank has spectacular views of Bokor Mountain.

7pm: Dine at Ta Eou, a charming place built on stilts over the river. The menu is extensive and includes lots of seafood. Crab with peppercorns is a favourite.

8pm: Drop by the Kampot Traditional School of Music for Handicapped and Orphaned children - near the old market - which teaches children traditional music and dance. The performances are free but donations are welcome.

SATURDAY

7am: After a quick breakfast, head out for a day-long jungle trek in Bokor National Park, the main reason most travelers venture into Kampot. There is a road up to Bokor Mountain but it is sometimes closed to visitors. Check with local guides first.

Most tours consist of a challenging three-hour trek and then a drive up to the top, where the first stop is the Black Palace, the remains of the residence of former King Sihanouk.

Other attractions include the abandoned buildings of Bokor Hill station - a Catholic church and the eerie French hotel and casino. Some locals say that gamblers who had lost everything at the casino often jumped to their death from the mountain.

In its heyday, Bokor was a getaway for French officials, who headed up the mountain to escape the tropical heat. But years of neglect have left ghostly ruins, often shrouded in fog and clouds. If the clouds pass, admire the spectacular view of the coast and the cool mountain air.

Bokor National Park is also an important wildlife reserve - however the average visitor is unlikely to see much. Tigers are present but very rare, although gibbon can often be heard.

The two-hour trek back down includes a stop at a waterfall for those who want to refresh themselves with a swim.

7pm: Back in Kampot, head to one of the town's massage parlours where blind masseurs will help take away the aches of the day's trek.

8.pm: Enjoy a well-deserved drink at the rooftop balcony bar Rikitikitavi, which also has a charming restaurant that serves a mix of Khmer and international food.

SUNDAY

9am: After breakfast, head out to a pepper plantation. In Cambodia's colonial days, Kampot pepper was the king of spices in Parisian kitchens but during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, most plantations were destroyed. Today, local farmers have started to grow and sell black peppercorns again.

Ad Feedback 11am: Limestone caves dot the landscape around Kampot. Some have exotic rock formations and Buddhist shrines and are worth a visit. The Phnom Chhnork caves shelter a pre-Angkorian ruin.

2pm: In town, stop off at the Epic Arts cafe to enjoy cakes, bagels and shakes -- the homemade chutney and banana jam are a must-try. The cafe, which employs disabled staff, also sells cards and handicrafts.

3pm: Take a walk around town and soak up the relaxed atmosphere. Although small, Kampot has charming quiet lanes, and architecture influenced by both the Chinese and the French.

4pm: Set sail on the Kampong Bay river, and stay on the water to catch the sunset. If the water level is high enough, head to the Tek Chhou rapids, a popular swimming area.

Passing by lush green scenery, watch fishermen getting ready to go out to sea and sail pass dozens of huts on stilts.

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Beyond AIDS: Health crises plague developing countries

Ask any foreign medical officer what has been accomplished here in the past few years, and he most likely will say: We defeated HIV/AIDS in Cambodia.

Prodded and funded by foreign governments and private groups, Cambodia has reduced the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the general population from more than 3 percent to just under 1 percent - a major public-health victory.

But that accomplishment masks a darker truth that afflicts poor populations in Cambodia and most of the developing world. Health policy in this country is determined by the priority or caprice of officials in Geneva, Washington or Berlin - not Phnom Penh. That has given this country a health policy that appears patently absurd.

"Everybody talks about AIDS," complained Dr. Sin Somuny, executive director of Medicam, which represents 117 health care providers in Cambodia. "It affects .09 percent of the population. Well, diabetes now affects 10 percent of the population. But no one talks about that. Funding for diabetes is 25 to 30 times less."

That makes no sense. How can it be?

International donors "want to give money to the big thing of the moment," acknowledged Dr. Michael O'Leary, director of the World Health Organization office in Phnom Penh. "Right now, it's influenza," better known as swine or bird flu.

Beat Richner, a Swiss doctor who runs five children's hospitals across the country, puts a positively uncharitable spin on that analysis.

"They care about bird flu because a bird may fly to California," he told me. "But a mosquito flies only 120 meters." Hence the dearth of funding in Cambodia for malaria or dengue fever, two mosquito-borne illnesses.

"Infectious diseases, infectious diseases," Somuny said, shaking his head. "If you care about the lives of the people, it should not just be infectious diseases."

"You know, beggars can't be choosers," said Dr. Paul Weelen, another WHO official in Cambodia. "Donors set the agenda for what is done in these countries."

Cambodia spends almost $200 million a year on health care services for its 13.4 million citizens. Foreign donors and charities provide about 40 percent of that, giving them outsize influence over health policy. (Per capita, most Western states spend almost 1,000 times more.)

A few years ago, Cambodia's Health Ministry told international donors that it had an urgent priority: to establish a primary health care system - doctors, hospitals and health clinics - to serve citizens nationwide. The Khmer Rouge killed all the doctors and destroyed the health care facilities during its reign 30 years ago.

The donors were largely unresponsive. So, largely with its own money, Cambodia built dozens of hospitals and health clinics. I visited several. Signs and stickers show that international aid groups did provide some equipment and infrastructure. But these are Cambodian operations, as they should be. Still, the hospitals are so underfunded that it's a wonder they can do anything at all. Nurses are poorly trained, underpaid, overworked - and, as a result, often indolent. Doctors might earn $200 a month, so they sometimes demand under-the-table payments before they will treat patients.

In Battambang hospital one day this month, patients lay on straw mats they had brought from home, placed on top of wood slats in rusty white-enamel bed frames. Ten miserable patients lay unattended in the emergency room. The nurses' station was empty, but a green door at one end was cracked open. Inside, three women lounged on beds, snacking on bananas and rice cakes. I knocked.

"Just a minute!" one of them shouted as she jumped out of the bed and frantically pulled on her white nurse's coat.

In private hospitals, adequately paid and supervised, Cambodian doctors and nurses provide superb care.

No one expects the international community to pick up responsibility for funding Cambodia's hospitals. But if the foreign donors at work in Cambodia and in dozens of other poor nations made an effort to direct their money to the nations' priorities, they might save millions of lives.
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ASEAN welcomes China's increasing role in Asia-Pacific region

PHUKET (Xinhua) -- China can play an important role in the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific area, which the ten-member Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) welcomes, Thai Foreign Minister said Sunday.

China can play a role in the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific area and it can also help economic development in the Asia-Pacific at large, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters.

Kasit made the remark in the press conference held after foreign ministers of ASEAN convened for the first time in their annual ministerial level meet. Their meeting focused on the human right issue and dispute-settlement mechanism among ASEAN nations.

"China's position is very important. It's reemerging as a world power. Its position has a positive aspect in the sense that it has become a very important market for the ASEAN countries," he added.

"So we welcome the increasing role of China as a very important member of the international community," the Foreign Minister said.

Ministers of ASEAN and China are scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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ASEAN countries to set up ‘evolutionary’ human rights panel

Phuket (Thailand), South-East Asian foreign ministers Sunday agreed to set up a regional human rights commission, even as they noted that some members’ coolness to the idea meant it would start off lacking the ability to investigate or monitor abuses by members.
The new commission would thus initially be tasked with raising awareness of human rights and engaging with civil society while seeking regional solutions to problems.

However, the panel would also be “evolutionary”, with plans to revisit and strengthen its makeup every five years.

“The draft terms of reference reflect the maximum consensus among ASEAN countries at this time,” Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said after the new commission was broadly agreed to at a briefing with the foreign ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phuket.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, notorious for its human rights abuses.

Objections from Myanmar and other of ASEAN’s less progressive members meant the commission would have to start life without the right to investigate and monitor reports of human rights abuses in member countries, sources said.

But Kasit stressed that the every five-year updates mean that powers can be added as members’ stances change.

“It is a legal document that would provide an evolutionary framework for further measures for the promotion and protection of human rights,” the Thai foreign minister said.

He added that Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win had agreed to the terms of the new commission.

Myanmar’s poor human rights performance and its failure to introduce democratic reforms is a constant embarrassment for ASEAN, which Myanmar joined in 1997.

But under ASEAN’s new charter, that went into effect Dec 15, 2008, all member states have acknowledged the importance of promoting human rights in the region.

The ASEAN ministers are expected to officially approve the terms of reference Monday and launch the ASEAN Inter-regional Commission on Human Rights in October at the 15th ASEAN Summit, also to be held on Phuket Island, 600 km south of Bangkok.

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Katie Couric Looks Back at Esteemed Newsman's Life and Career

By Katie Couric


(CBS) For half a century, Walter Cronkite told it the way it was, delivering the news straight and unvarnished.

Among the pioneers who built television news from the ground up, he forged a special bond with audiences, reports CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

He was trustworthy, plain spoke and unflappable.

Walter was there. He'd lived the history of the century and reported it. He was born in 1916 in St. Joseph, Mo., and as a young man growing up in Houston and Kansas City, he saw firsthand the dust bowl of the 1930s and the Great Depression.

Special Section: Walter Cronkite: 1916-2009

As a young wire service reporter in WWII, he hit the ground with troops in North Africa and was the first to make it back with the story.

"I'm just back from the biggest assignment that any American reporter could have so far in this war," he said.

He was all of 26 - a natural before the camera and the microphone.

In the early 1950s, television came calling. Walter anchored the news on CBS, first in Washington, then on the network from New York.

As television news began taking wing in the 1950s, so did Walter, covering the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, atom bomb testing in Nevada, and the birth of the American space program.

Walter knew 12 American presidents.

"I met all of America's presidents since Herbert Hoover," Cronkite said." And I've known some of them pretty well. Lyndon Johnson called the "CBS Evening News" while I was actually on the air. And insisted that they put him through to me on the air. My secretary said, 'But he, but he's on the air, Mr. President.' 'I don't give a damned where he is. Put him on the phone.'"

Walter assumed the anchor chair of the "CBS Evening News" in 1962.

He was there with us through America's darkest moments, including the assassination of President John Kennedy.

"And I almost lost it there," Cronkite said.

Cronkite was a fixture at political conventions, including the democrat's chaotic meeting in Chicago in 1968. A party - and a country - at war with itself over Vietnam.

Walter 's skepticism grew while reporting on the Vietnam War. He shared those feelings in a landmark broadcast in which he acknowledged he was stating his opinion that it was time the nation get out.

"And it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then, would be to negotiate," he said. "Not as victims, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could."

"After that report, I recall that LBJ said to many of us that if I've lost Walter Cronkite, then I've lost the war," said Tom Johnson, a former Lyndon Johnson aide.

"And I think it pained him to have to say what he thought about Vietnam, but he also understood how isolating the White House can be and how people can get to the point where they don't hear discordant voices," said former President Bill Clinton. "And he thought he knew what the truth was. And he thought he had an obligation to tell it.

But his abiding passion was space.

"I think that our conquest of space will probably be the most important story of the whole 20th century," Cronkite said.

In 1969, a waiting world held its breath as man first approached the surface of the moon.

His own spirit was unconquerable. After leaving the "Evening News" he toured well into his 80s, making documentaries and having a good time.

He spent those latter years with his true loves - his three children Nancy, Kathy and Walter Jr., and his wife of nearly 65 years, Betsy. It's said they fell asleep every night holding hands.

In 1996, he taped his thoughts on the amazing century he'd seen.

"If there's anything I've learned it is that we Americans do have a way of rising to the challenges that confront us," Cronkite said. "Just when it seems we're most divided, we suddenly show our remarkable solidarity. The 20th century may be leaving us with a host of problems, but I've also noted that it does seem darkest before the dawn. There's reason to hope for the 21st century. And that's the way it will be." Read more!

ASEAN-Korea multimedia competition for students

The ASEAN-Korea Center launched their Multimedia Competition for Southeast Asian and Korean university (including graduate) students. The theme of the contest is "Cultural Diversity and Harmony."

The entrants can deal with any positive subject that pertains to the cultural diversity and harmony of ASEAN, the cultural diversity and harmony of Korea, or of the cultural diversity and harmony between ASEAN and Korea.

The contest is divided into a photography category and a video and multimedia category.

The entrants can submit to either or both of the categories.

The first and second place winners in each of the categories will be invited to attend the Awards Ceremony held in September where the works of the winners and selected individuals will be displayed at an exhibition at the Centre in Gwanghwamun.

The deadline for submissions is midnight, Aug. 22.

Further contest details and rules can be found at the Centre's website: www.aseankorea.org/english

The ASEAN-Korea Centre is an intergovernmental organization that consists of Korea and the ten ASEAN Member Countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Center's objectives are to increase trade, accelerate investment flow, invigorate tourism, and enrich cultural exchanges between ASEAN and Korea.

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