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.
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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.”

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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.

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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.


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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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Vietnam-Cambodia ties continue to flourish

The Vietnam-Cambodia relationship over recent years has been developing unceasingly both in depth and scope with higher efficiency.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong made the remark while receiving a delegation of the Cambodian National Assembly Committee for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Media, led by its Chairman Chheang Vun, in Hanoi on July 17.

Chairman Trong said the two sides should further coordinate in order to complete border demarcation and landmark planting by 2012, and to accelerate cooperation programmes and projects. The two countries also should coordinate more at multilateral forums, he added.

On the occasion, Chairman Trong expressed thanks to the Cambodian government and people for their support and assistance in the search for and repatriation of the remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers in Cambodia, and in stabilising the lives of overseas Vietnamese.

Chairman Chheang Vun said his country’s achievements in the past struggle for national liberation and the present cause of national construction were inseparable from Vietnam’s valuable assistance.

He briefed his host on the results of his talks with the Vietnam NA Committee on Foreign Affairs, where the two sides agreed to promote the teaching of the Vietnamese and Cambodian languages and the tradition of friendship and cooperation to benefit the young generations of the two nations.

He also spoke of the need to strengthen the cooperation between the Committees on Foreign Affairs of the NA’s of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in order to support their Governments in developing their border areas, where a large population of ethnic minority people are living in poverty.

The Cambodian delegation, during their working visit to Vietnam from July 16-27, will attend a conference to be held in Kon Tum province on the legislative body’s role in boosting friendship and cooperation and developing the border areas of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

During their stay in Vietnam, the Cambodian delegation will work with the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, and visit Da Nang city, Kon Tum province and Ho Chi Minh City.


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