Half a world away, Argos grad making a difference

via Khmer NZ News MediaWednesday, 30 June 2010 By Rusty Nixon, CorrespondentARGOS — Heather Blanche didn’t have every young girl’s dream.The Argos High School and Ball State University graduate grew up in the American Midwest, but knew she wanted to serve somewhere else. With God’s leading, she decided to go help other young girls who weren’t even given the opportunity to have a dream.As she was finishing her degree in interpersonal communications at Ball State, Heather was doing her homework on another subject – the trafficking in young girls in Southeast Asia. The subject kept coming up in classes on women’s issues and other courses...

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Hun Sen, Cabinet Members Down With Swine Flu

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh Wednesday, 30 June 2010 via Khmer NZ News MediaPhoto: APChea Sim, center, president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, Heng Samring, rear left, the party honorary president, Hun Sen, foreground, the party's vice president and the prime minister of the Cambodian government.“After receiving the best medical treatment from expert Cambodian doctors, [Hun Sen’s] health has returned to normalcy.”Prime Minister Hun Sen and five of his cabinet have fallen ill with the H1N1 virus, health officials said Wednesday.Hun Sen required “urgent measures” for treatment after he showed signs of the illness,...

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Thai govt disavows media tale

Wednesday, 30 June 2010Cameron Wells and Cheang SokhaThe Phnom Penh PostTHAILAND on Tuesday denied allegations levelled by Cambodian officials that it has planted false media reports about antigovernment Red Shirts crossing into Cambodia.The Press and Quick Reaction Unit at the Council of Ministers on Monday issued a statement denying a report in the Bangkok Post asserting that two Thais – Warisaya Boonsom and Kobchai Boonplod – had crossed the border into Cambodia on June 23, the day after the bombing of the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters in Bangkok.Benjapol Rodsawas, identified as an immigration official in Sa Kaeo province, was quoted as confirming the crossing.In addition to arguing that there was no evidence that the two fugitives were in Cambodia, the Council of Ministers...

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Border Crisis: Anti-Thai rally to mark anniversary

Invading black-clad Thai soldiers next to Cambodian soldiers (Photo: Reuters)Wednesday, 30 June 2010Cheang SokhaThe Phnom Penh PostThe Cambodia Watchdog Council (CWC) plans to gather at Wat Botum on July 15 to express anger at Thailand’s “invasion” near Preah Vihear temple two years ago. On July 15, 2008, Thailand sent troops to disputed border areas close to Preah Vihear temple, a week after UNESCO accepted Cambodia’s application to have it listed as a World Heritage site. “The purpose of the ceremony is to show Thailand that the Cambodian people are dissatisfied with the invasion of Cambodian territory,” said CWC president Rong...

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Ponhea Krek villagers: The planting of border posts leads to the loss of Khmer territories to the benefit of Vietnam

Ponhea Krek villagers claimed that the planting of border posts led to the loss of Khmer territories to Vietnam (Photo: RFI)29 June 2010By Im Navin Radio France Internationale Translated from Khmer by SocheataClick here to listen to the report in Khmer (MP3)The Cambodia-Viet border committee planted a number of border posts in the Ponhea Krek district region, Kampong Cham province. However, a number of villagers are claiming that these border post planting led to the loss of their rice fields and homes to the benefit of Vietnam. This is what happened to Anlong Chrey village, the area where border post no. 125 is currently being...

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Rare 'white' elephant captured in Burma

White elephants are in fact usually more reddish-brown in colourTuesday, 29 June 2010BBC News"In English and some other languages, a white elephant also means a useless structure, and a needlessly expensive burden."A rare "white elephant", a traditional symbol of good fortune and power in south-east Asia, has been captured in Burma, state media reports.Reports say the 2m (6.5ft) female elephant was tracked down in Maungdaw in the west of the country.White elephants are only nominally white - they often look reddish-brown in the sun, and light pink when wet.Analysts say the animal is likely to be brought to the capital, Naypyidaw,...

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Mu Sochua to visit Khut Kong Kea and others in Bangkok

Dear compatriots,Please be informed that I will visit him this week end. I will stop in Bangkok for him and others. They must be kept in hope. I will return to Cambodia, Monday 5 July.On behalf of SRP, I wish to thank you all for your most generous contributions.In Solidarity,Soc...

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Benigno Aquino III sworn in as Philippine leader

Philippine President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III takes his oath before Supreme Court Associate Conchita Carpio Morales (not pictured) as he places his other hand on a Bible during his inauguration as the 15th President of the Philippines in Manila June 30, 2010. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro)June 30, 2010By OLIVER TEVESAssociated Press WriterMANILA, Philippines — Benigno Aquino III was sworn in Wednesday as the Philippines' 15th president, leading a Southeast Asian nation his late parents helped liberate from dictatorship and which he promises to deliver from poverty and pervasive corruption.Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them...

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Honor for sale: Would you like to give 500 riels to buy Hun Xen's honor?

Chea Mony collect money from workers to pay Mu Sochua's fineWednesday, 30 June 2010By KhmerizationSource: CENChea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has appealed to all workers to help raise the money to pay a 16.5 million riels ($4,500) fine on behalf of MP Mu Sochua who was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay the fine after finding her guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen, reports Cambodian Express News.Mu Sochua sued Mr. Hun Sen for defamation after he called her a "cheung klang" - strong leg, which sometimes means a "hustler", but her suit was dismissed and she was found guilty...

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"Tuk Sva Doll Na?" a Poem in Khmer by Sék Serei

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Cambodia Is Hard Sell for Investment Companies

Cambodia's corruptor-in-chief and his clanJune 29, 2010By SIMON MARKS The New York TimesPHNOM PENH — Douglas Clayton arrived in Phnom Penh in 2007 to start a private equity fund, looking to get $100 million in funds under management. His firm, Leopard Capital, started in 2008, is one of four private equity funds here backed by overseas investors, and the first to have completed an investment.“Anyone can announce they want to start a fund, but getting investors to back you is a challenge,” Mr. Clayton, Leopard’s chief executive and managing partner, said in an interview. “All the groups that started here had no track record, including...

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OK, who on KI-Media placed the swine flu curse on Hun Xen? Come on, fess up!

CPP ministers cursed blessed with Swine flu: Hun Xen, Tao Xeng Huor, Chhay ThanCambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen infected with A/H1N1June 30, 2010XinhuaCambodian government announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Hun Sen was found infected with A/H1N1 virus last Friday.In a statement released Tuesday, Mam Bunheng, minister of health said the prime minister was found infected with A/H1N1 after the weekly Cabinet meeting that took place last Friday.But he said the prime minister's health condition returns to normal after he was well treated by Cambodian eminent doctors.According to the statement, other three senior government officials...

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In ‘Red Light,’ a Portrait of the Sex Trade

Men Kimseng, VOA KhmerNew York Tuesday, 29 June 2010 “The drunk chief of police who raped my daughter came to my home.” A sex trade documentary that was four years in the making and took the collaboration of a politician and a former sex slave turned advocate premiered in New York last week, highlighting an ongoing problem fed in part by collaboration of society, officials and police.“Red Light” shows how parents sell daughters, government officials use secret brothels to procure sex and the extent to which the trade exposes children to abuse.The film, which took more than four years to make, was produced in part by actress Lucy...

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Buddhist monk charged with filming naked women

Phnom Penh, Jun 29 (AFP) A Cambodian court charged a Buddhist monk today for secretly filming hundreds of women as they bathed naked with holy water at a temple and then sharing the clips, officials said.Net Khai, 37, faces up to a year in jail after being charged with "producing and distributing pornographic images" by Phnom Penh Municipal Court, prosecutor Ek Chheng Huot told AFP.He was arrested at his pagoda in the Cambodian capital on Saturday over allegations that he secretly taped the women pouring sacred water over themselves in a pagoda bathroom, said police chief Touch Naruth.Net Khai was arrested after a victim approached...

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CPP’s insistence to preserve the same stale face PM candidate earns criticisms

How much longer can Cambodia afford to see the same stale face premier?29 June 2010By S. Botum Free Press Magazine Online Translated from Khmer by SocheataClick here to read the article in KhmerThe CPP’s decision to preserve the same 30-year-old premiership candidacy starts to generate major criticisms from both political and civil society communities, as well as from the public living in the countryside. By now, the public can expect that the same premier, who holds the same capacity, will lead Cambodia to the same imbroglio with the same problems, such as corruption, huge amount of foreign loans, major illegal flow of Yuon immigrants,...

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Is it His Karma?

CPP Tycoon-Senator-cum-Land-grabber Lao Meng KhinFilling of Boeng Kak Lake by Lao Meng Khin's company, Shukaku Inc.Residents protesting the forced eviction from Boeng Kak LakeResidents, adults and children alike, protest the forced eviction from Boeng Kak LakeTuesday, June 29, 2010True story by Khmer BorannI have a friend who lived in Beong Kak Lake community before he and his family was evicted by the Hun Sen’s authority to make way for a CPP tycoon to develop the area for the latter's own profit. My friend finished university with me and he is a diehard supporter of the CPP.When the residents of Koh Pich were evicted from their...

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