Friday, October 31, 2014
Vietnam considers sale of Phu Quoc Airport
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Vietnam's Ministry of Transport is considering transferring several airports to other investors, and Phu Quoc Airport will likely be the first to change hands, local Saigon Times daily reported Friday, quoting ACV general director Le Manh Hung as saying.
He also said that the transport ministry wants participatory development of the aviation sector, from infrastructure investments to human resource training. Following the ministry's policy, ACV is working towards selling Phu Quoc Airport.
The airport, developed at a cost of 3 trillion VND (141.2 million U.S. dollars), was put into operation on Dec. 15, 2012 and is the first international airport invested by ACV.
Phu Quoc Airport is expected to serve 2.65 million passengers per year by 2020 and up to 7 million passengers by 2030. In the Jan.-Aug. period, the airport handled 5,632 flights with more than 666,000 passengers, which is expected to hit one million by the end of this year, up 45 percent against last year.
Kem Sokha asks Australia to reconsider transfer of refugees to Cambodia
PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Kem Sokha, first vice president of the National Assembly and vice president of Cambodia National Rescue Party, has asked the Australian government to reconsider the transfer of refugees from Nauru to Cambodia.
The request was made through a recent letter to Mrs. Alison Burrows, the Australian ambassador.
In the letter obtained by The Cambodia Herald Friday, Kem Sokha said he had a meeting on October 21 with several representatives of Buddhist monks, students and Khmer people who staged demonstrations against the transfer of refugees from Nauru Island to Cambodia.
Sokha said at the meeting they expressed a concern of possible negative impact caused by the decision.
"In my capacity as Member of Parliament and First Vice President of the National Assembly, I understand that their concerns are well-founded," he said.
Cambodia signed the refugee deal last month with Australia to have refugees who have sought asylum in Australia transferred to live in Cambodia.
The request was made through a recent letter to Mrs. Alison Burrows, the Australian ambassador.
In the letter obtained by The Cambodia Herald Friday, Kem Sokha said he had a meeting on October 21 with several representatives of Buddhist monks, students and Khmer people who staged demonstrations against the transfer of refugees from Nauru Island to Cambodia.
Sokha said at the meeting they expressed a concern of possible negative impact caused by the decision.
"In my capacity as Member of Parliament and First Vice President of the National Assembly, I understand that their concerns are well-founded," he said.
Cambodia signed the refugee deal last month with Australia to have refugees who have sought asylum in Australia transferred to live in Cambodia.
Protest leader Rong Chhun sees the court order as putting him in a prison without a wall
PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Municipal court decided today to put Mr. Rong Chhun president of Independent Teacher Association and Cambodia Union Association under the court’s watch. Mr. Rong Chhun was also banned from doing things that could cause social disorder which Mr. Rong Chhun called the decision as putting him in a prison without wall.
The decision to put Mr. Rong Chhun under the court’s eyes came after the court questioned Mr. Rong Chhun regarding the protest at Canadia Industrial Park on Veng Sreng street late in 2013 and early in 2014.
Mr. Rong Chhun was also ordered to not change his address, response to the court summons, not meet people to form any acts in public. He is also not allowed to go to Canadia industrial Park to meet garment workers.
Mr. Rong Chhun said that his rights were restricted and stripped off by the court.
“This ban means stripping off my rights. How can I protect my members. This means putting me in confinement without a wall,” he said.
Previously,Mr. Ath Thon, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), Mr.Chea Mony president of Free Trade Union, Mr.Pav Sina, president of the Collection Union of Movement of Workers, were also put under the court’s watch.
The decision to put Mr. Rong Chhun under the court’s eyes came after the court questioned Mr. Rong Chhun regarding the protest at Canadia Industrial Park on Veng Sreng street late in 2013 and early in 2014.
Mr. Rong Chhun was also ordered to not change his address, response to the court summons, not meet people to form any acts in public. He is also not allowed to go to Canadia industrial Park to meet garment workers.
Mr. Rong Chhun said that his rights were restricted and stripped off by the court.
“This ban means stripping off my rights. How can I protect my members. This means putting me in confinement without a wall,” he said.
Previously,Mr. Ath Thon, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU), Mr.Chea Mony president of Free Trade Union, Mr.Pav Sina, president of the Collection Union of Movement of Workers, were also put under the court’s watch.
Chhay presses graft case
Chhay yesterday accused Peng Long of withholding records of the number of civil servants involved in corruption since he requested the files be released last week in a bid to clean up parliament.
“This is a legal issue as we wrote to Leng Peng Long, secretary-general of the parliament, and he has yet to reply,” he said.
The longtime anti-corruption campaigner and opposition member said his efforts to combat corruption in parliament weren’t an attack on the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
“For this issue, the permanent committee of parliament must take measures,” he said. “That is why I have asked for the lists [of civil servants], so why have they not given me the lists?”
In a letter to Peng Long on October 21, Chhay claimed that the deputy secretary-general of the National Assembly, Mith Karen, used his position to appoint seven of his relatives to jobs in parliament.
“Excellency [Samrin] should consider suspending Mith Karen’s family urgently until an investigation can be carried out and the truth uncovered,” he wrote in the letter.
Karen could not be reached, and Peng Long declined to comment yesterday, saying only that he did “administrative work” in accordance with the wishes of his superiors.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Khmer news , Vietnamese bring Siha Keo go to them country
This afternoon I witnessed the ongoing plundering of a valuable white marble quarry by a Vietnamese-related company on a hill named Phnom Kiri Seila Keo in Battambang province's Banan district.
30 October 2014 - 14:00 - Plundering of a marble quarry in Battambang province.
30 October 2014 - 14:00 - Plundering of a marble quarry in Battambang province.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Khmer Opposition Lawmaker Wants Probe of Claims
Asenior Cambodian opposition lawmaker has lodged a complaint against a high-ranking, ruling-party official in parliament, accusing him of corruption and nepotism, but is frustrated by the lack of response.
Son Chhay, from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), charged that Mith Karen, parliament’s deputy secretary general and member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), used his influence to appoint family members to positions in the legislature’s secretariat.
Son Chhay, who is deputy president of the parliament’s Commission on Economics, Finance, Banking and Auditing, submitted the complaint letter to Leng Peng Long, the secretary-general of parliament or National Assembly, on Oct. 21.
“The National Assembly has not taken any action in response to my compliant,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.
His letter claimed seven of Mith Karen’s relatives were working for the National Assembly secretariat.
He listed them as son-in-law Hang Vicheat, the general director of finance and administration; son Ren Sovana, the deputy director of the finance department; daughter Mith Timean, the internal inspector general; nephew Mith Chanlinda, the inspector director; brother-in-law Hai Semi, a logistics official; ex-brother-in-law Ear Tharady, a personnel director; and son-in-law Tha Lymi, deputy director of the payroll department.
The Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoted Son Chhay as saying that there could be “more than 20” of Mith Karen’s relatives working in the secretariat.
Son Chhay wants parliament to terminate or suspend them from their posts and order an immediate investigation.
He said he planned to submit another complaint to Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly, this week and also file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit.
“There must be an independent investigation,” he said.
'Conflict of interest'
Son Chhay said this was the first time he had come across a large number of family members of a lawmaker working for the National Assembly.
“This is a conflict of interest,” he said. “It is a criminal act.”
Son Chhay said he uncovered the alleged act of nepotism after he asked parliament’s secretary general for list of staff members and contracts involving the legislature so that he could conduct an audit and take action against suspected nepotistic appointments.
In August, the Anti-Corruption Unit pledged a crackdown on such appointments in government institutions.
Chheang Von, National Assembly spokesman, said he had just returned from abroad and would review Son Chhay’s complaint letter.
Koam Kosal, the parliament’s inspector general, declined to comment on the letter.
Mith Karen could not be reached for comment but told local media that his family members were qualified for the government positions they hold.
Preap Kol, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said it was unacceptable to have such a number of family members working in key government positions inside the National Assembly and called for an investigation of the case.
“In Cambodia, it’s commonplace [for government officials] to allow family members to work in the same office,” he told RFA. “[Such people] claim that the practice is implemented in other state institutions, so they think they can do that, too, inside the National Assembly.”
“But it is contrary to the international norm and a conflict of interest,” he said. “It’s not acceptable as far as international standards are concerned.”
Reported by Samean Yun for RFA’s Cambodian Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Son Chhay, from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), charged that Mith Karen, parliament’s deputy secretary general and member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), used his influence to appoint family members to positions in the legislature’s secretariat.
Son Chhay, who is deputy president of the parliament’s Commission on Economics, Finance, Banking and Auditing, submitted the complaint letter to Leng Peng Long, the secretary-general of parliament or National Assembly, on Oct. 21.
“The National Assembly has not taken any action in response to my compliant,” he told RFA’s Khmer Service.
His letter claimed seven of Mith Karen’s relatives were working for the National Assembly secretariat.
He listed them as son-in-law Hang Vicheat, the general director of finance and administration; son Ren Sovana, the deputy director of the finance department; daughter Mith Timean, the internal inspector general; nephew Mith Chanlinda, the inspector director; brother-in-law Hai Semi, a logistics official; ex-brother-in-law Ear Tharady, a personnel director; and son-in-law Tha Lymi, deputy director of the payroll department.
The Phnom Penh Post newspaper quoted Son Chhay as saying that there could be “more than 20” of Mith Karen’s relatives working in the secretariat.
Son Chhay wants parliament to terminate or suspend them from their posts and order an immediate investigation.
He said he planned to submit another complaint to Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly, this week and also file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Unit.
“There must be an independent investigation,” he said.
'Conflict of interest'
Son Chhay said this was the first time he had come across a large number of family members of a lawmaker working for the National Assembly.
“This is a conflict of interest,” he said. “It is a criminal act.”
Son Chhay said he uncovered the alleged act of nepotism after he asked parliament’s secretary general for list of staff members and contracts involving the legislature so that he could conduct an audit and take action against suspected nepotistic appointments.
In August, the Anti-Corruption Unit pledged a crackdown on such appointments in government institutions.
Chheang Von, National Assembly spokesman, said he had just returned from abroad and would review Son Chhay’s complaint letter.
Koam Kosal, the parliament’s inspector general, declined to comment on the letter.
Mith Karen could not be reached for comment but told local media that his family members were qualified for the government positions they hold.
Preap Kol, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said it was unacceptable to have such a number of family members working in key government positions inside the National Assembly and called for an investigation of the case.
“In Cambodia, it’s commonplace [for government officials] to allow family members to work in the same office,” he told RFA. “[Such people] claim that the practice is implemented in other state institutions, so they think they can do that, too, inside the National Assembly.”
“But it is contrary to the international norm and a conflict of interest,” he said. “It’s not acceptable as far as international standards are concerned.”
Reported by Samean Yun for RFA’s Cambodian Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Khmer cultural it is beautiful ,Meeting suggests dam project moving ahead
Despite reports that Prime Minister Hun Sen recently offered assurances that construction of the controversial Stung Cheay Areng hydropower dam would not be allowed to begin in the near future, local officials are allegedly pushing forward with plans to relocate villagers.
Multiple provincial, district and village officials, as well as police and military police, held a meeting on Saturday at the Somraong primary school in Koh Kong province’s Pralay commune to discuss the dam, according to a document compiled by NGO Mother Nature, based on local reports.
“The aim of the meeting was to try and get the villagers to accept to move to the relocation site and accept compensation,” the document says, adding that just nine villagers were present.
Two of the nine “asked the company to go to the valley”, to conduct assessments, while seven rejected the plans, it says. Community representative Ven Vorn could not be reached yesterday.
Touch Savuth, Thmar Bang district governor, admitted that he attended the weekend meeting. But, he said, he just went to “visit and talk to the people in the Areng about what their concerns are about the dam plan”.
“Those people are just worried about losing their land and fish,” he said, claiming that he did not discuss relocation or compensation plans during the meeting.
Earlier this month, Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Sam Rainsy said Hun Sen had assured him, on the sidelines of a parliamentary session in which the project was discussed, that the dam’s construction had not been definitively decided and that it may be left to future generations.
Ith Praing, secretary of state at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, could not be reached yesterday, but he had said earlier this month that the ministry has “no activities in that area” and that “nothing new” is happening.
Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, the director of Mother Nature, said that the Areng dam has been “pushed by the provincial and district authorities”, who are “willing to get it done however possible”.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
นักหมวย Thai Fight ถ่ายรูปหมู่หลังจากจบงาน
นักมวย และ ทีมงาน THAI FIGHT ทุกคนขอขอบคุณแฟนมวยที่เข้ามาชมการแข่งขันที่ เอ็มซีซี ฮอลล์ เดอะมอลล์บางกะปิ และผู้ชมทางบ้านทุกคนค่ะ
Soldier Thai Kill Khmer people
It is a 'positive' sign that the Cambodian government finally comes around to the idea of protesting this brutal act of killing civilians for crossing the two countries' common border for whatever reason. With the Thai PM reported to be coming to the Kingdom on his first official visit to seal bilateral agreements in the near future [since the recent military coup], it is imperative that this issue is brought into the discussion between the two heads of government.
he Thai armed services have a long history of committing 'shoot-to-kill' policy against unarmed people they regard as 'aliens' - mostly, civilians from neighbouring countries like Burma and Cambodia - straying into their identified territory. Ill treating these people the Thais are conditioned to view as traditional enemies with no entitlement to human status or dignity has been ingrained in their mindset, and forms a part of Thailand's unofficial approach on its immigration control and enforcement.
Some Cambodians have called on Cambodian authorities to act likewise towards Thai citizens, or Vietnamese nationals as one means of protest and response, but I think this is not something any decent people aught to be contemplating. We have to rise above such senseless reaction and murderous instinct towards people of any ethnic group who otherwise exercise no bearing on any given political-social agenda of their government or regime. National self-defense and protecting fellow citizens' lives and limbs need not resort to such inhumane, indiscriminate acts. Certainly, not against defenceless civilians, or their legitimate properties and businesses.
Now, I am aware of the trouble with the CPP regime and its habitual violence and intimidation exacted against its own citizens and civilians as a tool of sustaining its rule and power. This should not in any way influence or excuse this regime's, or one's thinking over other countries' violations of innocents' or civilians' human rights. It is the duty of rights groups and political parties to condemn and protest these forms of violence and transgression whether they issue from Phnom Penh or Bangkok. At the very least, the notion of an Asean unity and integration based upon common 'Asian values' and regional proximity as neighbours call for mutual adherence to and regard for some universal standards or concerns for 'territorial integrity', 'non-interference in the internal affairs' of other members as well as the security of nationals of all these member states.
The Thai government should, in my view, be held responsible for all the deaths and killings of Cambodian civilians at the hands of its armed personnel that had taken place over the years. A demand for financial compensation for all known deaths and injuries should also be lodged with Thailand. Doing this will contribute something to the cause of justice, the victims' family economic situation that had driven them to taking the [known] risks of crossing the border in the first place, and of course, to influencing Bangkok's future treatment of migrants from neighbouring countries.
he Thai armed services have a long history of committing 'shoot-to-kill' policy against unarmed people they regard as 'aliens' - mostly, civilians from neighbouring countries like Burma and Cambodia - straying into their identified territory. Ill treating these people the Thais are conditioned to view as traditional enemies with no entitlement to human status or dignity has been ingrained in their mindset, and forms a part of Thailand's unofficial approach on its immigration control and enforcement.
Some Cambodians have called on Cambodian authorities to act likewise towards Thai citizens, or Vietnamese nationals as one means of protest and response, but I think this is not something any decent people aught to be contemplating. We have to rise above such senseless reaction and murderous instinct towards people of any ethnic group who otherwise exercise no bearing on any given political-social agenda of their government or regime. National self-defense and protecting fellow citizens' lives and limbs need not resort to such inhumane, indiscriminate acts. Certainly, not against defenceless civilians, or their legitimate properties and businesses.
Now, I am aware of the trouble with the CPP regime and its habitual violence and intimidation exacted against its own citizens and civilians as a tool of sustaining its rule and power. This should not in any way influence or excuse this regime's, or one's thinking over other countries' violations of innocents' or civilians' human rights. It is the duty of rights groups and political parties to condemn and protest these forms of violence and transgression whether they issue from Phnom Penh or Bangkok. At the very least, the notion of an Asean unity and integration based upon common 'Asian values' and regional proximity as neighbours call for mutual adherence to and regard for some universal standards or concerns for 'territorial integrity', 'non-interference in the internal affairs' of other members as well as the security of nationals of all these member states.
The Thai government should, in my view, be held responsible for all the deaths and killings of Cambodian civilians at the hands of its armed personnel that had taken place over the years. A demand for financial compensation for all known deaths and injuries should also be lodged with Thailand. Doing this will contribute something to the cause of justice, the victims' family economic situation that had driven them to taking the [known] risks of crossing the border in the first place, and of course, to influencing Bangkok's future treatment of migrants from neighbouring countries.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Kun Khmer Sen Bunthen vs Thai Fight ไทยไฟต์ 25 October 2014
25-10-14 ไทยไฟต์ THAI FIGHT รอบแรก ชิงถ้วยพระราชทาน พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว และ สมเด็จพระบรมโอรสาธิราชฯ ล่าสุด
ไทยไฟต์ THAI FIGHT 25 ตุลาคม 2557 พบกับ ศึกไทยไฟต์ ชิงถ้วยพระราชทาน พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว และ สมเด็จพระบรมโอรสาธิราชฯ สยามมกุฎราชกุมาร พร้อม สุดสาคร และ ลีโอ ณ MCC HALL THE MALL BANGKAPI ซึ่งจะนำทัพนักกีฬามวย ไทยไฟต์
1. Naimjon Tuhtaboev ชาว อุซเบกิสถาน รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
2. Mohammed El-mir ชาว Denmark รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
3. Batyr Korgoloev ชาว Russia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
4. Too Too ชาว Myanmar รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
5. Christophe Pruvost ชาว Switzerland รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
6. Alex Oller ชาว Brazil รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
7. ไทรโยค พุ่มพันธ์ม่วงวินดี้สปอร์ต ชาว Thailand รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
8. Millad Farzad ชาว Australia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
9. Michael Corley ชาว U.S.A. รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
10. Sen Bunthen ชาว Cambodia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
11. Hiroki Nakashim ชาว Japan รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
12. Antoine Pinto ชาว France รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
13. Ben Hodge ชาว England รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
14. Alka Matewa ชาว Belgium รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
ซึ่งในรุ่นคาดเชือกนั้น ต้องบอกเลยว่าเป็นการชกที่ทั้งสนุก บวกกับ ความอันตรายไปในตัว ดังนั้นผู้ชกในรุ่นที่คาดเชือกนั้นต้องทำการฟิตซ้อมร่างกายมาเป็นอย่างดี และ ต้องรู้จักการหลบหลีได้อย่างยอดเยี่ยม ซึ่งในรุ่น คาดเชือก นั้นก็ได้มีอยู่ด้วยกันถึง 6 คน 3 คู่ ต้องมาลุ้นกันว่างานนี้เราจะได้เห็นฝีไม้ลายมือที่สวยงามจากใคร ติดตามดูศึกโปรแกรมการแข่งขัน ไทยไฟต์ THAI FIGHT 25 ตุลาคม 2557 ชิงถ้วยพระราชทาน ล่าสุด
ไทยไฟต์ THAI FIGHT 25 ตุลาคม 2557 พบกับ ศึกไทยไฟต์ ชิงถ้วยพระราชทาน พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว และ สมเด็จพระบรมโอรสาธิราชฯ สยามมกุฎราชกุมาร พร้อม สุดสาคร และ ลีโอ ณ MCC HALL THE MALL BANGKAPI ซึ่งจะนำทัพนักกีฬามวย ไทยไฟต์
1. Naimjon Tuhtaboev ชาว อุซเบกิสถาน รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
2. Mohammed El-mir ชาว Denmark รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
3. Batyr Korgoloev ชาว Russia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
4. Too Too ชาว Myanmar รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
5. Christophe Pruvost ชาว Switzerland รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
6. Alex Oller ชาว Brazil รุ่นน้ำหนัก 70 กิโลกรัม (คาดเชือก)
7. ไทรโยค พุ่มพันธ์ม่วงวินดี้สปอร์ต ชาว Thailand รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
8. Millad Farzad ชาว Australia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
9. Michael Corley ชาว U.S.A. รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
10. Sen Bunthen ชาว Cambodia รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
11. Hiroki Nakashim ชาว Japan รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
12. Antoine Pinto ชาว France รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
13. Ben Hodge ชาว England รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
14. Alka Matewa ชาว Belgium รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
ซึ่งในรุ่นคาดเชือกนั้น ต้องบอกเลยว่าเป็นการชกที่ทั้งสนุก บวกกับ ความอันตรายไปในตัว ดังนั้นผู้ชกในรุ่นที่คาดเชือกนั้นต้องทำการฟิตซ้อมร่างกายมาเป็นอย่างดี และ ต้องรู้จักการหลบหลีได้อย่างยอดเยี่ยม ซึ่งในรุ่น คาดเชือก นั้นก็ได้มีอยู่ด้วยกันถึง 6 คน 3 คู่ ต้องมาลุ้นกันว่างานนี้เราจะได้เห็นฝีไม้ลายมือที่สวยงามจากใคร ติดตามดูศึกโปรแกรมการแข่งขัน ไทยไฟต์ THAI FIGHT 25 ตุลาคม 2557 ชิงถ้วยพระราชทาน ล่าสุด
Fighting on 25 October 2014 Khang THAI FIGHT weight was TO BE NUMBER ONE
บรรยากาศการชั่งน้ำหนัก THAI FIGHT TO BE NUMBER ONE (สวมนวม 72.5 กิโลกรัม) ชิงถ้วยพระราชทานพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว
Khang THAI FIGHT weight was TO BE NUMBER ONE (wearing the glove 72.5 kg) final Cup Royal thanop is the King
Khang THAI FIGHT weight was TO BE NUMBER ONE (wearing the glove 72.5 kg) final Cup Royal thanop is the King
Kun khmer Sen Bunthen won 25 10 2014
Result kun Khmer Sen Bunthen won I great for him so much because last month he lose Antoint Pinto . Please waiting for Video ....
Kun Khmer Sen Bunthen Khmer champion
THAI FIGHT 2014 ชิงถ้วยพระราชทานพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว รุ่นน้ำหนัก 72.5 กิโลกรัม (แบบสวมนวม)
Name :Sen Bunthen - "ขุนศอกพิฆาต"
Country : Cambodia
Fighter Records : 99 Times Win 87 Times Loss 9 Times Draw 3 Times
Prestige
- แชมป์ IKS. ยุโรป 160 ปอนด์
- แชมป์ประเทศกัมพูชา รุ่น 65 กก./ 67 กก./ 70 กก./ 72.5 กก.
THAI FIGHT final Royal Cup 2014 thanop RA the King model weight 72.5 kg (model wears a glove) Name: Sen Bunthen-"elbow destroyer King" Country: Cambodia Fighter Records: 87 Win 99 Times 9 Times Times Times 3 Draw Prestige Loss-European Championship 160-pound champion. IKS-Cambodia. Model 65 kg/67 Kg/70 72.5 kg/ Kg
Name :Sen Bunthen - "ขุนศอกพิฆาต"
Country : Cambodia
Fighter Records : 99 Times Win 87 Times Loss 9 Times Draw 3 Times
Prestige
- แชมป์ IKS. ยุโรป 160 ปอนด์
- แชมป์ประเทศกัมพูชา รุ่น 65 กก./ 67 กก./ 70 กก./ 72.5 กก.
THAI FIGHT final Royal Cup 2014 thanop RA the King model weight 72.5 kg (model wears a glove) Name: Sen Bunthen-"elbow destroyer King" Country: Cambodia Fighter Records: 87 Win 99 Times 9 Times Times Times 3 Draw Prestige Loss-European Championship 160-pound champion. IKS-Cambodia. Model 65 kg/67 Kg/70 72.5 kg/ Kg
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Khmer News today 23 10 2014
School of Vice: With every report we get to hear of this ignoble deal involving some of the most vulnerable people on earth today who had had to flee their beloved homelands in search of basic security for themselves and their offspring, one cannot but detect in this seedy transaction in human lives the sense of utter disregard on the part of those officials involved for all things predicative of attributes and values that otherwise attest to the good and praiseworthy side of mankind.
That the Cambodian regime is accustomed to telling lies to itself, its population, the outside world; to turning black into white and vice versa is hardly a secret, but when a major 'western' country's government - itself geographically close enough to this part of the world to know and see better - exploits this neo-KR regime's well-documented disdain for human lives and moral principles, what little remains of our collective faith in humanity as such is coming under serious examination!
I stopped reading as soon as I got to the sentence marked in red about Interior Ministry officials from Cambodia having left for Nauru with this mission to communicate what they term "realistic" 'summation of contemporary Cambodia'!! Now, since when have these good officials ever said or done anything that can be objectively described as 'realistic' or truthful? Name just one, if you will, please?
Even as I write this scores of unarmed protestors who have been attempting to get some measure of justice for their plundered lands and livelihoods are being violently beaten on the streets of Phnom Penh. Their crime? Well, they tried to hand in their petitions at specific venues, including the PM's official residence, who has a well-documented history of violent paranoia towards people going by his heavily guarded compound. Still, that these land grab victims insist upon delivering their complains and petitions to the PM himself is understandable, for everyone in the country knows he alone makes all the rain, floods and thunder there: without his express will and executive signal nothing happens. Besides, he claimed recently he knew nothing of their troubles because no one had ever told him so!!
For those refugees from the Middle East, I doubt they have quite the kind of familiarity with being told the 'truth' by their rulers or given a 'realistic' report/promise prior to being lured into a deadly trap. Most Cambodians who survived the Pol Pot regime will have recalled how that regime lied to them from day one, from having been told to evacuate the capital for only a few days, to leaving your family behind 'temporarily' without taking along basic necessities on a 're-education' trip, only to find themselves rounded up for brutal execution at those isolated spots not far beyond the village's bamboo grove ...
That's the only brutal truth about this KR/VC remnants, and it's all thanks to the Australian government and those other major powers that these innocent victims of other wars in other parts of this world will fall prey once more to their cynical and despicable lies.
That the Cambodian regime is accustomed to telling lies to itself, its population, the outside world; to turning black into white and vice versa is hardly a secret, but when a major 'western' country's government - itself geographically close enough to this part of the world to know and see better - exploits this neo-KR regime's well-documented disdain for human lives and moral principles, what little remains of our collective faith in humanity as such is coming under serious examination!
I stopped reading as soon as I got to the sentence marked in red about Interior Ministry officials from Cambodia having left for Nauru with this mission to communicate what they term "realistic" 'summation of contemporary Cambodia'!! Now, since when have these good officials ever said or done anything that can be objectively described as 'realistic' or truthful? Name just one, if you will, please?
Even as I write this scores of unarmed protestors who have been attempting to get some measure of justice for their plundered lands and livelihoods are being violently beaten on the streets of Phnom Penh. Their crime? Well, they tried to hand in their petitions at specific venues, including the PM's official residence, who has a well-documented history of violent paranoia towards people going by his heavily guarded compound. Still, that these land grab victims insist upon delivering their complains and petitions to the PM himself is understandable, for everyone in the country knows he alone makes all the rain, floods and thunder there: without his express will and executive signal nothing happens. Besides, he claimed recently he knew nothing of their troubles because no one had ever told him so!!
For those refugees from the Middle East, I doubt they have quite the kind of familiarity with being told the 'truth' by their rulers or given a 'realistic' report/promise prior to being lured into a deadly trap. Most Cambodians who survived the Pol Pot regime will have recalled how that regime lied to them from day one, from having been told to evacuate the capital for only a few days, to leaving your family behind 'temporarily' without taking along basic necessities on a 're-education' trip, only to find themselves rounded up for brutal execution at those isolated spots not far beyond the village's bamboo grove ...
That's the only brutal truth about this KR/VC remnants, and it's all thanks to the Australian government and those other major powers that these innocent victims of other wars in other parts of this world will fall prey once more to their cynical and despicable lies.
Cambodian Children More Vulnerable Under Asean Integration
Cambodian schoolchildren walk on a muddy road near the dam site of Steung Mean Chey after they participated in an Intentional Children's Day event in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, file photo.
Rights workers fear for the safety of Cambodia’s vulnerable children once Asean joins in an economic community next year.
The integration is aimed at improving the flow of goods and services between the 10 Asean nations, but that could also mean increased exploitation of Cambodian children, as few safeguards are in place, the UN Office on Drug and Crimes warned.
“It’s inevitable that children from poor families in Cambodia will have to work to earn money to support their families, and that is how they will be vulnerable to bad travelers who want to do bad things,” Lim Mony, head of the women and children’s rights unit at Adhoc, said. “Looking at how we implement the law to protect children, it’s not effective, so I believe the number of Cambodian children being sexually exploited or abused is more likely to increase” under the Asean Economic Community, or AEC, she said.
Meas Samnang, executive director of the NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child, agreed, saying that even without integration, Cambodia has problems with child exploitation. “I believe it will be worse when we join the AEC in the future,” he said.
Children could also face more risk from economic pulls, experts warn. That includes families sending their children to work in other countries, where they will be vulnerable to abuse, said Ya Navuth, head of the NGO Caram.
Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, said the government is making efforts to prepare for the impact of integration, including devising strategies to deal with child exploitation.
“The Cambodian government has been working very hard with other local and state institutions and NGOs to find ways to solve the problems,” she said. “Although the flow of people will be more free, we have plans to deal with the problems, and so do the countries in the region. We are not being careless about the issue.”
Rights workers fear for the safety of Cambodia’s vulnerable children once Asean joins in an economic community next year.
The integration is aimed at improving the flow of goods and services between the 10 Asean nations, but that could also mean increased exploitation of Cambodian children, as few safeguards are in place, the UN Office on Drug and Crimes warned.
“It’s inevitable that children from poor families in Cambodia will have to work to earn money to support their families, and that is how they will be vulnerable to bad travelers who want to do bad things,” Lim Mony, head of the women and children’s rights unit at Adhoc, said. “Looking at how we implement the law to protect children, it’s not effective, so I believe the number of Cambodian children being sexually exploited or abused is more likely to increase” under the Asean Economic Community, or AEC, she said.
Children could also face more risk from economic pulls, experts warn. That includes families sending their children to work in other countries, where they will be vulnerable to abuse, said Ya Navuth, head of the NGO Caram.
Chou Bun Eng, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, said the government is making efforts to prepare for the impact of integration, including devising strategies to deal with child exploitation.
“The Cambodian government has been working very hard with other local and state institutions and NGOs to find ways to solve the problems,” she said. “Although the flow of people will be more free, we have plans to deal with the problems, and so do the countries in the region. We are not being careless about the issue.”
Khmer News daily( Cambodian peacekeepers leave for war-torn Central African Republic)
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PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- Cambodia sent the first batch of 216 military personnel to join a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Wednesday, officials said.
The peacekeepers will conduct their one-year mission in Bria town, about 600 km east of CAR's Bangui capital, doing work in demining, constructing roads, bridges and barracks, and digging wells, Defense Minister Gen. Tea Banh said at the departure ceremony held at the Military Airbase in Phnom Penh.
"Our mission is to join the other UN peacekeepers to stabilize the situation in the Central African Republic," he said.
He added that the Cambodian government has a strong commitment to contributing to the building of global peace through sending troops to join the UN peacekeeping mission in war-torn countries.
Meanwhile, the minister advised them to strictly abide by CAR' s laws and international laws so as to maintain the disciplines and dignity of the Cambodian Royal Armed Forces.
"Our peacekeepers must avoid any activity that can negatively affect the standards of living, tradition and customs, and dignity of the host country," he said.
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A civil war in CAR broke out in Dec. 2012 between mostly Muslim Seleka rebels and the government forces. Seleka rebels took power from then president Francois Bozize in March 2013 and the rebels' leader Michel Djotodia declared himself as president.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in CAR, and 2.2 million, about half the population, need humanitarian aid in the sectarian conflict.
Sporadic violence has continued to plague CAR despite Michel Djotodia 's resignation from the presidency in January and the fo
Cambodia first dispatched troops abroad in April 2006 under the UN umbrella. So far, the Southeast Asian nation has sent a total number of 2,165 personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.
Khmer Hot News Today about Analyst coy on party rumours
Jendhamuni: So-called money/lip-nationalists or money/lip-activists who plan to form a new party, should name their party like this: DTDACFMFP [Desperate to Divide and Conquer for Money, Fame and Power]. Yuon and CPP must be laughing because this is a dream-comes-true for them. I am not saying CNRP is perfect, but many members in the party are working very hard, risking their lives days and nights to bring justice for the [poor] Khmers. This is a reality, a 'Real' life, not a 'Facebook' life. Things don't happen over night. Stop thinking you are 'all that and a bag of Chips'
Political analyst Kem Ley outside the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh in March. He has played down rumours
that he is forming a political party. Vireak Mai
Stuart White, The Phnom Penh Post
Mon, 20 October 2014
Playing down a flurry of social media rumours, political analyst Kem Ley yesterday said he had “no plan at all” to start a new political party, but nonetheless equivocated, adding that members of his fledgling social accountability network might someday go that route if necessary.
“We are now in the process of consultation to find a way to create a sustainable social network. Mostly we are aiming to influence the decision making, not just for government reform and public reform, but also intraparty reform,” Ley said, referring to his newly conceived “social network” – called Khmers for Khmers – which plans to monitor the progress of reforms and offer policy advice.
However, he continued, if the current ruling and opposition parties – both of whom Ley said were too closed off to input – continued to ignore civil society’s recommendations, some of those within his network might take matters into their own hands and spin off their own party.
“Maybe the members of the social network will say, ‘If we give them the fish [and they don’t take it], then we will take it for our good soup,’” he said.
That possibility, however, was met with resistance in some circles.
Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy public affairs head Kem Monovithya warned against splintering Cambodia’s reform-minded movement.
“I believe this group overall has good intention, attempting to be a force to pressure CNRP in standing up against the CPP,” she said in an email. “In reality, their actions so far or in the form of a party in the near future, will benefit the CPP more than helping the CNRP or democracy here. Division in opposition has been key to CPP’s success for decades.”
Cambodian actor Sophorn Lary took to Facebook to also call for unity among opposition supporters, posting a video criticising unnamed groups who “are trying to manipulate how the [Cambodia National Rescue Party] leads the country”.
Ley, however, brushed aside those concerns as “pessimistic”, but acknowledged that perhaps a bit of outside pressure would goad the CNRP into becoming a better force for change.
“The more competition [between parties], the more quality and the more benefits for the people,” he said. “If a good party or new party will come soon, maybe the opposition will try to review its internal rules … and be well prepared in the future.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TAING VIDA
Political analyst Kem Ley outside the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh in March. He has played down rumours
that he is forming a political party. Vireak Mai
Stuart White, The Phnom Penh Post
Mon, 20 October 2014
Playing down a flurry of social media rumours, political analyst Kem Ley yesterday said he had “no plan at all” to start a new political party, but nonetheless equivocated, adding that members of his fledgling social accountability network might someday go that route if necessary.
“We are now in the process of consultation to find a way to create a sustainable social network. Mostly we are aiming to influence the decision making, not just for government reform and public reform, but also intraparty reform,” Ley said, referring to his newly conceived “social network” – called Khmers for Khmers – which plans to monitor the progress of reforms and offer policy advice.
However, he continued, if the current ruling and opposition parties – both of whom Ley said were too closed off to input – continued to ignore civil society’s recommendations, some of those within his network might take matters into their own hands and spin off their own party.
“Maybe the members of the social network will say, ‘If we give them the fish [and they don’t take it], then we will take it for our good soup,’” he said.
That possibility, however, was met with resistance in some circles.
Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy public affairs head Kem Monovithya warned against splintering Cambodia’s reform-minded movement.
“I believe this group overall has good intention, attempting to be a force to pressure CNRP in standing up against the CPP,” she said in an email. “In reality, their actions so far or in the form of a party in the near future, will benefit the CPP more than helping the CNRP or democracy here. Division in opposition has been key to CPP’s success for decades.”
Cambodian actor Sophorn Lary took to Facebook to also call for unity among opposition supporters, posting a video criticising unnamed groups who “are trying to manipulate how the [Cambodia National Rescue Party] leads the country”.
Ley, however, brushed aside those concerns as “pessimistic”, but acknowledged that perhaps a bit of outside pressure would goad the CNRP into becoming a better force for change.
“The more competition [between parties], the more quality and the more benefits for the people,” he said. “If a good party or new party will come soon, maybe the opposition will try to review its internal rules … and be well prepared in the future.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TAING VIDA
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Please Open your eye
Please open your eye &. Look how bad for our ppl living ?? Where is the stupid president or even government at?? I can't live with A fucking road like that? Cambodia never update like another country that's they has A beautiful road. But for Cambodia so bullshit coz of cheating money .
World News Hagel orders military medical team to train, get ready for quick response to more Ebola cases in US
The Defense Department said Sunday that it is preparing a quick-response medical team to help health-care professionals should the Ebola virus spread in the United States.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the training of the 30-member team and said the effort was in response to a Department of Health and Human Services request.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the move is “an added, prudent measure to ensure our nation is ready to respond quickly, effectively and safely in the event of additional Ebola cases.”
The military is already assisting in efforts to stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa, where roughly 4,300 people have died so far this year from the virus.
Last week, six U.S. military planes delivered more supplies and 100 Marines to West Africa. The Marines’ arrival means roughly 300 U.S. service members are now in the region, said Maj. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, the commander leading the U.S. response.
The U.S. military is working to build medical centers in hard-hit Liberia and may eventually send as many as 4,000 soldiers to West Africa.
The Obama administration has faced sharp criticism for its handling of the virus so far in the United States, particularly about whether proper hospital protocol and safety measures are in place.
The first known Ebola patient in the country, Thomas Eric Duncan, was sent home from Dallas’ Texas Presbyterian Hospital in late September after arriving at the emergency room with Ebola-like symptoms. Duncan, who had just come from Liberia, returned to the hospital several days later and died.
Now, two health professionals who were treating Duncan have the virus.
In addition to the new Defense Department effort, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to announce changes in protocol, in response to the lapses and widespread public concern.
The members of the 30-member military team will be selected and led by Northern Command Commander Gen. Chuck Jacoby.
The team of 20 critical care nurses, five doctors trained in infectious disease and five trainers in infectious-disease protocols will go to Fort Sam Houston, in Texas, for as many as seven days to receive specialized training in infection control and personal-protective equipment.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told “Fox News Sunday” that one of the two health-care workers with Ebola, nurse Nina Pham, was likely infected because “she was not completely covered” with her protective clothing.
He also said she’s “very stable” and expressed guarded optimism about her recovery, saying she was “progressing very well.”
Kirby said the quick-response team’s training is expected to start within the next week and will be provided by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
When the training is completed, the team will remain in a "prepare to deploy" status for 30 days, making it ready to go to any CONUS, or contagious United States, location.
Kirby said the team will not be sent to West Africa or elsewhere overseas and will be called to respond in the U.S. only at the order of public health professionals.
“Secretary Hagel is committed to ensuring (the Defense Department) is prepared to provide appropriate capabilities, as required, to support our government's response to this deadly disease,” he also said.
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Ass
Khmer Hot news today Australia Thanks Cambodia for Agreeing to Take Refugees
Australia’s foreign affairs minister thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen on the sidelines of a meeting in Italy over the weekend for agreeing to resettle refugees seeking asylum in Australia, and stressed that the transfers would be on a voluntary basis.
Cambodia signed the controversial deal last month, agreeing to take in an unspecified number of asylum seekers Australia is currently holding offshore on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru over the next four years in exchange for an additional $40 million in aid.
Rights groups and opposition lawmakers in both countries have criticized the deal, and hundreds of people protested against the plan on Friday, accusing the government of agreeing to accept refugees when it is incapable of taking care of its own people.
While Cambodians were protesting in Phnom Penh, Mr. Hun Sen was discussing the deal with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop in Milan, between meetings of the 10th AsiaEurope Meeting Summit.
“Julie Isabel Bishop expressed profound thanks to the Royal Government of Cambodia for having signed recently with Australia the Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] relating to the settlement of refugees in Cambodia,” state news outlet Agence Kampuchea Presse reported on Saturday.
“The Government of Australia will continue to cooperate more closely with Cambodia to carry out the MoU in the spirit of responsibility and on a voluntary basis, not by force,” she affirmed.
At a press conference at Phnom Penh International Airport, Kao Kim Hourn, a minister delegated to the prime minister who returned from the trip with Mr. Hun Sen on Sunday morning, confirmed that the meeting took place, but declined to elaborate on the refugee deal.
Contacted by telephone Sunday, Sok Phal, the Interior Ministry’s head of immigration, said the government was still planning to send a delegation to Nauru by the end of the year to meet with refugees who may want to resettle in Cambodia, and was only waiting on Australia to make travel arrangements. As stipulated in the MoU, Australia will pick up the tab for the trip, along with most other costs of resettling the refugees in Cambodia.
“We don’t know anything yet. The Australian side has to organize the trip for us to visit Nauru,” General Phal said.
Despite vows from both countries that any transfers will be strictly voluntary, rights groups working with the refugees on Nauru say they are being pressured to accept the offer.
“The people I am in touch with are being told that if they don’t agree to go to Cambodia they will rot in the internment camp on Nauru. So even if people are not literally handcuffed and forced onto a plane, the level of coercion they are under does, in my opinion, amount to forcing people,” said Victoria Iverson, media officer for the Refugee Rights Action Network, based in Australia.
Ms. Iverson passed on what she said was a note from an asylum seeker on Nauru she received through social media on October 11: “Today immigration officials came and told us that you all will be sent to Cambodia, everyone’s devastated…. Some officers warned us that if we don’t stop protesting they will start beating us. Please tell the journalists…. Here the tension is high and security have [sic] increased. It’s just like hell!”
A spokesman for Australia’s immigration minister, Scott Morrison, who came to Phnom Penh to sign the MoU with Cambodia last month, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
On the subject of Mr. Hun Sen’s trip to Italy, Mr. Kim Hourn said the prime minister also met with his Thai counterpart, General Prayut Chanocha.
He said the general, who led the overthrow of the elected government in Bangkok in May, reiterated Thailand’s interest in setting up a special economic zone along his country’s shared border with Cambodia.
Mr. Hun Sen asked the general to root out the source of some $7 million in counterfeit U.S. currency confiscated in Cambodia last month, and to form yet another joint commission to negotiate border disputes.
Mr. Kim Hourn said the prime minister also invited Gen. Chanocha to pay a state visit to Cambodia later this month.
peter@cambodiadaily.com, reaksmey@cambodiadaily.com
© 2014, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.
Cambodia signed the controversial deal last month, agreeing to take in an unspecified number of asylum seekers Australia is currently holding offshore on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru over the next four years in exchange for an additional $40 million in aid.
Rights groups and opposition lawmakers in both countries have criticized the deal, and hundreds of people protested against the plan on Friday, accusing the government of agreeing to accept refugees when it is incapable of taking care of its own people.
While Cambodians were protesting in Phnom Penh, Mr. Hun Sen was discussing the deal with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop in Milan, between meetings of the 10th AsiaEurope Meeting Summit.
“Julie Isabel Bishop expressed profound thanks to the Royal Government of Cambodia for having signed recently with Australia the Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] relating to the settlement of refugees in Cambodia,” state news outlet Agence Kampuchea Presse reported on Saturday.
“The Government of Australia will continue to cooperate more closely with Cambodia to carry out the MoU in the spirit of responsibility and on a voluntary basis, not by force,” she affirmed.
At a press conference at Phnom Penh International Airport, Kao Kim Hourn, a minister delegated to the prime minister who returned from the trip with Mr. Hun Sen on Sunday morning, confirmed that the meeting took place, but declined to elaborate on the refugee deal.
Contacted by telephone Sunday, Sok Phal, the Interior Ministry’s head of immigration, said the government was still planning to send a delegation to Nauru by the end of the year to meet with refugees who may want to resettle in Cambodia, and was only waiting on Australia to make travel arrangements. As stipulated in the MoU, Australia will pick up the tab for the trip, along with most other costs of resettling the refugees in Cambodia.
“We don’t know anything yet. The Australian side has to organize the trip for us to visit Nauru,” General Phal said.
Despite vows from both countries that any transfers will be strictly voluntary, rights groups working with the refugees on Nauru say they are being pressured to accept the offer.
“The people I am in touch with are being told that if they don’t agree to go to Cambodia they will rot in the internment camp on Nauru. So even if people are not literally handcuffed and forced onto a plane, the level of coercion they are under does, in my opinion, amount to forcing people,” said Victoria Iverson, media officer for the Refugee Rights Action Network, based in Australia.
Ms. Iverson passed on what she said was a note from an asylum seeker on Nauru she received through social media on October 11: “Today immigration officials came and told us that you all will be sent to Cambodia, everyone’s devastated…. Some officers warned us that if we don’t stop protesting they will start beating us. Please tell the journalists…. Here the tension is high and security have [sic] increased. It’s just like hell!”
A spokesman for Australia’s immigration minister, Scott Morrison, who came to Phnom Penh to sign the MoU with Cambodia last month, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
On the subject of Mr. Hun Sen’s trip to Italy, Mr. Kim Hourn said the prime minister also met with his Thai counterpart, General Prayut Chanocha.
He said the general, who led the overthrow of the elected government in Bangkok in May, reiterated Thailand’s interest in setting up a special economic zone along his country’s shared border with Cambodia.
Mr. Hun Sen asked the general to root out the source of some $7 million in counterfeit U.S. currency confiscated in Cambodia last month, and to form yet another joint commission to negotiate border disputes.
Mr. Kim Hourn said the prime minister also invited Gen. Chanocha to pay a state visit to Cambodia later this month.
peter@cambodiadaily.com, reaksmey@cambodiadaily.com
© 2014, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.
Hot News , Self-Harm, Protests Escalate On Nauru After Morrison Video Played To Asylum Seekers
Self-harm incidents on Nauru have escalated, with a young girl reportedly swallowing detergent, and a man cutting his own throat. Max Chalmers reports.
Refugees settled on Nauru have marched on the Australian embassy as anger continues to run high following a weekend of self-harm and suicide attempts by those still held in detention on the Pacific island.
Multiple sources have indicated a series of very serious incidents have taken place in the detention centre in the past few days, including the ingesting of washing powder and the sewing of lips by asylum seekers.
Incidents have taken place inside the family compound and New Matilda understands a group of unaccompanied minors have also engaged in self-harm, though it is not known how serious their injuries are.
One man is understood to have cut his throat.
The wave of incidents and protests follow an outpouring of anger from asylum seekers after a message from the Minister for Immigration confirming they would not be able to apply for Temporary Protection Visas in Australia was played to those held in the centre on Thursday.
In exerts from the video accessed by New Matilda, the Minister encourages those held to return to their countries of origin.
“You may have heard that temporary protection visas are to be reintroduced,” the Minister said.
“This policy does not apply to those who are on Nauru or on Manus Island or have been transferred there. This recent announcement does not apply to people in the regional processing centres in these countries.”
One day after the video was played, the Minister travelled to Cambodia, announcing a new resettlement deal with the impoverished country.
The office for the Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison have not returned calls or emails requesting comment, though their standard policy is to refuse to answer questions relating to allegations of self-harm.
Protests have been ongoing over the weekend and the detention centre on Nauru remained in lockdown on Sunday night.
One Nauruan local told New Matilda that refugees settled on the island took part in a peaceful demonstration on Friday, followed by a Saturday protest within the detention centre. Police cars and ambulances were seen rushing to the centre later that day.
The witness said a large number of officers had been present at the centre and that one passing police bus had been so full the officers were forced to sit on each others laps.
There are no reports of asylum seekers being harmed by police or security forces, as has occurred previously on Manus Island and to unaccompanied minors on Christmas Island.
While news of an agreement to settle refugees in Cambodia has now reached those held in Nauru, it is the arbitrary nature of the decision to exclude those already transferred to the island from applying for TPVs that appears to have sparked the current wave of anger.
One Iranian man who has been settled on the island told New Matilda today’s protest had been organised because of the sense of hopelessness and betrayal among those in detention and settlement camps on Nauru.
“We know [the Australian government] are about to approve new rules and that they are going to give people on Christmas Island a new visa but not the people on Nauru,” he said.
“We don’t know why the Australian government are punishing us.”
Refugees march in Nauru, Monday
In recent months asylum seekers whose claims have been found to be genuine have been moved out of the island’s detention compounds and into one of two camp groups – one for single men, the other for families.
A Fairfax report revealed growing desperation among those settled in the camps, forced to live on an island with limited water supply, almost 100 per cent unemployment and no money left in Nauru’s coffers.
Though news does not appear to have reached those in detention on the island, the Nauruan government has said it will soon cut funding to refugee programs and services, leaving the fate of asylum seekers on the island in doubt.
The Iranian man said the gathering at the Australian embassy had attracted around 100 people and remained a peaceful affair. He thanked the Nauruan government for allowing the demonstration to go ahead.
Late last week, representatives for the Minister for Immigration confirmed a 16-year-old girl had been medically evacuated from the island, allegedly after swallowing washing powder.
Refugees settled on Nauru have marched on the Australian embassy as anger continues to run high following a weekend of self-harm and suicide attempts by those still held in detention on the Pacific island.
Multiple sources have indicated a series of very serious incidents have taken place in the detention centre in the past few days, including the ingesting of washing powder and the sewing of lips by asylum seekers.
Incidents have taken place inside the family compound and New Matilda understands a group of unaccompanied minors have also engaged in self-harm, though it is not known how serious their injuries are.
One man is understood to have cut his throat.
The wave of incidents and protests follow an outpouring of anger from asylum seekers after a message from the Minister for Immigration confirming they would not be able to apply for Temporary Protection Visas in Australia was played to those held in the centre on Thursday.
In exerts from the video accessed by New Matilda, the Minister encourages those held to return to their countries of origin.
“You may have heard that temporary protection visas are to be reintroduced,” the Minister said.
“This policy does not apply to those who are on Nauru or on Manus Island or have been transferred there. This recent announcement does not apply to people in the regional processing centres in these countries.”
One day after the video was played, the Minister travelled to Cambodia, announcing a new resettlement deal with the impoverished country.
The office for the Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison have not returned calls or emails requesting comment, though their standard policy is to refuse to answer questions relating to allegations of self-harm.
Protests have been ongoing over the weekend and the detention centre on Nauru remained in lockdown on Sunday night.
One Nauruan local told New Matilda that refugees settled on the island took part in a peaceful demonstration on Friday, followed by a Saturday protest within the detention centre. Police cars and ambulances were seen rushing to the centre later that day.
The witness said a large number of officers had been present at the centre and that one passing police bus had been so full the officers were forced to sit on each others laps.
There are no reports of asylum seekers being harmed by police or security forces, as has occurred previously on Manus Island and to unaccompanied minors on Christmas Island.
While news of an agreement to settle refugees in Cambodia has now reached those held in Nauru, it is the arbitrary nature of the decision to exclude those already transferred to the island from applying for TPVs that appears to have sparked the current wave of anger.
One Iranian man who has been settled on the island told New Matilda today’s protest had been organised because of the sense of hopelessness and betrayal among those in detention and settlement camps on Nauru.
“We know [the Australian government] are about to approve new rules and that they are going to give people on Christmas Island a new visa but not the people on Nauru,” he said.
“We don’t know why the Australian government are punishing us.”
Refugees march in Nauru, Monday
In recent months asylum seekers whose claims have been found to be genuine have been moved out of the island’s detention compounds and into one of two camp groups – one for single men, the other for families.
A Fairfax report revealed growing desperation among those settled in the camps, forced to live on an island with limited water supply, almost 100 per cent unemployment and no money left in Nauru’s coffers.
Though news does not appear to have reached those in detention on the island, the Nauruan government has said it will soon cut funding to refugee programs and services, leaving the fate of asylum seekers on the island in doubt.
The Iranian man said the gathering at the Australian embassy had attracted around 100 people and remained a peaceful affair. He thanked the Nauruan government for allowing the demonstration to go ahead.
Late last week, representatives for the Minister for Immigration confirmed a 16-year-old girl had been medically evacuated from the island, allegedly after swallowing washing powder.
Word News China is seeking Australia's help in arresting citizens on corruption charges - but questions remain
Philip Wen, China correspondent for Fairfax Media
The Sydney Morning Herald, October 20, 2014
Beijing: China is seeking the extradition and seizure of assets of corrupt officials who have fled to Australia with illicit funds running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In an unprecedented joint operation with its Chinese counterparts, the Australian Federal Police is poised to make their first forfeiture of assets within weeks, having agreed on a priority list of alleged economic fugitives who have taken root in Australia – identified by Beijing as one of the most popular outlets for corrupt Chinese money.
Among the suspects identified by the AFP are naturalised Australian citizens and permanent residents who for years have laundered money under the guise of being genuine investment or business migrants from China.
"They don't all of a sudden leave overnight and take a bag of money with them. In some cases they're very carefully planned," Commander Bruce Hill, the manager of the AFP's operations in Asia, told Fairfax Media.
A typical scenario involves officials sending their spouse and children overseas, often using them as a conduit to shift assets offshore. With barely any assets to their name, the so-called "naked official" – as is the popular term for them in China – is then able to join their family overseas at the first whiff of trouble.
"As time goes on, they start to put [their funds] into legitimate assets such as houses and property and shares and bank accounts and then the money becomes their wealth," Mr Hill, who is based in Beijing, said. "But it's never been their money to start with in the first place; it's the corrupt money flowing out of China."
The sums of money believed to have been spirited out from China are staggering. The Washington-based Global Financial Integrity group, which analyses illicit financial flows, estimates about $US3 trillion flowed out of China illegally between 2005 and 2011 alone.
Since taking power in November 2012, President Xi Jinping has directed a wide-ranging anti-corruption drive aimed at regaining credibility from a public disillusioned with endemic graft in the Communist Party, while also striking fear into his opponents.
The impetus for the joint operation has come from a campaign launched in July – called Operation Fox Hunt – to track down corrupt officials overseas, and to deter others from absconding.
"It's extremely difficult for public servants to go abroad now," said Lin Zhe, an anti-corruption expert at the ruling Communist Party's in-house training institution, the Central Party School. "The passports of department heads and above are withheld by the Organisation Department. When I first came to the Central Party School, there were many [international] exchanges, but this rarely happens now."
The priority list agreed between the Ministry of Public Security and the AFP was culled from a broader list of "less than a hundred people", Mr Hill said, adding that the assets being pursued by China in Australia were in the "many hundreds of millions of dollars".
Mr Hill said the AFP was not party to any information Chinese investigators may hold relating to Communist Party links a suspect may have.
"We only see what's on face value, this person has committed an offence," he said. "There is a human rights side; we need to make sure that we're monitoring that as well, that this is not done for political expediency where we can."
The federal government's Significant Investor Visa scheme has proven overwhelmingly popular among Chinese investors, who account for 90 per cent of applicants so far. But the difficulty in verifying the source of Chinese income, had seen delays in approvals.
In announcing a new "premium" investor visa last week, which allows applicants who invest $15 million to gain permanent residency after one year, the government said it would "strengthen integrity measures" to ensure the migration programme was not misused.
Asked if the new visa class could lead to more corrupt officials fleeing to China, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said it hoped to work with Australia to "trace fugitives and retrieve embezzlement from overseas". "The corrupt should find no safe haven in foreign countries," he said.
With an extradition treaty with China yet to be ratified, Australia ranks high among the preferred destinations for Chinese economic fugitives, along with the United States and Canada. The Attorney-General can consider extradition requests for offences under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which Australia and China are both parties to.
But immigration protection laws mean those accused have a series of claims, including applying for asylum, to prevent facing court back in China.
"All criminals will always go where the weakest link is," Mr Hill said. "In the interim we're trying to develop strategies to make sure these people don't think they can just go to Australia and live happily ever after."
The Sydney Morning Herald, October 20, 2014
Beijing: China is seeking the extradition and seizure of assets of corrupt officials who have fled to Australia with illicit funds running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In an unprecedented joint operation with its Chinese counterparts, the Australian Federal Police is poised to make their first forfeiture of assets within weeks, having agreed on a priority list of alleged economic fugitives who have taken root in Australia – identified by Beijing as one of the most popular outlets for corrupt Chinese money.
Among the suspects identified by the AFP are naturalised Australian citizens and permanent residents who for years have laundered money under the guise of being genuine investment or business migrants from China.
"They don't all of a sudden leave overnight and take a bag of money with them. In some cases they're very carefully planned," Commander Bruce Hill, the manager of the AFP's operations in Asia, told Fairfax Media.
A typical scenario involves officials sending their spouse and children overseas, often using them as a conduit to shift assets offshore. With barely any assets to their name, the so-called "naked official" – as is the popular term for them in China – is then able to join their family overseas at the first whiff of trouble.
"As time goes on, they start to put [their funds] into legitimate assets such as houses and property and shares and bank accounts and then the money becomes their wealth," Mr Hill, who is based in Beijing, said. "But it's never been their money to start with in the first place; it's the corrupt money flowing out of China."
The sums of money believed to have been spirited out from China are staggering. The Washington-based Global Financial Integrity group, which analyses illicit financial flows, estimates about $US3 trillion flowed out of China illegally between 2005 and 2011 alone.
Since taking power in November 2012, President Xi Jinping has directed a wide-ranging anti-corruption drive aimed at regaining credibility from a public disillusioned with endemic graft in the Communist Party, while also striking fear into his opponents.
The impetus for the joint operation has come from a campaign launched in July – called Operation Fox Hunt – to track down corrupt officials overseas, and to deter others from absconding.
"It's extremely difficult for public servants to go abroad now," said Lin Zhe, an anti-corruption expert at the ruling Communist Party's in-house training institution, the Central Party School. "The passports of department heads and above are withheld by the Organisation Department. When I first came to the Central Party School, there were many [international] exchanges, but this rarely happens now."
The priority list agreed between the Ministry of Public Security and the AFP was culled from a broader list of "less than a hundred people", Mr Hill said, adding that the assets being pursued by China in Australia were in the "many hundreds of millions of dollars".
Mr Hill said the AFP was not party to any information Chinese investigators may hold relating to Communist Party links a suspect may have.
"We only see what's on face value, this person has committed an offence," he said. "There is a human rights side; we need to make sure that we're monitoring that as well, that this is not done for political expediency where we can."
The federal government's Significant Investor Visa scheme has proven overwhelmingly popular among Chinese investors, who account for 90 per cent of applicants so far. But the difficulty in verifying the source of Chinese income, had seen delays in approvals.
In announcing a new "premium" investor visa last week, which allows applicants who invest $15 million to gain permanent residency after one year, the government said it would "strengthen integrity measures" to ensure the migration programme was not misused.
Asked if the new visa class could lead to more corrupt officials fleeing to China, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said it hoped to work with Australia to "trace fugitives and retrieve embezzlement from overseas". "The corrupt should find no safe haven in foreign countries," he said.
With an extradition treaty with China yet to be ratified, Australia ranks high among the preferred destinations for Chinese economic fugitives, along with the United States and Canada. The Attorney-General can consider extradition requests for offences under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which Australia and China are both parties to.
But immigration protection laws mean those accused have a series of claims, including applying for asylum, to prevent facing court back in China.
"All criminals will always go where the weakest link is," Mr Hill said. "In the interim we're trying to develop strategies to make sure these people don't think they can just go to Australia and live happily ever after."
Saturday, October 18, 2014
The five word from Mark so good
1. “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
2. “My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don’t care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being ‘just’ a company means to me is building something that actually makes a really big change in the world.”
3. “This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.”
4. “I know it sounds corny, but I’d love to improve people’s lives, especially socially… Making the world more open is not an overnight thing. It’s a 10- to 15-year thing.”
5. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
2. “My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don’t care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being ‘just’ a company means to me is building something that actually makes a really big change in the world.”
3. “This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.”
4. “I know it sounds corny, but I’d love to improve people’s lives, especially socially… Making the world more open is not an overnight thing. It’s a 10- to 15-year thing.”
5. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
Khmer Cultural so beautiful (Government revokes more land licenses from 11 firms)
The Cambodia Herald, 18-Oct-14 09:51AM
PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Environment Minister Say Sam Al said Friday that the Cambodian government has canceled licenses of economic land concession for 11 companies whose land concessions adversely affected the local people.
The government hasn't clarified its measure to punish the companies that haven't made any development in the areas after being granted the land concessions for years.
Over 54,000 hectares of economic land concession in Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey, Mondolkiri, Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom, Battambong, Kampong Speu, Preah Sihanouk and Kratie provinces have been taken back, according to an announcement of the Office of Council of Ministers.
The government will continue to investigate the investment issues, and can revoke more licenses from the companies if they still break their promises, said Say Sam Al in a news conference.
Last month, the government had removed licenses of economic land concession from eight companies after they have not undertaken development for years.
Since 1993 to 2012, the government had granted economic land concession of 1.67 million hectares to 169 local and foreign firms, according to the figures recorded by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a temporary halt to granting ELCs to new firms in May 2012 with an aim to strengthen the effective management of ELCs.
PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Environment Minister Say Sam Al said Friday that the Cambodian government has canceled licenses of economic land concession for 11 companies whose land concessions adversely affected the local people.
The government hasn't clarified its measure to punish the companies that haven't made any development in the areas after being granted the land concessions for years.
Over 54,000 hectares of economic land concession in Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey, Mondolkiri, Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom, Battambong, Kampong Speu, Preah Sihanouk and Kratie provinces have been taken back, according to an announcement of the Office of Council of Ministers.
The government will continue to investigate the investment issues, and can revoke more licenses from the companies if they still break their promises, said Say Sam Al in a news conference.
Last month, the government had removed licenses of economic land concession from eight companies after they have not undertaken development for years.
Since 1993 to 2012, the government had granted economic land concession of 1.67 million hectares to 169 local and foreign firms, according to the figures recorded by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a temporary halt to granting ELCs to new firms in May 2012 with an aim to strengthen the effective management of ELCs.
Khmer news technologies The civil service’s phantom workers [English and Khmer]
The Phnom Penh Post, Sat, 18 October 2014
You don’t need to be a clairvoyant to see the Cambodian government’s so-called “ghost workers”. They’re everywhere. They work in shops, restaurants and NGOs, clean houses, teach languages, guard buildings and fix leaky roofs.
Supposedly employed as bureaucrats, advisors, police officers, soldiers and teachers, these phantom civil servants rarely – if ever – go to work. With no mandated minimum salary, and little supervision, they commonly spend their days undertaking more lucrative activities in the private sector.
Last month the head of the Anti-Corruption Unit, Om Yentieng, announced another one of the government’s periodic ghost-busting campaigns. All state institutions have until November to sort out their payrolls: anyone after that time found to be facilitating irregular payments will be prosecuted, according to Yentieng.
In the firing line are civil servants like Mao Heng*, who is in his late 30s and has been a ministry bureaucrat for about 20 years. Heng is unusual in that he does do some work for the government. But even he is there less than a third of the time. The rest of his days are occupied doing freelance translation and consulting, and working for an opposition political party.
Some ghost workers give their salaries to their bosses. David Pinho
“Many people like me get only $150 a month, while my family’s expenses, based on my real situation, are around $700 to $800 a month,” he said. “So, instead of living on the government assistance, for our survival I do some other work.
Some people would like to call it ‘moonlighting’.”
He said each ghost worker’s arrangement was different. Some gave some or all of their salary to their superior, others gave their bosses gifts during annual celebrations or simply did occasional favours.
It’s difficult to say how many of Cambodia’s 190,000 civil servants are ghost workers, but Heng estimated about two-thirds of the people employed at his ministry either do not come to work or have some form of alternative employment.
If everyone supposed to work there actually did come into the office, the place would be bursting at the seams, he said.
“Those who are really active in the government – those who have vital responsibilities – they do work and they get some extra money, but those who do not have enough financial assistance or salary to live, they work outside,” he said.
It’s not just money that drives civil servants to find work elsewhere, Heng said. Lacking support or resources to perform any meaningful role, they are often bored and frustrated.
“If we do not have enough means or support or encouragement and so we don’t go to the ministry, do we define those people as ghost employees or do we define them differently?”
According to the Council for Administrative Reform’s Handbook for Civil Servants published in 2010 government employees are supposed to work eight hours a day, Monday to Friday from 7:30am until 11:30am and then 2pm until 5:30pm.
The handbook says it is “strictly forbidden” for government employees to “undertake work for personal purposes during the hours of service”, with violations leading to disciplinary sanctions.
However, many ghost workers don’t go to work at all.
Some don’t even keep the money they “earn” for themselves, said Sophal Ear, author of Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy.
“They give their salary to their boss in an act known in Khmer as monosancheatana, the precise definition of which I can’t really explain – it’s a kind of offering/debt of gratitude act – but the bottom line is: ‘You keep my job on the rolls while I am a ghost worker and in exchange I give you my paycheck’.”
This serves two functions: to maintain the ghost workers’ position on the off chance salaries increase to the point the job is worth doing; and to maintain connections to power.
“Everyone and their mother can claim k’se [string] to something or someone when one is in need of help/favours, but your string might be longer than my string. That’s also where monosancheatana comes in, the back and forth scratching of each other’s backs.”
Sebastian Strangio, the author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia, said the country had “little or no” history of independent and accountable government institutions.
“Today the civil service serves as a reservoir of patronage – a matrix of personal relationships that serve as conduits for resources and personal influence,” Strangio said.
“In this system, civil servants don’t serve the ministry – they serve the minister. Of course there are many civil servants who have a genuine desire to weed out corruption and serve the people who elected them. Unfortunately, these individuals remain trapped by the circular inertia of the country’s patronage system, which is now beyond the control of any one individual.”
Ghost workers are found in the ranks of bureaucrats,
soldiers and police officers. David Pinho
Previous attempts to eliminate ghost workers from the govern-ment’s payrolls have uncovered vast numbers.
In December 1994, Phnom Penh’s civil servants were locked in their buildings for two hours for a headcount. About 18,000 non-existent workers were discovered.
Audits were also conducted in 2001, when the government announced it had found about 9,000 ghost civil servants; in 2010 when 30,000 were eliminated from the payroll, including some 28,000 identified at the provincial level as well as in the police and military; and in 2011 when another 4,000 ghosts were found.
CNRP parliamentarian Son Chhay described the public service as “a mess”.
Chhay this coming week plans to submit a draft law to the National Assembly mandating a national monthly minimum wage of about $171, and for civil servants to get at least about $245 per month.
He said the government should review the qualifications of all relatives in the ministries to eliminate nepotistic appointments and introduce a technological solution, such as fingerprint scanning at offices, to solve the problem of attendance.
“We need real reform so the real people get better paid and better jobs,” he said.
However, a previous attempt to introduce just such a technological solution failed miserably, said Kao Poeun, President of the Cambodian Independent Civil Servant Association.
“In the previous time, the Anti-Corruption Unit put thumbprint scanners in each civil service building, but it did not work because, even though they counted presence, there was no punishment for the person who didn’t give their thumbprint.”
The ministry of Finance in November last year signed contracts with Acleda Bank, Canadia Bank and Wing Cambodia to pay the country’s civil servants by direct deposit instead of cash.
The idea was to make pay more convenient for the employees but also to eliminate ghost employees because they would have to come to the bank and open an account.
However, Heng said this just made the lives of those who never attended their jobs even easier.
Some workers only show up to collect their pay.
David Pinho
“Now they never have to come to the office at all,” he said.
Corruption and patronage is so deeply ingrained in the government and civil service only wholesale systematic change would have any meaningful effect, he said.
“The root of the problem is concentrated, centralised power,” he said. “The government is above the law.”
Actually solving the ghost worker problem would provide a massive boost to Cambodia, said Ear.
“In an office of, say, 225 civil servants, 40 show up regularly, imagine how much could be done if the pay of these 40 workers could be quintupled? It would be transformative for the system,” he said.
“[At the moment] the ones who can earn more will go outside [the government] to do that. The ones who want to engage in corruption will unfortunately fester.
“It’s just like a VP of a private university in Phnom Penh who said when I asked him if any graduates would want to work in government, ‘If you look at government salary, unless you plan to be corrupt, you have no future in that’.”
A spokesman for the World Bank, which for some years worked with the government on civil service reform, said it had no projects on the issue of ghost workers and directed questions to the Ministry of Public Function.
But Minister of Public Function Pich Bunthin said that it was the Anti-Corruption Unit’s responsibility to take action on the issue of ghost workers.
The head of the Anti-Corruption Unit Om Yentieng did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.
Additional reporting by Vandy Muong.
* Not real name
Khmer news daily Vietnamese Businesses Urge Boycott on Low-End Chinese Products [English and Khmer]
for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in Hanoi.
Trung Nguyen, VOA News, 17 October 2014
WASHINGTON DC—Vietnamese businesses have called for a boycott of low quality and unsafe Chinese products amid rising anti-China sentiment in the country.
The campaign, led by Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, encourages consumers to use Made-in-Vietnam goods as a way to show their national loyalty in the face of China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea.
However, Loc told VOA’s Vietnamese Service that he is not asking people to boycott all Chinese merchandise, but rather to prioritize homemade, fairly priced and safe products
“We only encourage [people] not to buy smuggled and unsafe Made-in-China products, and to prioritize using Vietnamese ones with competitive prices instead," said Loc. "
Priority should be put on Vietnamese goods, but not at all cost.”
Hanoi has been urged by many, including Communist Party members, to lessen Vietnam's economic dependence on China following Beijing's controversial placement of an oil rig in the disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Loc said Vietnamese businesses could express their patriotism by producing competitive Made-in-Vietnam products that could compete not only in Vietnam but also in foreign markets.
According to Vietnamese media reports, 63 percent of the country's consumers have chosen local products over imported ones in the last five years. It is unclear how the survey was conducted.
China was Vietnam's largest trading partner with total two-way trade reaching over $50 billion in 2013; Beijing retained its position in the first nine months of 2014, despite lingering tension over the South China Sea.
This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Vietnamese service.
