KI Media: “Cambodians need to work together” plus 24 more |
- Cambodians need to work together
- Cambodia postpones annual meeting with foreign donors [-Land-grabbers, land-grabbers, pants on fire!!!]
- Cambodian govt warns NGOs over letter to donors – paper
- Beoung Kak: Lake of WRATH?
- China seeks to protect Libya trade ties [... after supporting a dictator?]
- Recent Preah Vihear 'snapshots' in Cambodia
- Cambodian-Americans Get an Online Home: An Interview with Phatry Derek Pan
- Son Chhay asks govt to end companies’ land-grabbing against minority
- Over 1,000-hectare of land in Bavet leased to the Viets: Opposition officials
- Internet problems
- Building Democracy with Courage
- Please help spread the word
- Lok Yeay San, an old beggar of no importance in the Kingdom of Wonder, amid the pocket of wealth on Sisowath Quay
- Please help support our National Baseball Team
- TED - Harald Haas: Wireless data from every light bulb
- Food for Thought
- Cambodian, Thai travel agents to meet as border row eases
- Interview with SRP MP Son Chhay during his visit to San Jose, California
- កម្មវិធីបុណ្យសម្ពោធវត្ត ខេមរ រង្សី្ - Inauguration of Wat Khemara Rangsey Pagoda in San Jose, California
- Vietnam jails 8th democracy activist in a month
- Vietnam takes delivery of Russian-made warship
- Pressure mounts on monk
- Communist atheist Hochimonks' orders issued against Ven. Loun Savath
- [Australian] Immigration laws tear family apart
| Cambodians need to work together Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:51 PM PDT "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Aug. 23, 2011 Written by A. Gaffar Peang-Meth Pacific Daily News  A recent meeting I had with a former American foreign service officer and a retiree from a nonprofit, non-governmental organization had as its purpose to discuss Cambodia and change. But our discussions touched on many other issues, ranging from my column on China's overreach to the globalization of technology, and how today's young Cambodians have become adept with and immersed in modern technological tools.It was the young Cambodians' wholehearted embrace of technology that nudged me and my NGO friend -- both of us well past 50 -- to raise concerns over the gradual decline in direct personal relationships among humans, relationships we both believe are essential to productive interaction. As we spoke, some quotations I found in a PowerPoint and used in my column in this space five years ago popped back in my head: "We reached the moon and came back, but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors. We have conquered outer space, but not our inner space." And: "We talk much, we love only a little, and we hate too much." Having learned how values and principles historically have been guides for human beings, I write from time to time about Lord Gautama Buddha's ancient teachings 2,500 years ago, which seem to have relevance in today's Cambodia, where 95 percent of her 14 million citizens are Buddhists, where democrats are fighting for rights and freedom. After our meeting, I received a note from my American friend, along with Foreign Policy magazine's special report, "Technology Will Take on a Life of Its Own." He suggested that perhaps we have been already bypassed by the new age and young Cambodians will have to come up with a new system of ethics aligned with the new technology. I found Foreign Policy's special report by Ayesha Khanna and Parag Khanna frightening. They summarized American futurist Alvin Toffler's books -- "Future Shock," "The Third Wave" and his new book, described as the "Hybrid Age" or "Fourth Wave" -- man becomes part of the machine and the machine becomes part of man. "Billions of the world's poor from Africa to India are already participating in technological experimentation," wrote Khanna and Khanna. "And yet we have not even begun to grasp the implications of human-technology co-evolution." I emailed my friends that it seems like humanity is being robbed of its soul, and I am not willing to lose that soul. Those values and principles that have always guided collective and individual behavior must not be allowed to disappear. I am a fan of Alvin Toffler. He said, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." To learn is to think. In the words of the great Chinese teacher Confucius, "Learning without thought is labor lost." Toffler, who predicts a fusing of man and machine as technology engulfs every aspect of our lives, still espouses the value of continued learning. Those who are acolytes of technology likely would respond that they are continuing to learn. Look, they might say, at my Facebook page; I have 1,200 friends. Look at all the tweets I keep up with. I'm learning. I check Wikipedia all the time. This, though, is not what I think of as learning, nor do I think Toffler would consider the reading of 10 Facebook pages and assiduous watching of "Entertainment Tonight" as the sort of learning he had in mind. Learning, as Toffler noted, requires thought. Thought, I believe, is not the product of seconds, but of blocks of time devoted to consideration of information and ideas from a variety of sources. Technology offers the capacity to expand the sources of information, but simultaneously demands of us that we discern among the many sources those that inform, not misinform. To discern the difference will require that we maintain the human connections that have framed human interaction until the present day. The quality of our thinking is improved when it is challenged by those who hold views at variance with our own. Our own analysis of information is inevitably filtered through the sieve of our values and principles. Much as I continue to encourage Cambodians to be guided by the traditional teachings of Lord Buddha, among others, I hope each of us will not lose sight of the principles that have been the foundation of our communities. As my American friend lamented, when one begins to curse and engage in name-calling, an exercise made easier by the anonymity of electronic communication, one stops thinking. As Lord Buddha said, "Nothing is permanent." Everything changes; things change and people change. "Fill your mind with compassion," Buddha preached. "When you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it," Buddha taught. Reason was what Socrates, a founding father of Western civilization, also propounded. A young Cambodian graduate in political science from a foreign university emailed me from his home village in Cambodia's northwest, praising regime opponents for working "tirelessly" with villagers, even when threatened by representatives of the government in power, but he criticized those who share the same goals for failing to work together -- and for dividing villagers further into different parties that believe in the same thing: democracy. This failure to work together toward common goals flies in the face of Buddha's teachings and will thwart democratic progress, with or without the boost that modern technology can give to the struggle. A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:45 PM PDT
PHNOM PENH, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Cambodia has postponed indefinitely a top-level meeting with foreign donors, a week after an announcement by the World Bank that it had halted loans to the government over its failure to curb forced evictions. In the letter dated Aug. 17 and sent to the World Bank, Finance Minister Keat Chhon said the upcoming Cambodia Development Cooperation Forum would be shelved because of global economic uncertainty. Keat Chhon said some of the donor countries were "mired in crisis and struggling for a sustainable solution", according to the letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday. He did not elaborate. The relationship between Cambodia and the World Bank has been strained recently after the Washington-based lender stopped providing loans to the country over the eviction of thousands of people from lakeside land in the country's capital. Within two days of the announcement, Cambodia said it would set aside a piece of the land earmarked for a Chinese-led luxury housing project for thousands of people forcibly evicted. However, some of the residents burned tyres at the site on Tuesday in protest after local officials said they would not be entitled to land deeds. Forced evictions are a huge problem in Cambodia, with an estimated 30,000 people a year driven off rural farms and city land to make way for foreign and local businesses, mostly in the form of joint ventures led by Chinese firms. During the last meeting, some donors, including the World Bank, criticized the government for its stalling on promised reforms and for failing to curb the evictions. The international community pledged $1.1 billion in aid for the impoverished Southeast Asian country last year, an increase from the previous year's commitment of $990 million in 2009. That figure is dwarfed by investment pledges by Chinese firms, which agreed to spend $8 billion in 360 projects in Cambodia in the first seven months of this year. The deals have led to domestic and international concerns that Cambodia could become too dependent on China. The World Bank, which has lent Cambodia up to $70 million annually over the past few years, has repeatedly asked for the evictions to stop. Land ownership is a complex subject in Cambodia because documents were destroyed and state institutions collapsed under the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and the civil war that followed. The World Bank had an agreement with the authorities to assist with land management and administration but that fell through in September 2009. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Martin Petty and Ramya Venugopal)  | ||
| Cambodian govt warns NGOs over letter to donors – paper Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:37 PM PDT 23 Aug 2011 By Thin Lei Win BANGKOK (AlertNet) – The Cambodian government has warned an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations over critical letters it sent to international donors funding a $142-million railway project, the Phnom Penh Post reports. NGO Forum, which groups 88 organisations, wrote last year to the heads of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Australia's international aid programme AusAID to raise concerns about the impact of the railway refurbishment on people living along the tracks who have been resettled. The letters said two children had drowned fetching water in a relocation site in Battambang in northwestern Cambodia due to lack of proper facilities. The warning, made in a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes at a time of increasing tensions between the government and a burgeoning civil society which has become openly critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen. "By going after the NGO Forum, the Cambodian government is essentially telling development partners like the ADB and others to butt out, and expanding the dragnet against civil society dissidents," Phil Robertson, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Asia Division told AlertNet. He added: "Bilateral and multilateral donors should seriously start re-assessing whether a rights abusing government like this one that persecutes civil society watchdogs is the best partner for their increasingly scarce development budgets." Others who signed the letters, Bridges Across Borders Cambodia (BABC), Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) and the Housing Rights Taskforce have not been spared. STT, whose funders include the German government's development arm GIZ, was slapped with a five-month suspension early this month for allegedly inciting villagers to protest against the project. The media has also reported that BABC was summoned to meet Foreign Ministry officials last week. Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong accused NGO Forum and BABC of making "false" and "unfair" claims about the children's deaths. NGO Forum's executive officer Chhith Sam Ath told the Post they were responding to the letter but said he did not want to comment further. ADB is contributing $84 million in concessional loans and AusAID $21.5 million in grants to the project which will impact at least 4,000 poor families who live along the tracks, BABC said. The dispute comes as Cambodia assesses a controversial draft law regulating NGOs which critics fear is an attempt to muzzle civil society. A statement signed by 130 NGOs condemned the suspension of STT and said it was "completely arbitrary, a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression and association, and an assault on human rights defenders". It added: "The use of a vague administrative technicality to suspend an organisation is an alarmingly clear sign of how the Cambodian government intends to use the LANGO (Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations) to curb the activities of all associations and NGOs that advocate for the rights of marginalised groups within Cambodian society." Robertson said: "The Cambodia government's unjustified and frankly illegal suspension of local NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) clearly reveals what many have believed all along, which is that its real motivation in seeking a law on associations and NGOs is to control civil society groups and abruptly silence those that expose rights abuses and official corruption." The Cambodian government has long had a strained relationship with donors. On Tuesday it postponed indefinitely a top-level meeting with foreign donors. This followed an announcement last week that the World Bank has halted loans to the government over its failure to curb forced evictions from land earmarked for luxury housing in the capital.  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:33 PM PDT A boy runs as tyres burn in the background during a protest at the Boeung Kak lake area in Phnom Penh
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| China seeks to protect Libya trade ties [... after supporting a dictator?] Posted: 23 Aug 2011 05:23 PM PDT
Official hopes 'mutually beneficial' trade will continue despite Libyan rebel suggestions that billions of dollars in prior deals will be reconsidered in light of China's initial refusal to back the uprising Tuesday 23 Aug 2011 AFP China expressed hopes Tuesday its billions of dollars in trade with oil-rich Libya would continue, as a state-run newspaper called on the West to "clear up its mess" in the war-torn country. Rebel fighters seeking to end Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule have seized control of most of the capital Tripoli, and the whereabouts of the veteran strongman are unknown. China has ploughed billions of dollars into Libya's rail, oil and telecom sectors, and Beijing acknowledged that its investments had been hit by the revolt that erupted in February during the "Arab Spring". On Tuesday, it expressed hopes its "mutually beneficial" trade ties with the country would continue, after earlier saying it respected the Libyan people's choice, but hoped stability would soon be restored. "China's investments in Libya, particularly our oil investments, reflect mutually beneficial economic cooperation between the two countries," said Wen Zhongliang, deputy director of the commerce ministry's foreign trade department. "We hope to continue to develop economic and trade cooperation with Libya in every aspect," he told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. Wen's comments came as state media reported that China's largest oil and gas producer has shut down six major projects in several countries including Libya because of political instability. China is always on the look-out for natural resources around the world to fuel its rapid industrial growth and the unrest in Libya has caused jitters in the world's second-largest economy. Beijing initially maintained a policy of non-interference in the crisis, but has more recently shifted its position and started taking steps to build contacts with the anti-Gaddafi rebels. On Tuesday the state-run Global Times newspaper urged the West to help rebuild Libya after the months of violence and a NATO bombing campaign. "Overthrowing Kadhafi is entertainment for the media, but talk of rebuilding is not," the conservative English-language daily said in an editorial. "The West has to take responsibility for clearing up its mess in Libya." The report did not point to a specific country, but Western nations that have thrown diplomatic and financial support behind the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council include Britain, France and the United States. The state-run, English-language China Daily, echoing Beijing's earlier call for stability, urged national reconciliation to avoid "chaos" in Libya. "The relevant parties in Libya must end the war and restore peace as soon as possible," the newspaper said in an editorial. "This is both for the fundamental interest of all Libyans and conducive to the political stability of North Africa and the Middle East." In June, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi hosted senior rebel leader Mahmud Jibril in Beijing and recognised Libya's opposition as an "important dialogue partner. According to the commerce ministry, China currently has 50 large-scale projects worth at least US$18.8 billion in Libya, which reportedly sells around three percent of its total oil output to Beijing. In an indication of the size of its investments there, China evacuated nearly 36,000 of its nationals from the country in a huge land, sea and air operation after fighting broke out in February. Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels per day of oil before the rebellion broke out, but output has since slowed to a trickle.  | ||
| Recent Preah Vihear 'snapshots' in Cambodia Posted: 23 Aug 2011 04:15 PM PDT  For additional photos, please click the link below:  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 04:03 PM PDT  ជនរួមជាតិខ្មែរ ជាទីស្រលាញ់ សប្តាហ៍នេះ ការការដួលរលំរបបដឹកនាំផ្តាច់ការនៅប្រទេស លីប៊ី ដែលដឹកនាំដោយ ហ្គាដាហ្វី និងក្រុមគ្រួសារ ព្រមទាំងបក្ខពួកនោះ ជាគំរូល្អថ្មីមួយទៀតសម្រាប់ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរយើង ដែលត្រូវតែជ្រើស រើសយកជំរើសថ្មីនេះគឺ ‹‹ចលនា អំណាចពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ›› ដើម្បីផ្លាស់ប្តូរមេដឹនាំ និងផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបដឹកនាំ នៅក្នុងប្រទេសខ្មែរយើងនាពេលខាងមុខនេះ មុនការបោះឆ្នោតបង្គ្រប់កិច្ចនាឆ្នាំ ២០១៣ ។ ព្រះករុណា ជនរួមជាតិខ្មែរ និងសមាជិក-សមាជិកា នៃ ចលនា អំណាចពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ ជាទីគោរព! ពន្លឺសេរីភាពថ្មី ដែលកំពុងជះបំភ្លឺដោយ ចលនា អំណាចពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ នាពេលនេះគឺជាការចាប់ ផ្តើមប្រកបដោយសេចក្តីសង្ឈឹម យ៉ាងពេញលេញ សម្រាប់ការចូលរួមរបស់ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរគ្រប់ទិសទី និង គ្រប់ចលននយោបាយ ដើម្បីទាមទារយកឯករាជ្យ ជូនជាតិ និងយកសេរីភាព ជូនពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ ព្រមទាំង បណ្តេញពួកបរទេស យួន ឈ្លាពាន អោយចាកចេញពីប្រទេសខ្មែរ ស្របតាមខ្លឹមសារស្មារតី នៃ កិច្ច ព្រមព្រៀងសន្តិភាព ក្រុងប៉ារីស ២៣ តុលា ១៩៩១ ។ ជ័យជំនះនៃកម្លាំង ចលនា អំណាចពលរដ្ឋលីប៊ី ដែលរួមគ្នាផ្តួលរំលំរបបដឹកនាំផ្តាច់ការរបស់ ហ្គាដាហ្វី នៅក្នុងប្រទេសលីប៊ី ពេលថ្មីៗនេះ ជាគំរូទី៣ បន្ទាប់ពីការផ្លាស់ប្តូរដោយ អំណាចពលរដ្ឋ ធ្វើ ការផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបដឹកនាំ នៃនៅក្នុងប្រទេស ទុយណេស៊ី និងប្រទេសអេស៊ីប ។ ពេលវេលា នៃការផ្លាស់ប្តូរបានមកដល់ហើយ យើងជាពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរទាំងអស់គ្នា មិនត្រូវជឿការ បំពុលរបស់ គណៈបក្សនយោបាយ ដែលកំពុងដឹកនាំនិងត្រៀមខ្លួនទៅចូលរួមការបោះឆ្នោតបង្គ្រប់កិច្ច ដើម្បីបន្តអំណាចអោយពួក អាយ៉ងយួនកាន់អំណាច ត្រួតត្រាប្រទេសរបស់យើងនោះទេ ។ យើងជា ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ ជាម្ចាស់ប្រទេស ជាម្ចាស់អំណាច និងម្ចាស់ នៃជោគវាសនាជាតិ របស់យើង ។ ដូច្នោះយើងជាពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ យើងមានសិទ្ធិ និងមានអំណាច ទំលាក់រដ្ឋាភិបាល ទំលាក់មេដឹកនាំ និងផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបនយោបាយ រួចហើយជ្រើសរើសមេដឹកនាំថ្មី និងជ្រើសរើសរបបនយោបាយថ្មី ដែល យើងគ្រប់គ្នាចង់បាន ។ ពិភពលោកកំពុងតែផ្លាស់ប្តូរពីពណ៌ក្រហម ទៅជាពណ៌ខៀវ ដូចគ្នានឹងរបប ផ្តាច់ការកុម្មុយនីស្ត ដឹកនាំដោយជនផ្តាច់ការ ដែលកំពុងដួលរលំជាបន្តបន្ទាប់ ។ ដូចនេះ ប្រទេសខ្មែរ របស់យើងក៏មិនត្រូវការអោយពួកជនកុម្មយនីស្ត ផ្តាច់ការ និងពួកយោធានិយម នៅបន្តកាន់អំណាច គ្រប់គ្រងប្រទេសរបស់យើង និងលក់ប្រទេសជាតិរបស់យើងអោយពួកបរទេស យួន ឈ្លានពាន តទៅ ទៀតនោះទេ ។ ការបោះឆ្នោតដែលមិនអាចជឿទុកចិត្តបាន វាគ្រាន់តែជាប្រព័ន្ធបោះឆ្នោតបង្គ្រប់កិច្ចមួយ ដែល ពួកកុម្មុយនីស្ត យ៉ាងយួន នៅភ្នំពេញបង្កើតឡើងដើម្បី អូសទាញពួកអ្នកនយោបាយបល់បាយ និងពួក គណៈបក្សនយោបាយ ទៅចូលរួមល្បែងបោះឆ្នោត ដែលជាឧបការណ៍នយោបាយបង្គ្រប់កិច្ច របស់ ពួកគេ ។ ដូច្នោះពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរយើង មិនត្រូវពុលវង្វេងនឹងល្បែងបោះឆ្នោតបង្គ្រប់កិច្ច តាមពួកគណៈបក្ស នយោបាយ និងពួកអ្នកនយោបាយបល់បាយ ទាំងអស់នោះទៀតទេ ។ ដូច្នោះពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរត្រូវតែត្រៀមលក្ខណៈក្រោកឡើងទាំងអស់គ្នា ដើរតាមគំរូពលរដ្ឋទុយណេស៊ី ពលរដ្ឋអេស៊ីប និងពលរដ្ឋលីប៊ី ដើម្បីទាញទំលាក់រដ្ឋាភិបាល អាយ៉ងយួននៅភ្នំពេញ ចេញពីអំណាច ហើយបង្កើតរដ្ឋាភិបាលជាតិ ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យសេរី សាធារណៈរដ្ឋនិយមមួយ ដែលបង្កើតឡើងដោយ ពលរដ្ឋ ជារបស់ពលរដ្ឋ និងបម្រើពលរដ្ឋ ។រដ្ឋតិចសាស់ សហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកថ្ងៃទី ២២ សីហា ២០១៣ --- SOURN SEREY RATHA President of Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM) Email: politics@kppmradio.org, Website: www.kppmradio.org  | ||
| Cambodian-Americans Get an Online Home: An Interview with Phatry Derek Pan Posted: 23 Aug 2011 03:57 PM PDT  Faine Greenwood The Faster Times Originally posted at: http://www.thefastertimes.com/cambodia/2011/08/23/cambodian-americans-get-an-online-home-an-interview-with-phatry-derek-pan/ Recently, I interviewed Phatry Derek Pan, co-founder of upcoming Khmer-American web portal Khmerican.com. Khmerican hopes to provide Khmer-Americans, Cambodians, and the online world with a one-stop online shop— compiling news, information databases, networking opportunities and more into a single location. Further, Khmerican will give citizen journalists an outlet to share community happenings, opinions, and information, allowing Khmer-Americans — and the web site's staff writers— to document and organize the rise of a relatively new and increasingly influential immigrant community. For now, you can read Khmerican.com's blog, located at this link. Following is my interview with Mr Pan. - What prompted you to start Khmerican.com? Where did the idea come from? Khmerican is a news and information web portal on Khmer America. The problem today is that there is no website that provides a comprehensive collection of original news, a calendar, photo galleries, announcements and other relevant information on and about Khmer America. I came up with the idea to create Khmerican after 12 years working with students and community leaders. They had shared this problem with me, and I personally experienced the problem myself as a community organizer. When the concept became clearer, I reached out to Sophath Oun, a childhood friend and full-time webmaster. - What's the purpose of the site in your own words – social networking, an entry-point for Cambodian-Americans online, and so on? Are you going to hire staff-writers? The purpose of Khmerican is to build a culture of citizen journalists among those who share an interest in Khmer America. I am a heavy user and early adopter of social media and web technology, and I realized that through my network of friends scattered around the States and abroad, I can tap into them to serve as informants, or I'd like to say, 'cultural ambassadors.' I feel that Khmer America is developing at such fast pace, and no one is trying to document this progress. Khmerican attempts to do this by its regular reports and news articles. We just hired two writers: Vanndy Pan (no relation), of Providence, RI and Dahnie Tran of Boston, MA. We will hire up to 20 writers to diversify our coverage and reach. We are also looking for photographers. - Have you taken cues from other American immigrant groups in creating Khmerican? No, I haven't. I am aware of community based newspapers and publications that focus on a particular immigrant community, but what will separate us are the online databases. For example, Rajana Artist Database (RAD), is created specifically for artist professionals interested in networking, collaborating, and sharing with other like-mind individuals. We will have other databases to serve other groups: master Khmer student organization (KSOs) directory, master directory of community based orgs (CBOs), etc. These databases are free of charge to non-profits and educational institutions, and are created to facilitate engagement and mobilize individuals around issues and causes. - Do you think Cambodian-Americans have a reasonably strong support system in the USA? How so, and in what ways? In my opinion, the support system is relatively weak and unestablished compared to larger immigrant communities like the Vietnamese, Chinese or Filipinos. It's weaker because there is no media outlet that attempts to serve a national population like Khmerican. On the local level, the larger Khmer populated communities like Long Beach, Lowell and Seattle are pretty strong to rally the community around social issues. Now, if Khmerican can become the online authority for all things Khmer America, I believe our voice and volume would be much larger. -Do you think the website and Khmerican.com can enhance this? Yes, we truly believe that Khmerican can strengthen communities on a local and national level. If I am trying to get my peers and younger friends to be more conscious of what is going on in their community, I think connecting them with a portal illustrating the progress of Khmer America would foster that type of engagement. And the older generations, now in the late 30s to 50s range, are using computer more. They are always curious to know what other Khmer communities in other states are doing. Being able to learn from other communities failures and success is inspiring and empowering. - What prompted you to begin writing about your experiences as 1.5 generation refugee, and a Cambodian-American? Everyone, immigrant or not, should document their life experience. For me, it's personal, as memorabilia to have in my family and for my future kids. In the future, I would love to write a book covering the progress of Khmer America in the last 50 years. There is a pictorial book on Long Beach's Cambodian Community that recently came out that I particularly enjoyed. But my idea would be more than just LBC, and more than just images. But Khmer America to me, is only 36 years old. (1975 – present). - How long have you been blogging and using social media? Intermittently, I have been blogging since June 2004. My blog, www.phatryderekpan.com was only launched in March 2011 and will serve as my main personal page. It's undergoing a complete revamp to be out by Fall 2011 with more features. I have adopted social media ever since the days when community forums were popular. I started with khmerconnection.com, a now inactive website based in Long Beach. I joined Facebook right after they expanded membership to university students in late 2003, Twitter in late 2008, Google Plus since beta testing. I read about web trends and social media just as much as I read on Cambodia/Khmer America related news daily – about 90 minutes a day. I consider myself a social media geek. - Tell me more about your work as a community organizer for Cambodian Americans. How will the website work alongside this? I was a student organizer as early as 1998 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Washington, Seattle. I played leadership roles with the Khmer Student Associations for all 4.5 years there. I even started an all Khmer arts student organization my senior year called Rajana Society that lasted for 3 years. After college, I interned with a pan-Asian community museum and was an art instructor to under-represented youth centers in Seattle before I made the move to Cambodia in August 2005. One of the biggest challenge in community organizing is having the resources to mobilize your constituents. At Khmerican, we have these powerful databases so if I wanted to rally people about a Congress bill to support Khmer Americans facing health issues because of ptsa, Khmerican will get the word out to a national audience. And with a strong background in social media and web technology, I think Khmerican can really be a good model for other groups and communities. - Do you think social media and the internet will be a useful tool for Cambodians in the future? Yes, if local Cambodians can realize the real power of online mobilization, then it will be a useful tool. But there is not much effort from local NGOs or individuals like it was before when blogging was popular around 2005 to 2007. I am optimistic that Khmerican can indirectly effect the behavior of local Cambodians with social media. But time will tell. -Do you think Cambodian-Americans can provide leadership or assistance in this arena? If so, what do you think is the best way to accomplish this? Yes, I truly do believe that Khmericans (by the definition provided in our website) can foster that type of relationship for people and social media. The youth population is extremely open, progressive and curious about the outside world and America has a big influence on that. If they see more prevalent Khmer Americans using the Twitters and Google Plus for social good, then the change will come. But I'm also against imposing my personal views on what local should or should not do. I am serving Khmer America, but everyone knows that my heart has never left Cambodia, so Khmerican is my humble attempt to change Cambodia.  | ||
| Son Chhay asks govt to end companies’ land-grabbing against minority Posted: 23 Aug 2011 03:41 PM PDT Summary: SRP MP Son Chhay asked the govt to stop private companies from grabbing land owned by Cambodian ethnic minorities, he also asked for an end to land concessions and the return of these lands to the govt. The companies involved in the land-grabbing are: Heng Development, Heng Brother, Hun Veasna Investment, Chang Ly and Try Pheap. Pav Homphan, the Ratanakiri [CPP] provincial governor, rejected Son Chhay's claim and he said that the companies do not violate the villagers' land. Adhoc provincial officials said that land concession granted by the govt affect rice fields and farmlands belonging to villagers because govt officials close their eyes to the violations. Pen Bonna of Adhoc added: "If they [villagers] were not affected, they will not protest. We have seen that in all land concessions, there were protests." Dy Chivoandara, a representative of the violating Try Pheap companies, denied these violations. Navuth of Veasna Investment denied his company's violations but said that after the lands were transferred to a Viet company, the latter could have perpetrated the violations. http://www.box.net/shared/hj29c7b2k4necylr255v  | ||
| Over 1,000-hectare of land in Bavet leased to the Viets: Opposition officials Posted: 23 Aug 2011 03:09 PM PDT Summary: Opposition officials asked govt officials to visit land along the border with Vietnam and they claimed that more than 1,000-hectares in Bavet city, Svay Rieng province, were leased to the Vietnamese for farming. Chhouk Bandit, the Bavet city governor, denied the fact and threatened to jail SRP officials for making this claim. Chhouk Bandit admitted that arrangement was made between the Xmer and Viet govts to allow Vietnam to bring in tractors to till soil Cambodian rice fields because Cambodian farmers do not have enough machinery (sic!). Reach Thul, a villager in Bavet, indicated that Cambodians do leased their lands to the Viets. Svar Kim Hong said that the authority does not collude with the farmers to lease their lands. Furthermore, villagers along the border are not allowed to own their land as private property. http://www.box.net/shared/heu868rp36hgefy9bcs6  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 01:14 PM PDT Dear Readers, From where we are currently, we are experiencing intermittent Internet access problems. Please bear with us until this problem is resolved. Thank you, KI-Media team  | ||
| Building Democracy with Courage Posted: 23 Aug 2011 12:43 PM PDT
By Mu Sochua Courage For those who do not walk the campaign trail and are not on the ground, let it be known that CPP gives us no chance, even if they have to blatantly violate the law. It is not an easy environment for SRP but have we ever given up even one inch? In Sompeuv Loun, I just walked more than 2 hours- one way to reach the village of Tang Krasaing. Even the tractor could not get us there all the way. We got the CPP village chief to put up SRP sign. Our signs will be up in each and every village in Sampeuv Loun. Same commune, the following day, our commune councilor who is a woman was warned by 7 men to stop mobilizing people against the loss of land to a company or she will be killed. She lives in the middle of nowhere. Does she give up? I don't think so. SRP machinery is up and running always, in particular the next 45 days- the registration period. In provinces where we do not have seats, our machinery from the province to each village will be running full steam to ensure that voters will get their right to vote on election day. SRP will have its party agents at each of the 1,700 communes, and at each of the 13,000+ villages. Our youth and women's movements will bring our message door-to-door. Our intervention teams will provide support to our party agents in each commune, district and province. Besides CPP, who has this kind of machinery and who even cares to fight this hard, with bare hands? How does opposition win elections? Merger is one of the ways but not the only way. It is too easy to give up. It is even more easy to tell people to give up, in particular if one does not live the real life of an activist. Think how Beung Kak Lake people fight their fight for the past 5 years. Think how workers of June Textile stood each day in front of armed police for 3 months. In both instances, the women won their fight because they do not give up. Beer promoters are beginning to stand up and will not give up. I just met them last night to think with them how they can make the call louder to all beer promoters. We mobilize one group at a time. To tell people to give up is the worst form of no self-confidence. Have the courage to tell people to have courage. That is how democracy is built. Mu Sochua, MP "I do not fear death; I fear political silence against injustices" -Malalai Joya, MP Afghanistan  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 12:30 PM PDT  Please help spread the word: It was brought to my attention that the NOC (National Olympic Committee of Cambodia) is not supporting the Cambodian National Baseball Team to represent Cambodia in the 26th SEA Game this November. NOC is not allowing the team to compete, the committee refused to sign the entry form for the competition. The CNBT is a good team, work very hard, and determined to show the world their talents and perseverance. Please write/email them @ camnoc@online.com.kh to request that they give our baseball team a chance. Thanks!  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 12:21 PM PDT
   (UPDATED Complete Video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed8M5flLcEc  | ||
| Please help support our National Baseball Team Posted: 23 Aug 2011 09:18 AM PDT  We are sad to report that Cambodia's first National Baseball Team (CNBT) will not be competing in the 26th annual South East Asian (SEA) Games, this November. The team's application has been denied by the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia. We want Cambodia to participate and be recognized in the international arena. Despite no support or sponsorship from the Cambodian government, funding has been raised by individuals who believe that our players have what it takes to represent our beloved country. We have a good team in place and are ready to compete in November! To express your concerns and support for our baseball team, please write to NOC, in hopes that they reconsider the application. Att: Mr Vath Chamrouen: camnoc@online.com.kh Brief records of CNBT:
Visit its website at: www.cambodiabaseball.org  | ||
| TED - Harald Haas: Wireless data from every light bulb Posted: 23 Aug 2011 06:33 AM PDT By Khmer Democrat, Phnom Penh Education through Imagination and Creativity Series WOW! Wow! 'Ms. Theary, you don't think we can say this in Khmer? Who build Angkor Wat, huh, huh?' What an incredible innovation of IDEAS! Please watch to be awed! What if every light bulb in the world could also transmit data? At TEDGlobal, Harald Haas demonstrates, for the first time, a device that could do exactly that. By flickering the light from a single LED, a change too quick for the human eye to detect, he can transmit far more data than a cellular tower -- and do it in a way that's more efficient, secure and widespread. Imagine using your car headlights to transmit data ... or surfing the web safely on a plane, tethered only by a line of sight. Harald Haas is working on it. A professor of engineering at Edinburgh University, Haas has long been studying ways to communicate electronic data signals, designing modulation techniques that pack more data onto existing networks. But his latest work leaps beyond wires and radio waves to transmit data via an LED bulb that glows and darkens faster than the human eye can see. He says: "It should be so cheap that it's everywhere. Using the visible light spectrum, which comes for free, you can piggy-back existing wireless services on the back of lighting equipment." "As well as revolutionising internet reception, it would put an end to the potentially harmful electromagnetic pollution emitted by wireless internet routers and has raised the prospect of ubiquitous wireless access, transmitted through streetlights."Herald Scotland  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 06:32 AM PDT Hell is empty and all the devils are here. - William Shakespeare  | ||
| Cambodian, Thai travel agents to meet as border row eases Posted: 23 Aug 2011 02:36 AM PDT PHNOM PENH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai tour and travel operators are scheduled to meet over the weekend to discuss ways to boost the two neighboring countries' tourism after being affected by continuous border dispute since 2008, the Chairman of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) Ang Kim Eang said Tuesday. The one-day meeting will be held on Aug. 27 in coastal Preah Sihanouk province, some 230 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, he said, adding that it will bring together 28 Cambodian tour and travel agents and 66 Thai travel agents. "As military tension over the border conflict has eased and normalcy has returned to border, the two countries' travel associations want to create close connection to boost respective tourism," he said, "Both sides will promote each country's tourism destinations and seek partners for cooperation." Thai tourists to Cambodia have constantly declined since the two neighbors have been involved in border dispute since July 2008 when Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was enlisted by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, but Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers (1.8 square miles) of scrub next to the temple. Since then, both sides have built up military forces along the border and periodic clashes have happened, resulting in the deaths of troops and civilians on both sides. However, the border tension between the two countries has eased since the Pheu Thai Party won a landslide victory in the July 3 general election. The latest statistics showed that Thai tourists to Cambodia had declined by up to 36 percent to 48,136 in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year of 75,695.  | ||
| Interview with SRP MP Son Chhay during his visit to San Jose, California Posted: 23 Aug 2011 02:33 AM PDT       Click the control below to listen to the interview with SRP MP Son Chhay:  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 02:17 AM PDT    Click the control below to listen to the interview with Ven. Ratana Yoeng, the abbot of Wat Khemara Rangsey:  | ||
| Vietnam jails 8th democracy activist in a month Posted: 23 Aug 2011 02:01 AM PDT Tuesday, 08.23.11 The Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam -- A pro-democracy activist in Vietnam has been sentenced to four years in prison for calling for an end to the Communist monopoly on power, marking the eighth dissident to be jailed in less than a month. Lu Van Bay, 59, was convicted of "spreading propaganda against the state" at a half-day trial in southern Kien Giang province, Presiding Judge Do Minh Hung said Tuesday. He was also given three years of house arrest after serving out his sentence. Bay was accused of posting more than 10 articles on several overseas Vietnamese websites between 2007 until his arrest in March, the judge said. The writings called for a multiparty system and the end to Vietnam's one-party rule, he added. The judge said Bay confessed and asked for leniency in Monday's trial. His sentencing is the latest in a spate of crackdowns against some of Vietnam's most prominent dissidents, drawing sharp criticism from the Washington and international human rights groups. Vietnam does not tolerate any threat to its one-party rule and maintains that only lawbreakers are jailed. On Sunday, 50 protesters were detained after attending a rally in Hanoi to denounce China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. All but 11 were released. Last week, an appeals court reduced the sentences of two land-rights activists convicted of trying to overthrow the government while upholding the sentences of two others. Earlier in the month, a French-Vietnamese math professor was also given a three-year sentence after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the government by posting articles criticizing one-party rule and holding membership in a banned pro-democracy group. Meanwhile, last month, an appeals court upheld the seven-year prison sentence for Cu Huy Ha Vu, the dissident son of one of Vietnam's founding revolutionaries. Ailing Roman Catholic priest The Rev. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, was also returned to prison after receiving more than a year of medical leave. The two are among Vietnam's most high-profile pro-democracy activists.  | ||
| Vietnam takes delivery of Russian-made warship Posted: 23 Aug 2011 01:59 AM PDT Tuesday, August 23, 2011 HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has received a second Russian-made guided missile warship as tensions over disputed islands in the South China Sea continue, state media reported Tuesday. The Gepard class frigate, Vietnam's most modern warship, was delivered Monday at the Cam Ranh naval port in central Vietnam, the Thanh Nien newspaper said. Taking the delivery of the frigate marked a "new development" in improving "the combative strength as well as the capability of managing and defending the country's sea sovereignty," the paper quoted navy commander Nguyen Van Hien as saying. Vietnam took the delivery of the first warship of this kind in March.The Southeast Asian nation has also ordered to buy six diesel-electric "Project 636" Varshavyanka submarines for a total of $2 billion. The submarines are also known by their NATO nickname, "Kilos." The delivery of the first submarine was expected in three years. Vietnam's naval build-up comes at a time when tensions between Vietnam and China flare over disputed islands in the South China Sea. Relations between the two communist neighbors hit a low-point this summer after Hanoi accused Beijing of interfering with its oil exploration activities. The two sides, along with several other Asian nations, claim all or part of two disputed island chains believed to be rich in natural resources in an area that's home to vital shipping lanes.  | ||
| Posted: 23 Aug 2011 01:48 AM PDT
Tuesday, 23 August 2011 John Anthony The Phnom Penh Post A community that gathered yesterday to celebrate the release of farmers who had been jailed for more than two years following a land dispute were told that the monk who led their campaign to free the men had been banned from every pagoda in Siem Reap province. The written notice from the province's senior most monk, Venerable Pich San, was distributed ahead of the two-day event, which started on Saturday. Pich San also banned Venerable Loun Sovath from leading the celebration and said that the monk, who has become famous for blessing communities involved in land disputes, had disobeyed Buddhist values. Loun Sovath was undeterred by the ban. "What I'm doing is right," he said. "My activities are Buddhist and they do not break the law." He attended the heavily policed gathering of about 600 people at Wat Thmey in the province's Chi Kraeng district and said the latest pressure from the country's Buddhist hierarchy would not stop him from spreading his message of peaceful advocacy. The celebration also saw a visit on Sunday by Seang Nam, a lawmaker with the Cambodia People's Party, who provided a gift of US$500 to help pay for the event and pledged to support the community's appeal to the government for the return of land they were driven from in 2009 by armed police. Four farmers, including two relatives of Loun Sovath, were shot, several bludgeoned and dozens detained when police drove them from disputed rice fields in May 2009. Twelve men were subsequently imprisoned on a variety of charges, with the final five being released only last month. One, Seum Leap, said he had to share a five-square-metre prison cell with 17 other men. When asked to describe what it felt like to be free, the 62-year-old replied: "I feel like I have been born again". Cheng Saroeun, 31, a leader of the initial protest, said he was repeatedly interrogated and mentally tortured while in prison. He said he also read law books so he could continue to fight in court for his land to be returned, explaining that "the land is our life". "This protest is not just for me, it's for the new generation," he said. Before Loun Sovath arrived at the celebration, talks were held between United Nations staff, district police and Buddhist clergy to ensure that he would not be arrested. People attending these discussions said that senior monks said that Loun Sovath could not continue to be both a monk and an activist because monks were not allowed to be political. But Loun Sovath told The Post he saw no contradiction between his "politics" and Buddhism. "My politics are to lead people to happiness, justice and peace, and these are the politics of the Buddha," he explained. Loun Sovath was banned from pagodas in the capital earlier this year following his presence at a rally in support of communities facing eviction at the Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh.  | ||
| Communist atheist Hochimonks' orders issued against Ven. Loun Savath Posted: 23 Aug 2011 12:56 AM PDT
 On 16 August 2011, villagers from Chikreng district asked to organize a Freedom day to celebrate the release of 12 villagers who were detained by the police for resisting the grabbing of their lands.  The Buddhist clergy in Siem Reap issued an order preventing Ven. Loun Savath - a native of Chikreng whose relatives were among the 12 arrested - from participating in the Freedom day celebration. Furthermore, all pagodas in Siem Reap are prohibited from providing refuge to Ven. Loun Savath. The authorities are ordered to take all legal measures against Ven. Loun Savath. With such devious thought and black hearts, how can these monks who issued these orders against Ven. Loun Savath call themselves Buddhist monks? They should call themselves COMMUNIST ATHEIST HOCHIMONKS instead!!!  | ||
| [Australian] Immigration laws tear family apart Posted: 22 Aug 2011 11:42 PM PDT
August 23rd, 2011 Geelong Advertiser (Australia) A TORQUAY family has been torn apart by a heart-breaking legal loophole, with their five-year-old adopted daughter languishing in a Cambodian rape shelter while her parents try desperately to bring her home. All the girl wants to know is when she can play with her brothers and sister again. Meagan Paterson said the family regularly Skyped with Pisey and were at a loss how to answer their daughter when she asked when she would see them again. "It is just devastating," Mrs Paterson said. "She says she loves and misses us and asks when she is coming home and when she can play with her brothers and sister again. "We have no answers for her." Pisey recently celebrated her fifth birthday at the rape centre with her family, watching via Skype, huddled around the computer screen, watching her blow out her candles dressed in a princess outfit they sent to Cambodia as a gift. Just over three years ago, Mrs Paterson and her husband Michael were expatriates living and working in Cambodia, where they had set up a crisis centre for women who had been raped and sexually abused. It was at the centre that the Patersons fell in love with 18-month-old Pisey, who was born after her mum was raped. When Pisey's mother decided to give her daughter up for adoption, the Patersons stepped in and legally adopted the little girl, working with the Australian embassy in Cambodia to ensure they abided by Australia's notoriously tough intercountry adoption laws. However, when a member of Mrs Paterson's family in Australia was diagnosed with cancer, the couple returned home, not knowing their decision would result in years of heartbreak and separation from their daughter. "We acted on advice at the time that if we returned home and lodged Pisey's adoption visa from Australia, which she needs in order to come here, the Australia Government would invoke a compassion clause and give us the visa," Mrs Paterson said. "We now know that advice was wrong. "The Australian Government does not review adoption cases on a case-by-case basis and the law said we had to be in Cambodia when we lodged the application for that visa. "It has been three years of struggle with the Australian Government to try to get our baby home and with all the bureaucracy and red tape the fact that there is a little girl without her family living in Cambodia is just forgotten." To make matters worse, Pisey is about to become homeless, with the rape shelter set to to close within weeks. Immigration Department spokeswoman Laura Stevens said the Government would not compromise on the conditions attached to the visa application. Mrs Paterson struggled to hold back tears as she recounted her torment over her little girl. "She is our daughter and we will never give up," Mrs Paterson said. "She is a little person who is full of potential and I just want to see her home with us where she belongs."  |
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