KI Media: “Language and National Identity in Asia: Cambodia - By Steve Heder” plus 16 more |
- Language and National Identity in Asia: Cambodia - By Steve Heder
- Gaddafi shot?
- ICC wants Saif al-Gadhafi, prosecutor says
- A Dictator's Guide to Exile [-A MUST READ for Hun Xen and his family]
- Libyan rebels enter Tripoli, Gadhafi's sons held
- Explosions Rock Tripoli Amid Reports of Rebel Advances in Capital
- Yingluck and Noppadon deny Thaksin has been staying in Phnom Penh
- Sand for sale; environment ravaged
- [Chinese] Senior Official, Cambodian King Reaffirm Bilateral Bond [-The commie and the reactionary king?]
- Brain Food from the Holy Bible
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Brain Food to be Brave
- UN Convention Against Corruption
- Perpetual 25-year treaty imposed by Vietnam on the Heng Xamrin/Chea Xim/Hun Xen puppet regime
- Brain Food
- 02 December 1978 by the Vietnamese puppet regime of Heng Xamrin/Chea Xim/Meas Samay/Hun Xen
- Statement from Marshall Lon Nol, President of the Khmer Republic on 29 August 1973
| Language and National Identity in Asia: Cambodia - By Steve Heder Posted: 22 Aug 2011 09:59 AM PDT Phnom Penh, 21 Aug. 2011 Dear All, I am deeply encouraged by the discussions generated by my commentary A Language in Crisis—yes, not only the comments, rebuttals, rejoinders which address the points raised, but the crass, personalized attacks as well if they have even an iota of relevance to the topic under discussion. I will respond shortly, more comprehensively, in addressing these important points. In the meantime, may I ask that you re-read my commentary and read carefully this sobering, powerful within-without scholarly perspective by Dr. Steve Heder on Language and National Identity in Asia: Cambodia (Oxford University Press, 2007). It is found in Chapter 13, starting on p. 299. Let's continue the dialogue. Peace, Theary C. Seng http://www.box.net/shared/bdabd763x7ff97tdstp0  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 21 Aug 2011 05:12 PM PDT FLASH: Oil traders cite rumor that Gaddafi shot, pushing down oil prices from @reuters on Twitter  | ||||||||||||||
| ICC wants Saif al-Gadhafi, prosecutor says Posted: 21 Aug 2011 05:11 PM PDT August 21, 2011 By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- The International Criminal Court will hold talks Monday with Libyan rebels on transferring Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, one of the two captured sons of embattled Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, to its custody, Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told CNN. Moreno-Ocampo said the younger Gadhafi's arrest was "very important" for the war-crimes court, which issued a warrant for his arrest in June on charges of crimes against humanity. "We'll discuss tomorrow the transition of authority, how to manage to surrender him," Moreno-Ocampo said. Both Gadhafis are wanted for crimes against humanity in connection with their attempts to put down the emerging revolt against Gadhafi's four-decade rule in February. The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, issued a similar warrant for Abdullah al-Sanussi, the elder Gadhafi's brother-in-law and Libya's intelligence chief. With rebel forces pushing into Tripoli over the weekend, the whereabouts of neither the Libyan leader nor his close aide were known. Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was one of two of the Libyan leader's sons reported captured Sunday. A spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council said Saadi Gadhafi, a businessman and onetime soccer player, was also arrested.  | ||||||||||||||
| A Dictator's Guide to Exile [-A MUST READ for Hun Xen and his family] Posted: 21 Aug 2011 05:07 PM PDT
 
You've been a wealthy, powerful leader for decades. Now you're broke, friendless and out of a job. What do you do? Where do you go? As embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and his family prepare to pack up and head off to exile in Tunisia, we thought it was time to offer tips on life after dictatorship.
Running a country --- ineffectively as you may have done it -- has prepared you for all types of jobs. The problem, of course, is that most people won't hire you. Fortunately you have a few inspiring models to look at, namely exiled Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Ky (pictured). After the defeat of South Vietnam in 1975, Ky fled to southern California and opened up a a liquor store, which turned into a successful little venture. No, you're not going to be able to afford $380-million dollar yachts, but you'll survive.
When Baby Doc Duvalier (pictured in 1984) was forced out of Haiti in 1986, "He left the country on a plane that was literally loaded with goodies from the presidential palace and the central bank of Haiti," says Riccardo Orizio, who interviewed Duvalier for his book Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators. Soon after he lost most of his wealth to his ex-wife (pictured) and found himself unable to even pay for electricity, "jumping bills from hotels and restaurants" because he was so broke.
Libya's Gadhafi and Egypt's Mubarak have lost most of their remaining allies in the last few months. (We will never again see President Obama photographed so near either of them). But world leaders never know who will end up coming to their defense. When Haiti's Baby Doc was at the breaking point in exile, a bunch of taxi drivers from back home started sending him money, ultimately providing a pension that kept him alive. Jail is also a good place to look for allies, the New York Times point out. Choose your exile location carefully
Paris and London, which have long tradition of hosting fallen strongmen, are the best exile destinations if you can get in, says Orizio. What's really crucial, he says, is to pick a country "where the foreign policy is old enough, realistic enough to understand that a bad guy is not necessary the root of all evils." Egypt's Mubarak has chosen to stay in his own country, in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh (pictured here), which Orizio says he thinks is a bad choice. Dictators' Wives Sure you might have to spend your life married to a hated man, but that doesn't mean that being a dictators' wife doesn't have some perks (like, say, 2,000+ pairs of shoes or a $3 million wedding). With Gadhafi raising the profile of dictators, we take a look at the women behind the despots. Imelda Marcos  Imelda Marcos grew up a poor country girl from the hinterlands of the Philippine archipelago, but she more than made up for her childhood poverty during her husband Ferdinand's 20-year reign as dictator of the Philippines. The unrepentant former beauty queen and her authoritarian husband made off with billions of dollars from the Philippines' coffers and enjoyed lavish estates numbering in the dozens, from the island of Luzon to Manhattan. Imelda is best known, of course, for her collection of footwear: When she and Ferdinand were run out of the country in 1986, she left behind her shoe collection, totaling around 2,700 pairs. Elena Ceauşescu  The wife of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu was feted by a state-orchestrated personality cult, but all the proclamations and honorary degrees she amassed couldn't save her from the wrath of the Romanian people. After the Romanian revolution, she and Nicolae were apprehended as they tried to flee the country. They were put through a public show trial, then executed on Christmas Day 1989. The Romanians' wrath was, perhaps, understandable—at Elena's urging, Nicolae banned abortion and mandated that women have a minimum of four, then five children. The policy created a generation of emotionally and physically fractured children who grew up in state-run orphanages. The kids' poor health was treated with mass blood transfusions, which spread AIDS throughout the orphan population. Jiang Qing
Known as Madame Mao, or the first lady of communism, Jiang Qing was just as politically powerful and feared as her husband. Qing had a successful acting career in her twenties, when she was known as "Lán Píng." After several marriages to directors and businessmen, Qing met Mao at the country's communist headquarters, where there was a protest of the invasion of Japan. Though Mao was already married, the two wed in 1938 and Qing signed a contract stipulating that she would not appear in public because of her husband's other wife. The two had a daughter, and Qing worked for Mao as his personal secretary. Eventually she moved up in the ranks to become the architect of the Cultural Revolution. After Mao died, in 1976, Qing was sentenced to death but, the sentence was later reduced to life in prison. She was diagnosed with throat cancer but refused medication. She was released in 1991 to get medical treatment, but 10 days later she committed suicide. Where will you go, Lok Chumteav Thom?   | ||||||||||||||
| Libyan rebels enter Tripoli, Gadhafi's sons held Posted: 21 Aug 2011 04:35 PM PDT
2011-08-21 msnbc.com news services TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan rebels moved into the capital Tripoli on Sunday and came within two miles of the city center, as Moammar Gadhafi's defenders melted away. The rebel leadership said Gadhafi's son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam has been arrested. Rebel leaders later said a second Gadhafi son, Mohammed, and the top military unit in charge of protecting the Libyan leader surrendered. Associated Press reporters with the rebels said they met little resistance as they moved from the western outskirts into the capital in a dramatic turning of the tides in the 6-month-old Libyan civil war. The rebels took control of one neighborhood, Ghot Shaal, on the western edge of the city. They set up checkpoints as rebel trucks rolled into Tripoli. One of the rebels, Mohammed al-Zawi, 30, said he was in a convoy of more than 10 trucks that entered Ghot Shaal. He said they progressed as far as the neighborhood of Girgash, about a mile and a half from Green Square, where Gadhafi supporters have gathered nightly throughout the uprising to rally for their leader of more than 40 years. He said the rebels came under fire from a sniper on a rooftop in the neighborhood. "They will enter Green Square tonight, God willing," al-Zawi said. Sidiq al-Kibir, the rebel leadership council's representative for the capital Tripoli, confirmed the arrest of Seif al-Islam to the AP but did not give any further details. Earlier, Gadhafi said he will stay in Tripoli "until the end" and called on his supporters around the country to help liberate the capital from a rebel offensive. He said in an audio message played over state television he was "afraid that Tripoli will burn" and he said he would provide weapons to supporters to fight off the rebels. Earlier in the day, the rebels overran a major military base defending the capital, carted away truckloads of weapons and raced to Tripoli with virtually no resistance. The rebels' surprising and speedy leap forward, after six months of largely deadlocked civil war, was packed into just a few dramatic hours. By nightfall, they had advanced more than 20 miles to Gadhafi's stronghold. Along the way, they freed several hundred prisoners from a regime lockup. The fighters and the prisoners — many looking weak and dazed and showing scars and bruises from beatings — embraced and wept with joy. Thousands of jubilant civilians rushed out of their homes to cheer the long convoys of pickup trucks packed with rebel fighters shooting in the air. Some were hoarse, shouting: "We are coming for you, frizz-head," a mocking nickname for Gadhafi. In villages along the way that fell to the rebels one after another, mosque loudspeakers blared "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great." "We are going to sacrifice our lives for freedom," said Nabil al-Ghowail, a 30-year-old dentist holding a rifle in the streets of Janzour, a suburb just six miles west of Tripoli. Heavy gunfire erupted nearby. As town after town fell and Gadhafi forces melted away, the mood turned euphoric. Some shouted: "We are getting to Tripoli tonight." Others were shooting in the air, honking horns and yelling "Allahu Akbar." Once they reached Tripoli, the rebels took control of one neighborhood, Ghot Shaal, on the western edge of the city. They set up checkpoints as rebel trucks rolled into Tripoli. A convoy of more than 10 trucks entered Ghot Shaal. The rebels moved on to the neighborhood of Girgash, about a mile and a half from Green Square. They said they came under fire from a sniper on a rooftop in the neighborhood. Sidiq al-Kibir, the rebel leadership council's representative for the capital Tripoli, confirmed the arrest of Seif al-Islam to the AP but did not give any further details. Inside Tripoli, widespread clashes erupted for a second day between rebel "sleeper cells" and Gadhafi loyalists. Rebels fighter who spoke to relatives in Tripoli by phone said hundreds rushed into the streets in anti-regime protests in several neighborhoods. Libyan state television aired an angry audio message from Gadhafi Sunday night, urging families in Tripoli to arm themselves and fight for the capital. "The time is now to fight for your politics, your oil, your land," he said. "I am with you in Tripoli — together until the ends of the earth," Gadhafi shouted. The day's first breakthrough came when hundreds of rebels fought their way into a major symbol of the Gadhafi regime — the base of the elite 32nd Brigade commanded by Gadhafi's son, Khamis. Fighters said they met with little resistance. Hundreds of rebels cheered wildly and danced as they took over the compound filled with eucalyptus trees, raising their tricolor from the front gate and tearing down a large billboard of Gadhafi. Inside, they cracked open wooden crates labeled "Libyan Armed Forces" and loaded their trucks with huge quantities of munitions. One of the rebels carried off a tube of grenades, while another carted off two mortars. "This is the wealth of the Libyan people that he was using against us," said Ahmed al-Ajdal, 27, pointing to his haul. "Now we will use it against him and any other dictator who goes against the Libyan people." One group started up a tank, drove it out of the gate, crushing the median of the main highway and driving off toward Tripoli. Rebels celebrated the capture with deafening amounts of celebratory gunfire, filling the air with smoke. Across the street, rebels raided a huge warehouse, making off with hundreds of crates of rockets, artillery shells and large-caliber ammunition. The warehouse had once been using to storage packaged foods, and in the back, cans of beans were still stacked toward the ceiling. The prisoners had been held in the walled compound and when the rebels rushed in, they freed more than 300 of them. "We were sitting in our cells when all of a sudden we heard lots of gunfire and people yelling 'Allahu Akbar.' We didn't know what was happening, and then we saw rebels running in and saying 'We're on your side.' And they let us out," said 23-year-old Majid al-Hodeiri from Zawiya. He said he was captured four months ago by Gadhafi's forces and taken to base. He said he was beaten and tortured while under detention. Many of the prisoners looked disoriented as they stopped at a gathering place for fighters several miles away from the base. Some had signs of severe beatings. Others were dressed in tattered T-shirts or barefoot. Rebels fighters and prisoners embraced. From the military base, about 16 miles west of Tripoli, the convoy pushed on toward the capital. Mahmoud al-Ghwei, 20 and unarmed, said he had just came along with a friend for the ride . "It's a great feeling. For all these years, we wanted freedom and Gadhafi kept it from us. Now we're going to get rid of Gadhafi and get our freedom," he said. At nightfall, the fighters reached Janzour, a Tripoli suburb. Along the way, they were greeted by civilians lining the streets and waving rebel flags. One man grabbed a rebel flag that had been draped over the hood of a slow-moving car and kissed it, overcome with emotion. "We are not going back," said Issam Wallani, another rebel. "God willing, this evening we will enter Tripoli." The uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, and anti-regime protests quickly spread across the vast desert nation with only 6 million people. A brutal regime crackdown quickly transformed the protests into an armed rebellion. Rebels seized Libya's east, setting up an internationally recognized transitional government there, and two pockets in the west, the port city of Misrata and the Nafusa mountain range. Gadhafi clung to the remaining territory, and his forces failed to subdue the rebellion in Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, and in the Nafusa mountains. Since the start of August, thousands of rebel fighters, including many who fled Gadhafi-held cities, joined an offensive launched from the mountains toward the coast. The fighters who had set out from the mountains three weeks ago rushed toward Tripoli on Sunday, start out at dawn from a village just east of the coastal city of Zawiya. Only a day earlier had the rebels claimed full control of Zawiya, an anti-regime stronghold with 200,000 people and Libya's last functioning oil refinery. Rebels said Saturday that they had launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO and gunbattles and mortar rounds rocked the city. NATO aircraft also made heavier than usual bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city. On Sunday, more heavy machine gun fire and explosions rang out across the capital with more clashes and protests. Video: What would a rebel win mean for US? (on this page) Government minders in a hotel where foreign journalists have been staying in Tripoli armed themselves on Sunday in anticipation of a rebel take over. The hotel manager said he had received calls from angry rebels threatening to charge the hotel to capture the government's spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim. Heavy gun fire was heard in the neighborhood around the Rixos hotel, and smoke was seen rising from a close by building. "We are scared and staying in our houses, but the younger boys are going out to protect our homes," said a woman who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from the pro-rebel Tripoli neighborhood of Bin Ashour. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. She said a neighbor's son was shot dead on Saturday night by Gadhafi troops as he tried to protect his street with a group of rebel youth. Nuri al-Zawi, another resident of Bin Ashour, told the AP by phone that the rebels were using light arms to protect their streets, and in some cases were using only their bodies to fend off the Gadhafi troops riding in pickup trucks. "We are used to this situation now. We are a city that is cut off from the world now," he said. The residents reported clashes in neighborhoods all over Tripoli as well as the city's Mitiga military airport. They said they heard loud explosions and exchanges in of gunfire in the Fashloum, Tajoura and Bin Ashour neighborhoods. Residents and opposition fighters also reported large anti-regime protests in those same neighborhoods. In some of them, thousands braved the bullets of snipers perched atop high buildings. Mukhtar Lahab, a rebel commander closing in on Tripoli and a former captain in Gadhafi's army, said his relatives inside the capital reported mass protests in four neighborhoods known as sympathetic to the opposition: Fashloum, Souk al-Jouma, Tajoura and Janzour. He said mosques there were rallying residents with chants of "Allahu Akbar" or "God is great," broadcast on loudspeakers.  | ||||||||||||||
| Explosions Rock Tripoli Amid Reports of Rebel Advances in Capital Posted: 21 Aug 2011 01:47 AM PDT
AP Tripoli – Four strong explosions rocked Tripoli early Sunday amid reports that rebels had cut off crucial supply lines to the capital as clashes raged between forces loyal to Col. Muammar Qaddafi and fighters challenging his long rule. The blasts were heard shortly after 4:00am local time in the heart of the city as NATO warplanes flew overhead, an AFP journalist said. The targets were not immediately identifiable. The continued fighting followed reports Saturday that rebels had advanced on the capital, with residents telling various news media organizations that they had sighted the fighters in their neighborhoods. "Around 11:00pm [Saturday], we heard gunfire around the area. We saw snipers on top of buildings. Yes, rebel fighters are on the streets," Tripoli resident, Omar, told Qatar broadcaster Al Jazeera. Other residents told Sky News that anti-Qaddafi protesters, urged by text messages asking them to join the revolution, had gathered on the streets. "We can hear shooting in different places," said one. "Most of the regions of the city have gone out, mostly young people.... it's the uprising... They went out after breaking the [Ramadan] fast." An opposition activist in Tripoli said an unknown number of insurgents had been killed in the suburb of Qadah and elsewhere, news agency Reuters reported. He said rebels had surrounded a military airbase called Mitiga in the Tajourah district. Another activist, Bashir Sewehli, told Al Jazeera that rebels had also taken other areas in Tripoli and were awaiting reinforcements. "The news has not been coming through because of the fighting, but we will know more in the next coming hours. The rebel fighters that I have spoken to said they will not go home until this is over," Sewehli said. The Libyan government denied that the airbase was at risk of falling into rebel hands and maintained that the capital was safe and stable. "The situation is under control," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said, adding that pro-regime volunteers had repelled insurgent attacks in several neighborhoods. Ibrahim dismissed mounting speculation that the regime was on the brink of collapse, but more gunfire was heard after he spoke on television Saturday, AFP reported. Meanwhile, for the first time in weeks, Qaddafi spoke to Libyans in an audio address broadcast on state television in the early hours of Sunday. "I can't understand how Libya is now in this state ... you need to find the people behind this state ... behind this tragedy," the strongman said. The Libyan leader urged his supporters to "march by the millions" and end the rebellion. "We have to put an end to this masquerade. You must march by the millions to free the destroyed towns," he said. Qaddafi said he expected the opposition to claim that his message was prerecorded, adding, "It's Sunday, the 21st of August. Time is 1:37[am] Libya time." Shortly before dawn, state television showed images of Qaddafi's son, Saif al Islam, addressing a room of supporters, Reuters reported. "The revolt in Libya will not succeed. You will never see us as Libyans surrender and raise the white flag: that is impossible. This is our country and we will never leave it."  | ||||||||||||||
| Yingluck and Noppadon deny Thaksin has been staying in Phnom Penh Posted: 21 Aug 2011 01:43 AM PDT
The Nation on Sunday Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's whereabouts were unclear yesterday, as Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and a close aide of Thaksin's denied a Cambodian media report that he was in that country. Quoting a Khmer-language newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post reported yesterday that Thaksin had been in Cambodia since at least Friday. But an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian Foreign Ministry both declined to confirm the report, saying only that Thaksin was free to enter Cambodia whenever he wished. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's sister, denied the report, saying, "No, he didn't go [to Cambodia]." Thaksin's legal adviser Noppadon Pattama said the former premier was in China and was preparing to travel to Japan, where he is scheduled to give a lecture and visit areas affected by the March 11 tsunami. Noppadon denied the report that Thaksin had travelled to Cambodia, saying airline records would confirm this. Earlier, Noppadon said Thaksin had planned to visit Cambodia but had put the trip off, and would possibly visit after his journey to Japan. Noppadon's comments followed his earlier denial of a report linking Thaksin with a business deal relating to a petroleum concession in the two countries' overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand.  | ||||||||||||||
| Sand for sale; environment ravaged Posted: 21 Aug 2011 01:37 AM PDT
By DENIS D. GRAY Associated Press KOH KONG, Cambodia -- Round a bend in Cambodia's Tatai River and the virtual silence of a tropical idyll turns suddenly into an industrial nightmare. Lush jungle hills give way to a flotilla of dredgers operating 24 hours a day, scooping up sand and piling it onto ocean-bound barges. The churned-up waters and fuel discharges, villagers say, have decimated the fish so vital to their livelihoods. Riverbanks are beginning to collapse, and the din and pollution are killing a promising ecotourism industry. What is bad news for the poor, remote Tatai community is great tidings for Singapore, the wealthy city-state that is expanding its territory by reclaiming land from the sea. Sand from nearby countries is the prime landfill and also essential building material for Singapore's spectacular skyline. As more countries ban its export to curb environmental damage - entire Indonesian islands have been all but wiped off the map - suppliers to Singapore scour the region for what still can be obtained, legally or not. Cambodia, a poor country where corruption is rife and laws are often flouted, is now the No. 1 source. Singapore is by no means the only nation taking part in what is a global harvest of sand from beaches, rivers and seabeds. Officials and environmentalists from China to Morocco have voiced concern and urged curbs. As construction booms in emerging economies and more sources dry up, however, exploitation of the remaining ones is likely to intensify. Sand mining began anew in May on southwestern Tatai River, which empties into the ocean almost directly north of Singapore, across 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of open water. Despite denials by the main owner of sand mining rights in Koh Kong province, two Cambodian officials told The Associated Press that the sand is destined for the island nation. Singapore will not say where its sand comes from; the Construction and Building Authority said it is not public information. The National Development Ministry said the state's infrastructure development company buys it from "a diverse range of approved sources." The mining visible on the Tatai River clearly violates some of Cambodia's own legal restrictions, not to mention a recent government order to suspend it temporarily. Vessels of a Vietnamese company were tracked by boat from about 10 kilometers (6 miles) upriver to the Gulf of Thailand, where nearly a dozen seagoing barges, tugs hovering around them, took on the sand. The AZ Kunming Singapore, a 5,793-ton (5,255-metric ton) barge pulled by the AZ Orchid, was seen arriving empty from the open ocean, its tug flying a Singaporean flag. Both are registered with the Singapore government, which would not comment on the barge's cargo or destination. Ships from several countries, including China, were spotted in sand-mining operations in Koh Kong province, where residents joked about going to Singapore and planting a Cambodian flag there. The vessels included one from Winton Enterprises, a Hong Kong-registered group that was subcontracted to export sand to Singapore, according to Global Witness, a London-based environmental group that published a detailed account of the trade last year. The report said that miners had penetrated protected mangrove, estuary and sea grass areas, breeding grounds for marine life along a coastline and hinterland harboring some of the country's last wilderness areas. Cambodia's cabinet spokesman, Siphan Phay, who was investigating the issue in Koh Kong, appeared angry that the temporary halt order was being ignored. He described the activity as illegal mining destined for Singapore, a surprising statement given that government ministers awarded the concession. A police officer in the economic crime division, who demanded anonymity given the issue's sensitivity, also said the sand is going to Singapore. Ly Yong Phat, who holds the major concession in Koh Kong, has at times openly acknowledged the Singapore connection. But in a recent AP interview, amid tightening restrictions and mounting criticism, he said his company had not shipped sand to Singapore for more than a year because "our sand did not meet their standards." The dredging, he added, was for local sale and to deepen river channels. However, a Malaysian company, Benalec Holdings, said it was ready to tap up to 530,000 tons for a reclamation project in Singapore from several sources in Cambodia, including Ly Yong Phat's LYP Group. Known as the "King of Koh Kong," Ly Yong Phat is one of Cambodia's biggest tycoons and a senator with close ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen. His holdings include hotels, a casino and agricultural plantations. Land reclamation has enlarged Singapore by more than a fifth, and up to 100 square kilometers (nearly 40 square miles) more are slated for reclamation by 2030. What was once seabed is now Changi, among the world's finest airports, and more recently the Marina Bay complex, which includes a 2,560-room hotel and casino developed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Mountains of sand are needed for such fills. U.N. statistics show Singapore imported 14.6 million tons last year, ranking it among the world's top customers. Global Witness estimated that nearly 800,000 tons a year, worth some $248 million, were streaming to Singapore from Koh Kong alone. The U.N. figures show that Cambodia supplied 25 percent of Singapore's imports in 2010, followed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. With its secrecy and lax enforcement of environmental regulations, Myanmar could emerge as a major supplier. The damage caused by sand extraction has spurred clampdowns on exports. Malaysia imposed a ban in 1997, though the media there frequently report on massive smuggling into neighboring Singapore. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad complains that sand pirates are "digging Malaysia and giving her to other people." An Indonesian ban came in 2007, following years of strained relations with Singapore over the sand on islands lying between the two countries. When miners finished with Nipah Island, reportedly all that was left was three or four palm trees protruding above the waterline. Environmental groups say smuggling is believed to be continuing. Vietnam banned exports late last year. Cambodia outlawed the export of sand from rivers in 2009 but allows it from some seabeds. Recently, some government officials said that rivers where seawater flowed into fresh water, replenishing sand naturally, were exempt. Global Witness spokesman Oliver Courtney said the trade in Cambodia revealed a "mismatch between Singapore's reliance on questionably sourced sand and its position as a leader for sustainable development." The city-state prides itself on environmentally sound urban planning. The dredging of the Tatai River began on May 17 "with a fury," creating a veritable traffic jam on the water, said Janet Newman, owner of the riverside Rainbow Lodge. "Before you could see crab pots bobbing in the river everywhere and fishermen going out. Now there is nothing and nobody," the British woman said. Chea Manith of the Nature Tourism Community of Tatai said 270 families along the river have seen an estimated 85 percent drop in catch of fish, crab and lobsters and were being forced to eke out a living from small garden plots. Tourists have all but vanished. Armed with a petition, village leaders, tourism operators and a wildlife group met with Ly Yong Phat in early July. He appeared sympathetic, Newman said. He substantially reduced the dredging and has promised to stop altogether in October. A subsequent letter from the Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology ordered the LYP group to halt operations temporarily on the Tatai, citing a breach of regulations. The letter was obtained by Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post newspaper, which made it available to the AP. Hun Sen himself expressed concern over the mining in the river. "We hoped that the prime minister's recent promise to review the impacts of the sand trade would lead to proper regulation of dredging operations," said Courtney of Global Witness. "Unfortunately, the pledge does not appear to have been followed up with meaningful action." The mining has continued on the Tatai, and violations, such as dredging closer than 150 meters (165 yards) from riverbanks, were clearly evident. The Post also obtained a Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy letter extending LYP Group's concession in Koh Kong until Sept. 2012. "We are just little people. We cannot do anything," Chea Manith said. Newman sounded a more optimistic note. "It's my hope that the LYP Group will become sympathetic through this experience of having seen the reaction from people passionate about protecting their environment," she said. "It would be sad if they just went somewhere else to dump the same on others."  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 21 Aug 2011 01:31 AM PDT 2011-08-21 Xinhua A Communist Party of China (CPC) senior official and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni Sunday underscored the traditional friendship between the two countries, which they said should be carried on by future generations. Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and also secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, told the king at their meeting that it is the common wish of the two peoples to further consolidate the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Cambodia as the 21st century has entered the second decade. Deepening that relationship is also in the fundamental interests of both sides and conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said. The profound friendship fostered by the Cambodian royal family and generations of Chinese leadership and time-tested in the changing global situation is the common treasure of the two nations and the two peoples, Zhou said. Such a traditional bond should be passed on to future generations, and it is hoped that the king could visit China from time to time, he said. Zhou said China will, as always, back Cambodia's efforts to preserve national unity, develop its economy and improve people's well-being, and respect Cambodia's own choice for the development path that best suits its national conditions. He noted that since Sihamoni ascended the throne in 2004, Cambodia has maintained political stability and economic growth, with improving living standards and rising international status. He said he believes that under the leadership of the king and Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Southeast Asian nation would achieve even greater progress. For his part, Sihamoni said the Cambodian people are always grateful for China's enduring support and assistance in all aspects, and for the good treatment his parents Norodom Sihanouk and Norodom Monineath Sihanouk received in Beijing. He said the Cambodian royal family has always been committed to promoting the bilateral friendship, while firmly adhering to the one-China policy and actively working with its close Chinese friends in a unremitting effort to consolidate the bilateral ties and inject new momentums to that relationship. Zhou arrived here late Friday for an official goodwill visit. Cambodia is the third leg of Zhou's five-nation Asian tour after Nepal and Laos. He is set to leave Cambodia on Sunday and continue his visit to Tajikistan and Mongolia.  | ||||||||||||||
| Brain Food from the Holy Bible Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:47 PM PDT One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. Then he asked them, "If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?" And they had nothing to say. When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, Jesus told them this parable: "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." - St. Luke (the Holy Bible)  | ||||||||||||||
| UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:45 PM PDT Convention on the Rights of the Child Ratified by UNGA in Nov. 1989, entered into force 1990 Cambodia ratified this Convention on October 15, 1992 PART IIArticle 45 In order to foster the effective implementation of the Convention and to encourage international co-operation in the field covered by the Convention: (a) The specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other United Nations organs shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration of the implementation of such provisions of the present Convention as fall within the scope of their mandate. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund and other competent bodies as it may consider appropriate to provide expert advice on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their respective mandates. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other United Nations organs to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities; (b) The Committee shall transmit, as it may consider appropriate, to the specialized agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund and other competent bodies, any reports from States Parties that contain a request, or indicate a need, for technical advice or assistance, along with the Committee's observations and suggestions, if any, on these requests or indications; (c) The Committee may recommend to the General Assembly to request the Secretary-General to undertake on its behalf studies on specific issues relating to the rights of the child; (d) The Committee may make suggestions and general recommendations based on information received pursuant to articles 44 and 45 of the present Convention. Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be transmitted to any State Party concerned and reported to the General Assembly, together with comments, if any, from States Parties.  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:43 PM PDT Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. - William Shakespeare  | ||||||||||||||
| UN Convention Against Corruption Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:39 PM PDT United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) In accordance with article 68 (1) of resolution 58/4, the United Nations Convention against Corruption entered into force on 14 December 2005. A Conference of the States Parties is established to review implementation and facilitate activities required by the Convention. Cambodia acceded to the UNCAC Chapter II Preventive measures Article 8. Codes of conduct for public officials 1. In order to fight corruption, each State Party shall promote, inter alia, integrity, honesty and responsibility among its public officials, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system. 2. In particular, each State Party shall endeavour to apply, within its own institutional and legal systems, codes or standards of conduct for the correct, honourable and proper performance of public functions. 3. For the purposes of implementing the provisions of this article, each State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, take note of the relevant initiatives of regional, interregional and multilateral organizations, such as the International Code of Conduct for Public Officials contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 51/59 of 12 December 1996. 4. Each State Party shall also consider, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, establishing measures and systems to facilitate the reporting by public officials of acts of corruption to appropriate authorities, when such acts come to their notice in the performance of their functions. 5. Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials. 6. Each State Party shall consider taking, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, disciplinary or other measures against public officials who violate the codes or standards established in accordance with this article.  | ||||||||||||||
| Perpetual 25-year treaty imposed by Vietnam on the Heng Xamrin/Chea Xim/Hun Xen puppet regime Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:39 PM PDT | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:34 PM PDT Boldness be my friend. - William Shakespeare  | ||||||||||||||
| 02 December 1978 by the Vietnamese puppet regime of Heng Xamrin/Chea Xim/Meas Samay/Hun Xen Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:00 PM PDT | ||||||||||||||
| Statement from Marshall Lon Nol, President of the Khmer Republic on 29 August 1973 Posted: 20 Aug 2011 06:29 PM PDT |
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