We do not feel scared. If we do not protest for change, who will do it for us and who will help us?

An interpreter who paid $10,000 for a hit on a high-profile timber dealer – which was never carried out – was yesterday sentenced in a Phnom Penh court to 16 years in prison after being convicted of attempted murder, a judge said.

Suos Sam Ath, presiding judge at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said San Dychham, 42, a holder of both Cambodian and Lao passports, must also pay $5,000 in compensation to Khay Narin, 49, whom the court ruled he tried to have killed in Stung Treng province in 2011.

"The court has found San Dychham guilty.… He has the right to appeal it in accordance with the law if he is not happy with the decision," he said.

Dychham, an interpreter who can speak Khmer, Lao, Thai and English, was arrested by military police in November 30, 2011, in Stung Treng after Narin lodged a complaint with local police, Sam Ath said.

In a separate case last year, Dychham was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years in prison, the judge added.

After the hearing yesterday, Dychham denied the attempted murder charge and vowed to appeal the court's decision.

"I could not accept this court's decision – it is very unjust," he told the Post.

Narin and her lawyers could not be reached for comment yesterday.

High-end global fashion brands will join fledgling Cambodian designers on the runway at the second Cambodia Fashion Illumination Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

Organised by luxury clothing importer Sovereign Retail Group, the event will take place on February 21 and 22 at Diamond Island's City Hall.

The Kingdom will be represented by six brands, including Soknan, Rong, Seam Fashion, Chin FDesign, CGBCN and Natacha Van.

The work of local designers range from the casual urban wear T-shirts of CGBCN to the intricate gowns made by Soknan.

The eight international companies will include denim giant Levi's from the United States, Axara from France and Mango from Spain.

Unlike the last Fashion Illumination show, a private event held in 2012 that only featured foreign brands, event organiser Ly Souden said that the new show will be bigger and emphasise local creativity.

"We skipped 2013 because we want to transform the previous event to a big one," said Souden, who is also the marketing manager for Sovereign.

Souden said that while the event's 800 tickets will mostly be sold to industry insiders, around 240 tickets will be reserved for nonprofessionals.

Tickets will be on sale for $20 from the beginning of the new year until the date of the event in February.

The earliest known map of the country, a chart of the Cambodian coast produced by sailors in 1860, has been donated to the National Archives.

The drawing of Kampot Bay was intended to map a safe route for ships to transport goods to coastal ports. It was given to the Phnom Penh archives by the Cambodian Cyclo and Careers Association (CCCA) last week.

The officers and crew of the HMS Saracen, captained by one John Richards, master of the British Royal Navy, drew up the map based on a survey made in 1857.

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Nearly a century and a half later, in the 1990s, historian and author Robert Philpotts discovered the chart while researching his book The Coast of Cambodia at the British Library in London.

Philpotts, who once volunteered as an English teacher at the old Phnom Penh Cyclo Centre, made a copy at the UK's Hydrographic Office before bringing it earlier this month to what is now the CCCA in Cambodia.

The handover coincided with a rally held by the association at the Blue Sea, Green City festival in Kep earlier this month.

Historian David Chandler said he was "sure" it was the earliest known map of the country.

"There were certainly no maps drawn by Khmer before the French arrived," he wrote in an email.

The chart outlines the "channels leading to Kamput" and was designed to improve safety for sailors by reducing the chance of shipwrecks.

Richards identifies one dangerous rock in particular, which he refers to as "Rosita Rock" after an English sailing vessel that had the misfortune to crash into it. The chart gives clear directions to sailors on how to avoid the barely visible rock.

According to Philpotts, before the chart was published there was nothing of scientific value for merchant ship captains on their way to Kampot.

"I don't think there's an earlier one than that – I mean, I don't see anybody who would be interested to do one, because the French exploration started in the 1860s, but the Saracen chart pre-dates that."

At the time, trade was increasing between Singapore and Cambodia. "Entry to the port was tricky, so a map that showed accurate soundings was invaluable," Philpotts said.

Im Sambath, executive director at the CCCA, said the map would help teach increasing numbers of young Cambodians interested in learning about their country's history.

"In the National Archives, it's useful for university students who want to do historical research, because there are more and more students researching about Cambodian history now," Sambath said.

Y Dari, deputy director at the National Archives, said the map would be displayed in the reading room for foreign and local researchers.

She added: "This document is very historically important for the National Archives, for keeping, preserving and conserving history."

Indigenous Jarai people from Ratanakkiri province who attended the opposition's mass protests in the capital in recent weeks have had their names taken by provincial police, raising concerns that they could face threats and intimidation.

The names of 81 pro-Cambodia National Rescue Party Jarai from O'Yadav, Kounmom and Andong Meas districts who had attended the daily demonstrations in Phnom Penh for the past two weeks had their names recorded on Sunday, Sen Voeurn, deputy police chief of O'Yadav district's Yatung commune, confirmed yesterday.

But Voeurn claimed it was a benign administrative formality intended to record who was coming in and out of the villages.

"We just want to know when our villagers leave and enter the village," he said. "They do not tell us. This is our measure, and is not involved with their protest."

But Romas Svang, a 47-year-old ethnic Jarai and CNRP member in Yatung, said the recording of opposition supporters among the Jarai was an attempt to intimidate them.

"This is a form of … intimidation on us who protest against the government, for a re-election and the resignation of the prime minister," he said.

"However, we do not feel scared. If we do not protest for change, who will do it for us and who will help us?" he asked.

Pouy Nhor, a villager in Yatung, said that a local police officer named Poy Fen had collected the names.

"Many villagers went to protest in Phnom Penh, and after knowing this, Mr Fen asked for their names. [The police] did that just to threaten us, and this is a violation of our human rights. We have the right to protest," Nhor said.

The case was reported to the provincial Adhoc office yesterday, CNRP member Svang added.

Chhay Thy, Ratanakkiri coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said that the police had violated the constitutional rights of the villagers.

"Our constitution says that every citizen has full rights and freedom to travel anywhere and they have the right to protest," he said.

Thy added that he plans to investigate the case next week and send a letter of complaint to the provincial police, asking for the recording of protesters names to be stopped.

Police are on the lookout for a British man after a young Cambodian woman was found with her throat slashed in his Phnom Penh hotel room on Sunday, authorities said yesterday.

Daun Penh district police officer Seng Kosal said that British citizen James Green is the primary suspect in the murder of an as-yet-unidentified 20-year-old Cambodian woman who had been staying with him since Christmas Day at his room at the Bolyna Palace Hotel.

"She was killed by stab wounds and cuts by a knife on her throat and neck. After the killing, the suspect took the mattress to cover her body, and hid her under the bed in the hotel room," Kosal said. "And he managed to escape from the hotel.

"She was found dead and naked by a hotel cleaner when she opened the door to go in to clean the room," he added.

The victim's body was sent for cremation at a pagoda in Meanchey district, Kosal said.

"So far, we do not know exactly what the reason for the victim's murder was. We are now seeking the suspect in order to bring him to justice and punish him under Cambodian law," he concluded.

An employee at Bolyna Palace, who asked not to be named, said yesterday that Green had checked into the hotel on December 25, and brought a young woman to stay with him at the hotel that night.

"On December 28, 2013, at about 11 at night, he asked to get his passport from the hotel receptionist, and said that he was taking it to get money from the bank in order to pay for his hotel room," the employee said. "But on that night, he left the hotel without paying any money for his room fee."

When Green did not return the next day, the employee continued, a cleaner entered the room and found the victim dead, and hotel management notified the police.

Officials at the British embassy could not be reached for comment yesterday.

In an apparent departure from the usual diet of colourless press releases and updates on the travel plans of officials, the Council of Ministers' Press and Quick Reaction Unit website yesterday posted two articles critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government.

The articles – Reuters' coverage of Sunday's mass opposition rally and a news analysis piece from the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua – were both removed from the website by early evening.

"In a democratic society, people are the owners of the power, so the two leaders should ask the people through a referendum whether they want a re-election or not," president of Licadho Kek Galabru told Xinhua in the article posted online.

The comments were not out of the ordinary, but their appearance on a government website, long the sole domain of pro-government information, surprised media experts, who said yesterday that the government may be experimenting with offering more diverse views in its official news outlets after orders from Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith to state media.

"It's a surprise because for so many years, the government has maintained an entrenched policy of [not publishing] any negative reports about the government," said Moeun Chhean Nariddh, director of the Cambodia Institute for Media Studies.

"But actually, it is not a coincidence, because recently the Minister of Information Mr Khieu Kanharith has instructed all government TV stations not to follow their old policy of media coverage," he added. "So I think they may have followed the same instructions not to just report on the positive."

Press and Quick Reaction Unit spokesman Ek Tha did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Nariddh said that the reluctance to comment on the issue and the subsequent removal of the articles from the website could indicate that the media unit was still coming to grips with the new instructions.

"Following the national elections, I think at the moment they are still testing the water," Nariddh said. "So even with the instructions from the Ministry of Information, they are not sure whether it is okay to do this."

Pa Nguon Tieng, president of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, said that opening state media to alternative information was most likely a show for the international community.

"The government is under a lot of pressure from the public, and they also want to show an image to the international community. Maybe they want to show the international community that they are doing reform, starting with diversifying their media," he said.

International donors along with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning kick-started the Kingdom's fourth Demographic and Health Survey in the capital yesterday.

Earmarked to be published in January 2015, the survey will be conducted by the Directorate General of Health and the National Institute of Statistics, and provincial officials will begin training next month, according to the timetable presented during the conference.

Data for the survey will be gathered on fertility, family planning and maternal and child health from sample interviews gleaned from 600 villages throughout all 24 of Cambodia's provinces, according to the ceremony's participants.

The survey will include interviews with a total of 16,500 people between the ages of 15-49.

A swath of international donors including the Health Sector Support Program-Second Phase (HSSP-2), several United Nations agencies, the government of Australia, and US and Japanese international development organisations USAID and JICA, will be providing technical support and more than two million dollars in support of the survey.

The government took a hard line against garment-factory strikers after thousands blocked Russian Boulevard in front of the Council of Ministers yesterday, ordering them to accept a $95 minimum wage and return to work on Thursday.

Alleging that six union groups provoked the nationwide strike – which officially began last week when workers were afforded a minimum monthly wage $65 less than they had asked – the Labour Ministry's notice warned union leaders that the government will pursue legal action if the strike continues.

"The [$95] minimum wage was the decision of the Labour Advisory Committee's on December 24," the notice says. "Competent legal authorities will take steadfast legal action against anyone who agitates and disturbs employees and enterprises."

Ministry officials sent the letter to leadership at the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Free Trade Union (FTU), the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU).

Letters were sent to unions after the Council of Ministers issued a notice to the Labour Ministry, instructing Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng to warn of harsh consequences for union leaders, and to begin legal action against CCU president Rong Chhun.

"If they do not want to stop their strike, we will suspend their license," reads the letter, which was signed by Council Secretary Ngor Hong Ly. "If they continue striking, we will cancel their licenses; and if they still continue then, we will sue them in court."

But because his confederation is not registered with the Labour Ministry, Chhun will face immediate legal action, the letter says.

Upon hearing of the order, Chhun told the Post that striking will continue.

"The ministry only ordered this because they do not have the ability to resolve the issue for the workers," Chhun said. If workers had no problem with the Labour Advisory Committee's decision last week, they would not have begun the strike in the first place, he added.

But Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan insisted in an interview yesterday evening that rule of law must be restored. Once employees and employers "cool down", they can consider negotiating among themselves.

"They used a public way [on Russian Boulevard], and it's unlawful to do that.… They force the unwilling workers to [strike]," Siphan said, referring to a police report of 20 to 30 men who allegedly disturbed several factories, forcing some to join the strike.

"We do not think factory workers should be polarised by any political party," Siphan added, asserting that "the unions … are aligned with the CNRP."

Factories and workers are eager to return to work, Ken Loo, secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said, but whether unions involved with the strike will adhere to the order remains to be seen.

"We have to wait to see if the order is complied with, and more importantly, if the ministry will impose sanctions on workers and unions who do not comply," Loo said.

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GMAC released a statement on its website last night that said that some of its member factories that tried to open yesterday were disturbed by unionists. The factory association last week advised its 473 member factories to close for the strike's duration, and 435 are currently still closed, the statement said.

Harsh rhetoric in government notices yesterday afternoon stood in stark contrast with what was said at the Labour Ministry in the morning, when ministry officials met with involved unions, said Dave Welsh, country director for labour rights group Solidarity Center.

The Labour Ministry appeared willing and ready to continue a dialogue with union leaders at the meeting, Welsh said. The change in attitude may prove counterproductive, he said.

"It's very much not in the spirit of what this morning's meeting was about," Welsh, who attended the meeting, said in an interview yesterday. "If what they've done is simply restate what they said on [December] 24th, I don't think that's going to solve anything."

Chhun also left the meeting believing government officials were open to negotiation. Before hearing of the order to end the strike yesterday, Chhun told the Post that a government lawyer had said that a $160 monthly minimum wage would be in garment workers' best interest.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL

Villagers locked in a land dispute with ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat's Phnom Penh Sugar Company have submitted a petition to the provincial court asking for a cessation of the court's issuing of summonses and arrest warrants.

The court has so far issued 37 summonses, including nine arrest warrants, to some of the 200 people involved in the dispute with the tycoon, who accuses the villagers of illegally occupying land in Thpong district's Omlaing commune.

Although the summonses don't list a complainant, some of those called to appear in court earlier in December say they believed Yong Phat was behind the court action.

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive banning the use of land for 200 metres on either side of Road 44 in Omlaing, but the company did not adhere to the premier's directive, Phal Vannak, a representative of the villagers, told the Post.

"We came to hear the case, but we wrote a petition to demand the court stop summonsing us as well as cease arresting people in Omlaing commune, because we are the land owners and the victims who have lost our land," he said.

Representatives of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company, which is owned by Yong Phat, could not be reached for comment.

Since the villagers began fighting eviction from their homes in February 2010, about 65 of those involved have been charged after being summonsed to court.

Ouch Leng, director of the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force, said the company had used the courts to bully the villagers.

"In this case, the court has become the company's apparatus, because the court does not appear to seek justice for people. The court follows what the company orders," he claimed.

This culture of silence so often demonstrated by the international community or United Nations bodies often ignores corruption for the sake of diplomacy.

At the end of each year, we ponder life's great mysteries. Why do men have nipples? Why do Asian males have bushy pubic hair, but rarely need to shave their face?

Why are there so many statues of Lenin, but none of Bert Weedon?

The latter topic has resonated recently in our region after a towering bust of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka Lenin, was destroyed by protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on December 8.

The outrage was particularly felt in Bangkok and Singapore, which have endured rioting of their own this month, and even more so in Hanoi which has its own vulnerable Lenin statue.

In Kiev, the protesters were enraged because, in their eyes, Lenin's edifice symbolised their country's continued domination by Russia.

They had naively hoped that Moscow's shackles had been severed when the Soviet Union collapsed, but they had ignored the possibility of another imperialistic, Lenin-like figure arising.

Then along came Vladimir Putin, who forced Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich to retreat from forging closer ties with the European Union.

Horrified, the people rose up. And down came Lenin.

Carved from blood-red granite and standing outside the city's famous Besarabsky Market, the statue was a splendid sight and its destruction is rather tragic.

Still, there are plenty of other Lenins around the world, often in rather odd spots like Bologna, London and Tiraspol.

Among the most impressive is one in Seattle, which shows the great communist revolutionary striding forcefully forwards under the Aurora Street bridge in the funky Fremont district.

Formerly in Slovakia, it was rescued from a scrapyard in Poprad by an eccentric American teacher, who mortgaged his home to ship it to the United States.

In this region, the best known Lenin stands in a small park in central Hanoi, near where a crowd gathered on the morning of December 9, 2007.

At a signal, the people moved en masse to the adjacent Chinese Embassy and unfurled Vietnamese flags and began yelling insults against Beijing's aggressive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.

It was an amazing sight, and like the recent protests in Bangkok, neither the police nor the security services interfered in any way.

Given such seething outbursts, and knowing the population's antipathy to the Vietnam Communist Party, Hanoi's leaders rightly fear what might happen to their Lenin statue in the future.

That, of course, is why reports of Lenin's dismemberment in Kiev were banned in Vietnam.

Initially, the news was available online and the BBC reported that "it went straight to the most read spot, proving even more popular than coverage of the death of Mandela and protests in Thailand".

Then the censors swung into action and expunged every reference to the smashing of Lenin's statue in Kiev.

It was not unexpected, given that in November, the National Assembly in Hanoi approved a new constitution reaffirming the VCP as the country's only allowable political party.

Those who criticise that decision or suggest moving to a multiparty system are given lengthy jail terms.

Blogger Nguyen Van Hai is serving 12 years for writing about government corruption and protests against China over the maritime disputes.

Indeed, the authorities have become so nervous that Hanoi's popular Communism Café has been put under surveillance due to its "blasphemous" decor.

The café, which features VCP posters and Ho Chi Minh artefacts, has its menus written on pages copied from Lenin's collected works.

Hanoi's leaders are not amused. As the state-owned media reported: "This café has trampled on our ideological values, the moral basis of leaders like Lenin and especially Ho Chi Minh."

Well, while this does not exactly answer any of life's great mysteries, it does allow us to come to two solid conclusions.

Firstly, when the VCP is overthrown, Ho Chi Minh City will joyfully reclaim its rightful name of Saigon, and secondly Bert Weedon may well be a contender to replace whatsisname in Hanoi.

A Royal Group subsidiary has signed a deal with two Vietnamese firms to import fertiliser, a senior official with the company said yesterday.

Among several deals agreed to during Prime Minister Hun Sen's trip to Vietnam this weekend, Nitrogen Chemicals and Fertilizer Cambodia Ltd, the subsidiary of Royal Group, will distribute fertiliser from Dap Vinchen Limited and the Petrovietnam Fertilizer & Chemicals Corporation of Vietnam.

The head of Royal Group, Kith Meng, was on the trip with Hun Sen and signed the deal.

The subsidiary's financial manager, Chhun Kim, said the company plans to import three types of fertiliser, but declined to go into specifics about the cost and when the imports will start.

"We are not sure yet. The company will have experts in fertiliser from Vietnam to study what kind of soil needs what kind of fertiliser, and then we will decide. We cannot just immediately import," he said.

Kim said the company is licensed to import 190,000 tonnes of chemical fertiliser per year.

Yang Saing Koma, the president of agricultural organisation CEDAC, said imported fertiliser will help farmers increase crop yields, "but they will also have to spend more".

Koma said training farmers to deploy natural fertiliser was a better long-term solution, adding that "using natural fertiliser will help them [farmers] to get more revenue".

Tuk-tuk, motorbike and taxi drivers were among hundreds of workers from Cambodia's "informal economy" who called on the government yesterday to cap fuel prices at 4,000 riel ($1) per litre, amid claims that the current 5,000 riel price leaves them unable to cover any more than daily living costs.

The group rallied outside the Ministry of Economy and Finance, a short walk from Freedom Park, where opposition party supporters protesting against July's election and garment workers demanding higher wages converged yesterday.

Vorn Pao, the president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association, led the splinter demonstration. Pao said people who work in the informal sector – mainly transportation – suffer greatly when fuel prices rise, as they subsequently drive up the cost of food and everyday necessities.

"We are spending a large percentage of income on gasoline. Higher gasoline prices are a key factor in the price of other goods. So, with higher priced goods, low-income earners cannot afford to buy goods from the market," Pao said.

He added that the association will submit an official letter to the ministry over the coming days, putting its demands in print. Pao's claims come a month after the Cambodian government ordered customs officials to apply official taxation rates to imports, reportedly causing a 30 per cent price increase on some items.

Several tuk-tuk drivers who were at the protest said gasoline price jumps have become more regular, and many have come to simply expect paying more every time they fill up, despite earning less on the job.

"Since the price of gasoline is high, I can only cover daily expenses. I can't save for my family," said Srun Phalla, a 28-year-old tuk-tuk driver who attended the protest yesterday.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, Cambodia imported 871,013 tons of gasoline during the first half of the year from Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. The total value was $825 million.

Chou Vichet, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in the first 11 months this year the government has subsidised $83 million worth of fuel to stabilise gasoline prices.

He would not confirm any future price reduction.

"We need to study what goods should be taxed at a higher rate and what goods should be taxed at a lower rate to facilitate living conditions," he said. "[We need to know] which goods are necessary and which are not."

The opposition yesterday criticised a local news website's posting of photos comparing Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy to Adolf Hitler, saying it is "not appropriate at all".

On its website on Saturday, Cambodia Express News posted a picture of Rainsy pointing his arm into the air during a recent opposition rally. Alongside it is a picture of Hitler, the former Nazi Party leader responsible for millions of deaths, giving the infamous Nazi salute.

Also featured are photos of those giving the salute at a Nazi rally and the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

Nguon Serath, who works for CEN's website, defended the post yesterday.

"We received the picture from a reader. Raising the hand, it is kind of a funny activity," he said. "It is our freedom to publish it."

But CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the comparison "is not appropriate at all".

"Rainsy is a democrat. He is a clean leader. And he is respected. Do not compare him to Hitler," he said.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy called for renewed talks between the opposition and the ruling party on Saturday, going on to say that the discussions should include not only the two parties but civil society representatives as well.

Speaking to reporters at Cambodia National Rescue Party headquarters, Rainsy suggested negotiations be set for the first three days of January, and said a wide range of issues would be up for discussion – not just the current political stalemate.

"We want to have a big meeting to talk, to solve the nation's problems. Now we have seen that at the end of this year, the nation's problems are increasingly serious. It is not only political deadlock, but it is also about the problem of salary demands by workers.

"We should meet and talk about the problems that the country is facing.

"We should bring some new ideas; if we still have old ideas, it is maybe not progressive," he added.

When reached yesterday, Rainsy declined to outline his party's demands going into the negotiations, but said that the talks should take the form of "a kind of congress, a people's congress".

"They should include any topics of public concern. Cambodia is in turmoil now, so we should discuss the workers' demands for a wage increase. We should discuss land-grabbing, the issue of deforestation," he said. "All the people who have been voiceless should be given a voice."

Focusing solely on joining the National Assembly, he said, "would be premature, putting the cart before the ox".

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann, however, said the party would likely be hewing closely to its current calls for electoral reform and a new election.

Prum Sokha, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior who has represented the ruling Cambodian People's Party in past negotiations, said the CPP welcomed talks and blamed the stalling of previous rounds on a lack of will on the opposition's part.

"Since last time, the [CPP] has always wanted to have negotiations – anywhere, anytime, at any level," Sokha said, while declining to comment on the possible participation of civil society.

Political analyst Chea Vannath said yesterday that the CPP agreeing to negotiations was a promising sign, even if it didn't ultimately agree to call a new election, and that the opposition may find itself in a more advantageous position this time around.

"I think [they] might not have any difficulty to find common ground because of the reform policy of the government," Vannath said. "[The parties] are going the same direction, so it can be negotiated."

What's more, she said, the ongoing demonstrations that have taken root in Freedom Park may pay off. "I think the CPP is under great pressure to solve the problem, especially because this affects foreign investment. This is a political problem, so I think the CNRP is in a better position for negotiations."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde should have taken a stance against the endemic corruption plaguing the Kingdom during her visit this month if "the IMF's message on corruption is to be more than rhetoric", Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday.

In an opinion posted on the New York-based rights watchdog's website, senior researcher on international financial institutions Jessica Evans said Lagarde failed to "even obliquely" address the Kingdom's issues with corruption during her first visit heading the IMF, a visit that came during an ongoing political crisis.

"Lagarde missed a major opportunity in Cambodia to highlight governance problems, but she can right this by speaking out when she returns to headquarters," Evans said.

The opinion points out that the IMF's silence is particularly noticeable considering the country's ranking in the annual global index released by Transparency International, which pegged Cambodia's public sector as the most corrupt in ASEAN.

Indeed, in a blog post published on the IMF's global economy forum just a day after her departure, Lagarde applauds authorities' efforts.

"I believe they are resolved to stay on the road of macroeconomic stability and economic growth, to invest in skills and education, and to lay down a firm foundation of good governance," she wrote at the time.

That sort of muted response to the Kingdom's endemic corruption, affecting nearly every strata of society, does more harm than good, independent analyst Kem Ley said yesterday.

"This culture of silence so often demonstrated by the international community or United Nations bodies often ignores corruption for the sake of diplomacy instead of [taking a public stance] advocating for stronger government transparency and accountability."

More than 300 monks and civilians yesterday took to the capital's streets with a list of demands, including the resignation of Ministry of Cults and Religion chief Min Khin, prompted by the theft of artefacts from a stupa at Oudong Mountain earlier this month.

In the second protest led by the Independent Monks Network for Social Justice (IMNSJ) in as many weeks, the banner-wielding crowd delivered a petition to Phlok Phorn, secretary of state, who accepted it outside the offices of the Ministry of Cults and Religion.

The petition signed by monks from 10 provinces calls for the unconditional resignation of Khin within 14 days.

"Lately, [Khim] has paid no attention to the loss of Buddha relics, nor taken any precise action or asked the government to help bring the perpetrators to justice," the petition states.

Since the relics, among them an urn said to contain the cremated ashes of the Buddha, were stolen on December 11, authorities have charged four security guards from the site along with a local villager
police said was drinking with them the night of the theft.

Venerable But Buntenh, leader of the IMSJ, said the organisation had a three-pronged plan but declined to reveal a specific timeline for fear of a potential police crackdown.

"First, we will protest outside the Ministry of Cults and Fine Arts, calling for the minister to cooperate in locating the [stolen] relics. Secondly, we will protest outside the Chinese Embassy, because of a Chinese company's involvement in building the Stung Cheay Areng hydropower dam [in Koh Kong]. Thirdly, we will hold a pilgrimage to Oudong to further publicise the loss of the relics."

Khim Sorn, chief of Phnom Penh's monks, said yesterday that the hunt for the stolen relics was ongoing, though not under the oversite of the nation's clergy.

"We are not the managers [of the relics]. We must work with authorities to take care of them. Consequently, the government must try its best to find the relics, because they belong to all of us."

Law and order in Cambodia this year has been a strange mix of the brutal and the bizarre.

From horrific murders to the police's decision to deliver crystal meth to phony hostage-takers during a bank heist, crime has continually made headlines in a year when the election has otherwise saturated coverage.

In an offbeat start to 2013, what was first thought to be a hostage situation at an Acleda Bank branch in Kampong Cham turned out to be an elaborately planned bank heist by some employees.

This discovery was made only after a 30-hour stand-off with police, during which the "hostage-takers", purporting to be drug addicts, insisted that officers deliver them crystal meth – a demand that was agreed to.

"Really, there were no hostages," said provincial police chief Chhay Kimson only hours later. "All of them are perpetrators."

In February, the first of several high-profile attacks on foreigners took place in Kampot.

French tourist Ophélie Begnis, 25, was murdered after last being seen leaving her guesthouse on a bike. Her naked body was later found floating in an estuary.

In April, police arrested former guesthouse owner Oliver Van Den Bogaert, 40, a Belgian national, over the murder.

After his client had spent four months in pre-trial detention, Van Den Bogaert's lawyer said authorities had failed to mount a case against him, while he claimed to have 10 witnesses ready to support his innocence. He was denied bailed and is yet to go to trial.

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Japanese national Kosei Kitakura, 44, was shot in front of an apartment complex on Street 288 in Phnom Penh in the early hours of March 3. He died on the way to hospital. Sok Na, 28, was one of four people arrested and police allege that he later confessed to killing a Chinese man in a separate robbery.

In May, a Christian community in Kampong Speu province's Chbar Mon district was thrust into mourning after Singaporean pastor and teacher Wendy Ng, 55, was stabbed to death during a suspected burglary.

Four suspects were later charged with murder after a court heard they were construction workers building a new home for Ng.

Katherine Ann Grgich, a 55-year-old American, disappeared on September 28. Two days later, her body was found three kilometres away from the guesthouse she was staying in on Koh Rong, off Sihanoukville. Nearly a month later, police declared it a murder, though no arrests have been made.

Other murders have included those of children, another school teacher and a chief abbot.

In a year in which a UN report found that on average, one in five men in Cambodia had raped, the Kingdom experienced a number of horrific gang rapes.

In March, 10 men were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl multiple times in separate incidents over the course of a few days in Kampong Chhnang province. One of the 10 men – all said to be between 18 and 21 – was arrested soon after.

In a similar story, 10 men allegedly raped an 18-year-old woman in Banteay Meanchey early this month. Three of them were arrested days later.

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In yet another case, five men raped a 20-year-old woman in the capital's Russey Keo district in March. One was later arrested and charged.

Lieutenant General Mok Chito, chief of central justice at the Ministry of Interior's police department, said yesterday that despite what the headlines suggested, rape and murder cases had decreased.

"Felonies that have decreased include murder, robbery, theft and rape," he said.

Chito could not provide statistics, but insisted the number of foreigners murdered or attacked this year had also fallen.

In between dishing out heavy sentences for drug trafficking, Cambodian courts also dealt with cases involving a number of colourful personalities.

David Chanaiwa, a disbarred lawyer, was arrested in March for allegedly beating up 10 journalists as they filmed the scene of a car wreck he had just walked away from.

It was reported that the attack was caught on video, and Chanaiwa was later convicted and sentenced to three years in jail, despite the journalists having withdrawn their complaints.

The former lawyer was denied bail, but in December, the Court of Appeal ordered the case reinvestigated.

The year began with stories about Russian tycoon Sergei Polonsky, the eccentric owner of a private island off Sihanoukville, who had been arrested some days earlier over allegations of violence against six boatmen.

Complaints were soon dropped, but charges remained.

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Polonsky was released on bail in April, but rearrested again in November over a failed $176 million development in Moscow, and will spend the final day of 2013 in court fighting an extradition charge.

Often making the news were reports of police storming into houses and arresting rooms full of foreigners involved in extortion and online gambling.

Major Y Sok Khy, chief of the Ministry of Interior's anti-terrorism police department, said yesterday that police had been successful in cracking down on such crime and many arrested had been sent back to their home countries, China or Taiwan.

"Cambodian police will continue to strengthen our police officers' abilities to research and investigate where these people are setting up," he said, adding that 2014 would bring closer cooperation with "relevant local authorities, especially the courts".

While 2013 was undoubtedly full of crime reports without a happy ending, the story of 18-year-old Kov Sreyleak being reunited with her stolen baby was a heartwarming exception.

Hours after being born in October, Sreyleak's baby was abducted from hospital in the capital's Meanchey district.

After the story made the news, a man reported that he had seen his neighbour suddenly clutching a newborn baby, despite her not having been pregnant.

The woman – accused of disguising herself as a nurse – was soon arrested and the baby returned to her mother's arms.

"I am very delighted. Nothing could compare to the return of my baby," Sreyleak said.

The body of a Canadian national was discovered floating in Ratanakkiri's Yeak Lom lake by villagers yesterday afternoon in what police are calling a case of murder.

Lewis Ross, 63, was found with his neck broken, said Teng Savuth, deputy chief of the Banlung district police.

"This is a murder. His neck was broken and there were rocks placed in his backpack, which was tied to his body with nylon rope."

Savuth said that Ross was a tourist who had spent the past two months in the province. Police are now attempting to gather information from the various guesthouses he had visited.

A nationwide garment worker strike intensified yesterday with at least one violent clash, even as authorities and Ministry of Labour officials agreed to continue negotiations with labour unions and industry officials on Monday.

More than 1,000 strikers blocked Russian Boulevard in front of the Labour Ministry yesterday, as union groups continued to demand a minimum monthly wage of $160 for garment workers next year - rather than the $95 announced Tuesday - and six additional points including a daily $3 food allowance for all workers.

Garment workers currently earn a minimum wage of $80, which includes a $5 health bonus.

A meeting of six union groups and Labour Ministry officials yesterday ended with no resolution, but the unions – the Free Trade Union (FTU), the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW), the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), the Coalition of Cambodian Unions (CCU), the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), the Worker Friendship Union Federation (WFUF) and the Independent Youth Trade Union (IYTU) – will gather again Monday morning at the ministry for a negotiating session with the the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), said C.CAWDU president Ath Thorn, who attended this afternoon's meeting.

Monday's meeting appears to be a sincere effort on the government's part to renegotiate the $95 minimum wage, said Dave Welsh, country director of labour rights group Solidarity Center.

"I'm pretty confident that they're looking to renegotiate the minimum wage they announced," Welsh said after the meeting.

Waiting outside the ministry during the meeting, Sen Peak, a 22-year-old garment worker, said the struggle for a living wage has swayed her toward supporting the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which has been conducting a series of daily protests for nearly two weeks now.

"We can't live on so little," Peak said. "There is too much corruption here, which is why we join the CNRP."

GMAC, which on Thursday issued a "strong" suggestion to its 473 member factories to shutter operations until Monday out of fear of strike-related violence and property damage, reported that 240 factories within a 40-kilometre radius of Phnom Penh have been affected.

At least one violent incident occurred on Friday, when police blocked a large group of workers bound for Freedom Park as they attempted to march inside the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone on National Road 4 at about 8:30am, said Hui Pichsovann of the Community Legal Education Center.

Demonstrators were beaten with electrified batons during the ensuing clash, with at least one man hospitalised for injuries he received, said Pichsovann, who arrived on scene shortly after the violence. Between three and seven people were detained by police, he added, though at least three were released.

Police on hand fired warning rounds into the air, but did not aim at demonstrators, Pichsovann said.

BEAN THERE, NOT DONE THAT
The Southern Daily Echo in the UK reports that a Hampshire teenager Tazmin Hollands, 14, publicly immersed herself in a bath full of baked bean for four hours in a shopping centre, to raise money for a trip to Beng Mealea and Siem Reap. Once here, Tazmin will help build classrooms, support a reforestation project and teach food and hygiene and English.

The baked bean bath was not as relaxing as a session at, say, Bodia Spa and Tazmin told the English newspaper, "It was freezing and my feet went numb and I felt quite sick but I refused to get out until 2pm."

She added, "I would like to thank everyone who supported me and sponsored me for my baked bean bath. I managed to raise £237 ([US$387) on the day and, with all the other sponsors, the total will be around £800 ($1300), so that is brilliant."

GAMBLING BLUES VIET-STLE
According to DTriNews, Cambodia is the new go-to place for Vietnamese cai luong singers, comedians and circus artists, due to a high demand from Vietnamese expats.

DTriNews reports, "In Siem Reap, most of the shows are organised in the yards, halls of local schools or unoccupied stores and stadiums near the Angkor Temple complex. While there are many free Cai Luong shows organised by local pagodas, Vietnamese expats prefer the variety shows even though the ticket prices can be as high as $40 per person."

But the Vietnamese performers who come here to make a big buck, often end up out of luck after frequenting casinos because they are banned from such dubious establishments back home.

One performer, Chau Thanh, told the news service that many Viet artists have lengthened their stay just to gamble at the casinos near Moc Bai border, Phnom Penh or Siem Reap until they lose all they have made.

BOOK AND TOY DRIVE
Phare, the Cambodian Circus, Shinta Mani and Travel Indochina have started a book and educational toy drive. Books and toy for kids under 15 collected by these organisations are distributed by two NGOS – Build Your Future Today and Phare Ponleu Selpak.

Shinta Mani general manager Christian de Boer said, "I personally hope our guests and other likeminded tourists will bring their favorite children's books, already loved or new, and kids' toys from home and drop them in the various collection boxes around Siem Reap."

Build Your Future Today supports 25 villages in Siem Reap province by stocking school libraries with learning materials. Phare Ponleu Selpak, based in Battambang, provides free education to 1,200 disadvantaged youngsters.

SHORTS
Trending city: TripAdvisor claims that the fourth most "trending city to visit" in Asia is Siem Reap. Number 1 city is Kathmandu, Sapporo number 2, and Hanoi number 3. Siem Reap was also named by TripAdvisor as the number 5 of top 25 Asian destinations.

Socially worthy job: PEPY is seeking a communications and fund raising manager for a mid-February start for 6 months. No salary, but a $70 per month accommodation stipend will be provided and costs of visa will be covered.

Dirty doings: Hariharalaya Retreat Centre will hold a permaculture course next year from March 2-22, with the cost being $850 to $1100, depending on accommodation. Instructors include internationally renowned Rico Zook and Nic Gunton. Organisers say, "This course is an excellent and comprehensive introduction into regenerative systems design with between 100 to 120 hours of curriculum."

Mangled English at its best: Kingdom Angkor Hotel features "Kingdom Dinning" and promises that "All food is well prepared by our expert chef, let us cater your meeting, conference, or other events and we will ensure it is access and appetites of your guests are magnificent by satisfied."