The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Garment workers see lives reflected on the big screen” plus 9 more

Garment worker Khieu Mok put in a 24-hour shift so she could take time off to vote in last month's elections.

On July 28, at her hometown pagoda in Svay Rieng province, she held her ink-stained finger to the camera lens of film director Kalyanee Mam, who has followed her story for the past five years.

"The current wages [$80 a month] aren't enough to live off. For now I only ask for $150," she said.

Then, minutes after voting, she was on the back of a motorbike bound for Phnom Penh and the factory.

The three-minute footage captured last week by Mam, will be released as a short follow-up to her acclaimed documentary A River Changes Course. The feature-length film, which won this year's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, records Mok's struggle as she leaves the rice fields for the factories of Phnom Penh.

Director Mam returned to Cambodia from the US in the lead-up to the election to screen the film to universities and villages around the country, aiming to cultivate a dialogue among voters on the country's future. On Friday, she screened the film in Mok's own living quarters.

Shot over a four-year period, the documentary follows the stories of Mok and two other Cambodians: a young, poor Cham fisherman from Kampong Chhnang and a mother living in remote Ratanakkiri.

All are trapped in poverty as the country rapidly develops, the forests are logged, the rivers depleted of fish and the Mekong dammed.

Last week, screenings were held in Battambang, Phnom Penh's Meta House as well as Mok's shared dormitory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Mam said she had no expectations about how the audiences would respond.

"I always forget about the [impact of the] film," said Mam, explaining that her first thought was of the personal effect it had on Khieu and the others.

On Friday, as the film was played at her cramped, communal dormitory home outskirts of Phnom Penh, 30-year-old Mok stood confidently in front of hundreds of her fellow workers.

The women watched, leaning over balconies and lined up against damp walls and on mats on the floor. The reception was as boisterous as it was poignant.

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They laughed and poked fun at village scenes of Mok working the rice fields, of her mother struggling to pay off loans, and Mok coining her mother's aching shoulders.

Silence descended when Mok was shown climbing into a mini-van, heading for the first time to life in the factories, her mother wiping away tears. There was quiet when the leaky factory quarters appeared and Mok said she felt her life was "divided in half".

In the final scene, where Cham teenager Math talks about hopes being dashed and of the future, a woman called out. "This is us. Our story. How can we ever be happy in this difficult life?"

Afterwards, inside Mok's small room – a confined cooking, eating and sleeping space she shares with seven others – she expressed her hope that A River Changes Course would shape people's perspectives in Cambodia and abroad.

"In Cambodia, the rich have it easy and the poor like me really have it hard.

"Everyone has a different perspective on life. But I hope some can be changed so that all Cambodians can work together to improve the country."

Three brokers were arrested last Friday after allegedly attempting to illegally smuggle nine Cambodians, including an infant, across the Thai border.

They were charged a day later with human trafficking. Lured with promises of employment in Thailand, the group was attempting to illegally cross the border on motos when they were stopped by police in Battambang's Sampov Loun district.

After being stopped, they pointed out the three brokers who were awaiting the group, said Lach Bros, chief of the provincial military police criminal office.

The workers, who were briefly detained, were released after promising police they wouldn't make the risky crossing again.

One week after Election Day, there remains little certainty in regards to the future. Though final results still haven't been released, both parties appear to be digging in their heels, and each tentative step toward unity has been met with two steps back. For many Cambodians, it has been a tense week. Around the capital yesterday, calls for a swift resolution were common, but so too were urgings that the opposition resist a coalition. The Post spoke with Phnom Penh's residents and workers about their thoughts on the electoral process and their hopes for the coming days.

Chea Somaly, 20, student and Election Day poll worker
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Even though I worked for the NEC, I saw ink being washed off by voters bringing bleach to wash their hands after voting – though they didn't vote again. I saw with my own eyes problems caused by allowing outsiders to vote at the Stung Meanchey polling station.

All of the problems should have been solved peacefully. Despite the issues, I still say the election was run transparently even if it wasn't standard.

One thing I want to see in the next election is the NEC ensuring no outsiders are allowed to vote so the election will be more transparent.

Sorm Chan, 36, tuk-tuk driver from Kandal province

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Despite the opposition party winning 55 seats, I don't want the opposition to join with the current party because then it won't be an opposition party anymore.

Dissent against the ruling party is important. Keeping the opposition party separate is positive because they help people criticise government corruption and immigration, problems the government must solve and take seriously.

People today see partisan corruption and unequal power dynamics between the rich and poor. I don't like it, and neither does the rest of the country. The government needs to address these issues.

Sok Malin, 42, private security guard

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We are all monitoring the news and have heard the opposition is planning to hold mass demonstrations protesting against the election results.

I guess clashes could occur in the same way they did in 1997. Myself and others, especially the business community, don't want a repeat of events or army mobilisation. Nobody wants rising commodity prices that will lead to instability.

I think in this situation, the UN should be involved in negotiations. If the UN is not allowed, the NEC will be the sole decision-making body, which is unacceptable because of their party affiliation.

Sorm Daro, 33, staffer at private company

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I don't care what party wins the election. What is important is that whoever leads this country must help this country develop further, regardless of their party.

I think our leadership could very well change in the future. The election shows how many people support the opposition party, pointing to possible changes to the country's leadership in the future.

The opposition could in theory gain more and more support. I think this election shows that people are willing to change leaders in order to solve problems like corruption in our government and how it impacts society.

Sot Ghon, 30, monk at Wat Ounalom

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I'm not worried about any of the events happening after the elections. But people were definitely fearful when they saw armed forces and roadblocks in Phnom Penh.

A committee investigating election irregularities must form as soon as possible and must be free of NEC control.

Both parties must figure out a way to solve this problem with the country's national interests in mind.

I do support demonstrating against the election results as long as they remain peaceful.

Young people descended on Phnom Penh's religious sites yesterday, seeking blessings and collecting purportedly holy waters in the hope of giving themselves an academic edge in the national university entrance exams that start today.

More than 100,000 Cambodian high school students will take exams over the next three days that determine whether they can continue on to higher education, but with pressure on students mounting and allegations of answer-selling and impropriety, students and observers alike fretted over just how much test takers' results will come down to studying.

Student Ol Sreyneang and her friends from Hun Sen Bun Rany Chbar Ampov High School brought incense sticks, lotus flowers and fruit to offer to the deities at Preah Ang Dongker – a public shrine on the riverside – in return for good luck on the examination.

Despite being the most outwardly confident of her seven companions, Sreyneang said that "now, I am a bit scared, so my friends and I come here to worship Preah Ang Dongker to help us on the examination day to pass together".

In a display that spoke to the huge amount of importance placed on the exam's outcome, the group took photos together, and promised to all remain friends forever – even if some of them failed.

Kim Heng, a student from Chroy Changvar High School, jostled to collect reputedly sacred water from around Preah Ang Dongker. Heng averaged about 65 per cent on his last two exams in the science subject – a field he focused on because of his desire to study engineering.

Given that those scores will be averaged with his results from tomorrow's test, he said, he was confident he could comfortably clear the 50 per cent threshold for passing.

However, he added, there are other factors.

"In fact, now I am a bit nervous, but I claim that I will pass the examination if there is no corruption," he said.

Unfortunately, there probably will be corruption and plenty of it, said Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association teachers union.

According to Chhun, reports were already coming in of proctors soliciting money from parents in return for copies of the tests' answer keys – $30 for five subjects, and $100 for 10.

Chhun said he had also received word from Battambang and Kampong Chhnang provinces of under-qualified proctors being selected to monitor test takers.

"What we are worrying about that corruption, the correction of the exams [by proctors] and teachers selling answers to the students in the class while they are taking the exams, will destroy the quality of our education [system]," he said.

However, Ung Ngo Hok, deputy chief of the examination office at the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport, cautioned students against falling for such teachers' claims, saying that the contents of the exams were still confidential.

What's more, he added, guidelines had already been announced for dealing with teachers engaged in any exam-day malfeasance.

"We have already punished teachers and educators under this [Education Law] before."

Looking at the rings within a centuries-old tree, researchers now know that the fall of the Angkor Empire nearly 600 years ago came shortly after a "sustained mega-drought". In a new study, scientists link the ancient Kingdom's collapse to similar events across the globe and throughout history, drawing parallels between high temperatures, heavy rain and drought with human conflict and violence.

University of California professor Solomon Hsiang, the lead author of the study released Thursday in Science, and his team spent the last 18 months looking into past climate changes across the globe and what major events occurred simultaneously with those shifts in the climate.

"What was lacking was a clear picture of what this body of research as a whole was telling us," Hsiang said.

The study, focusing on negative aspects of society such as civil conflict, ethnic violence, rape, political riots and the collapse of entire civilisations from ancient times to present day, draws the conclusion that as temperatures and occurrences of drought rise, so does human violence both interpersonally and in groups.

An example included within the study looks at Hindu-Muslim riots, which are seen normally following intense rainfall.

"This relationship between intergroup violence and rainfall is primarily documented in low-income settings, suggesting that reduced agricultural production may be an important mediating mechanism – although alternative explanations cannot be excluded," notes the study.

The researchers also call upon psychological research in which subjects often take on aggressive or violent behaviour if controlled temperatures are higher.

Tin Ponlok, deputy director general at the Ministry of Environment's climate change office, said he had not seen the study but was not surprised by its findings.

"It's quite natural to expect that climate change would cause social change such as the social economy, environment, etc. With changes like that, we should expect support from the conclusion," Ponlok said.

Cambodia exported about 31,000 tonnes of rice in July, a 40 per cent seasonal increase from the average of 22,000 tonnes for first five months of this year.

Official data show that Cambodia exported 207,000 tonnes from January through July, an amount surpassing the 205,000 tonnes sent in all of 2012.

Rice exports peaked in March at more than 45,000 tonnes, but in April, May and June the numbers settled back into the 22,000-tonne range seen at the start of the year. Last month, demand drove volume up again.

Song Saran, chairman of Amru Rice Cambodia, the largest exporter in the first seven months, told the Post that July and August are always the high season of the year for Cambodian rice exports, as global competitors are coming to the end of their stock.

"The amount of ordinary white rice exports is up in July," Saran said. "India and Pakistan, ordinary rice suppliers, are coming to the end of their export period so that is why demand of our rice is higher."

Most of the overseas shipments, or about 60 per cent, went to countries in the European Union, which grants Cambodia duty-free tariffs under its Everything But Arms agreement.

Kim Savuth, president of the Khmer Food Company, the second-largest exporter, said the trade performance bodes well for the rest of 2013.

"The demand in international markets is on the rise, so our exports will increase the rest of the year," Savuth said.

The Cambodian government plans to export 500,000 tonnes in 2013, 50 per cent of its goal to ship out at least 1 million tonnes per year starting from 2015, according to a government strategy prepared by the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Eighteen-year-old American sensation Missy Franklin claimed her fifth world championship gold in Barcelona with victory in the 200m backstroke on Saturday.

Franklin was just outside her world record time from the Olympics last year, but did set a championship record as she was followed home by Australian Belinda Hocking and Canada's Hilary Caldwell.

"It never gets easy. The competition here is the best in the world so you know every race will be a tough race," she said.

"Every race is equally as difficult, but equally as rewarding at the same time."

Not to be outdone by her teammate, 16-year-old Katie Ledecky secured her second world record and fourth gold of the meet in the 800m freestyle.

Ledecky had smashed the 1500m world record by six seconds earlier in the week, but she sneaked past Rebecca Adlington's record in the 800m by just two 10ths of a second as, just like in the 1500m, Denmark's Lotte Friis and New Zealander Lauren Boyle picked up silver and bronze respectively.

"I am thrilled, I exceeded my expectations for the year," said a delighted Ledecky who also took gold in the 400m freestyle and 4x200m relay.

"The goal I set at the beginning of the year was three medals and one world record and now I have four golds and two world records so I couldn't be happier."

There was to be no 16th world title for Ryan Lochte on his 29th birthday as he could only finish sixth in the men's 100m butterfly with Chad Le Clos claiming his second gold of the championships.

"It is unbelievable. To win two gold medals at a world championships is like a dream come true," said the South African who had also taken the 200m butterfly on Thursday.

And there was also a second title of the meet for Brazil's Cesar Cielo as he claimed gold in star-studded 50m freestyle final that contained five Olympic champions.

"I was not expected to win so this is the best feeling I've had after a race," a joyful Cielo remarked after joining Alexander Popov in becoming the only non-Americans to win six individual world championship gold medals.

In a remarkable day in the women's 50m breaststroke, the world record fell for a second time in a matter of hours as the world and Olympic champion over 100m Ruta Meilutyte passed the time set by Yuliya Efimova on Saturday morning to claim her second world record of the meet in 29.48 seconds.

Cambodia's interests in the Barcelona pool saw Hem Thon Vitiny set a time of 39.53 seconds in her women's 50m breaststroke heat, 8.03secs outside of the qualifying time, to come 70th out of 74 finishers at the world swimming championships in Barcelona on Saturday. Barely half an hour earlier, the Cambodian, who turns 20 on September 7, competed in the 50m freestyle heats, taking 74th place out of 83 by touching home in 31.05secs.

On Friday, Vitiny's uncle Hem Thon Ponleu took a respectable 85th out of 105 in the men's 50m freestyle heats by swimming 27.34secs. Neither Cambodian could improve on their personal bests set at last year's Summer Olympics in London.

Meanwhile, Jeanette Ottesen Gray claimed Denmark's first gold of the championships in the women's 50m butterfly as she edged out Olympic silver medallist Lu Ying with Holland's Ranomi Kromowidjojo claiming her second bronze in as many days. AFP & DAN RILEY

It was 12 years ago that Michael Moir beat the freezing cold to win the Scottish Boys Golf Championship at his home town course of Royal Aberdeen.

At the Sir Nick Faldo-designed Angkor Golf Resort in Siem Reap yesterday, the Scot, now a proud owner of Bangkok-based sports-apparel brand Fenix, relived that teenage triumph in parts to grab top honours in the Angkor Amateur Open after a suspense-filled final round.

He had six layers of clothing when he made that piece of history as a teenager in sub-zero conditions. But on a hot, windless day in the city famous for Angkorian-era temples, he could have done with a bare minimum.

"Sure of that" Moir coyly told the Post in a clubhouse conversation after his two round gross 148 was good enough to edge out last year's winner Cambodia's Ly Hong, who was agonisingly one behind at 149.

The left-handed Ly Hong, who had carried the Kingdom's aspirations both at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, found the drink instead of the fairway on the 18th and with it drowned his chances of forcing a possible play-off. The Scotsman came away safe and sound, though his second round five-over par was a pale shadow of his brilliant first round 71, which in fact matched an identical round by guest professional Scott Hend.

Australian Hend, who is indisputably the longest hitter on the Asian Tour, marked his inspirational presence with a second round 69 for a regal four under 140. The bar was so high that the Beat the Pro challenge, which carried some lucrative offers for the novices, was never quite on.

"This is my first visit to Cambodia. I like the course. Driving from the black tees makes a huge difference and I really enjoyed my golf and the hospitality," Hend, who has made Flordia his home for the past 10 years, told the Post.

The fifth edition of this growingly popular amateur event will be long remembered for a happy coincidence of an Australian pro and a Scottish amateur raising its profile and polishing its image.

Hend was the first pro to wear Moir's Fenix brand, which indeed sponsored the Australian in Siem Reap this year. In the end, it turned out to be a win-win for both Hend, who arrived from Russia two days before the event and Moir, whose father is a long time resident of Phnom Penh.

"I missed last year's event, [so] I am happy to be here winning this year," said Moir, who had a word of praise for some of the Cambodian golfers he played with.

"I think some of the Cambodian players like Ly Hong are really good. The country needs some time to develop."

While three past winners, Tim Orgill, Don Bland and Ly Hong lined up this year, the fourth, Stuart Puzzey could not make it.

Despite that disappointment of losing out on the title, Ly Hong had his own rewarding moment when he was declared the winner of Division 1 on the basis of his net 139 ahead of Australia's Mark Penfold, who also recorded the same total but was relegated to second on the count-back system.

With a net 142, Rahoul won Division 2 ahead of the 144 posted by Thong Sokhamony, who was Cambodia's lone entry in the recently held Faldo Series event at the same venue.

Ros Sarin (net 141) came out on top in Division 3 ahead of Chua Meng Ann (144).

Karen Buenaventura of the Philippines was too good for her only rival for the women's title, Rosemarie Gale of Australia. The Filipino posted an impressive two-round net of 143 to Gale's 182.

"This year we set three new records," said AGR Director of Golf David Baron.

"We had the largest number of entries ever – well over 100. We had the largest number of nationalities represented at 14 and we had the largest number of repeat guests."

Sokha Hotels charity drive
Sokha Hotels organised 19th hole charity event to raise funds for local community care.

"We have been doing this for the past three years. Proceeds from this charity drive goes to 65 lakeside families for their educational, social and welfare needs," said Emmet McHenry, general manager of Sokha Hotels in Siem Reap.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday called on the US Congress to put its money where its mouth is and cut foreign aid to Cambodia if it deemed elections illegitimate, insinuating that the Kingdom would easily supplant it with funds from China.

Congressional hearings in Washington in June examined the possibility of cutting off financial support to Cambodia should elections fail to be free and fair, but Hun Sen maintained that he was unfazed by such ultimatums.

Analysts, however, cautioned that turning away from the US in favour of China would not be without consequences.

"This is the word from a few US congressmen and the US Senate, which is not representative of the voice of US citizens and Obama's government," Hun Sen said on Friday, before telling Congress "don't talk so much – cut it off".

The premier went on to say that the government was uninterested in the aid – which he pegged at $50 million a year – and said that the real victims would be NGOs and beneficiaries of US-funded anti-HIV/AIDS and anti-tuberculosis programs.

Hun Sen also scoffed at US military aid, which he said amounted to some $1 million per year, and recalled an incident in which the US held off on a promised shipment of 100 military vehicles over human rights concerns about a group of Uighur asylum seekers, "but when China saw it, China gave 257 vehicles instead of the US".

According to US State Department figures, total US aid to Cambodia hovers closer to $70 million, and Carlyle Thayer, a Cambodia expert and professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales, placed US military aid at closer to $6 million.

Broad cuts, he noted in an email, would "impact on the most vulnerable and marginalised members of Cambodian society", but that "aid could still be channelled to NGOs".

"Hun Sen's dare to the US Congress reflects his personal belief that he is in command of Cambodia and can maintain independence from foreign pressures," Thayer said, noting that the tough talk could have political consequences. "Hun Sen's rejection of US aid will further polarise Cambodian society."

Political analyst Lao Mong Hay expressed similar views.

"That kind of posture has contributed to the public's dissatisfaction with his rule already, as seen through the elections," he said, noting a historical parallel in Hun Sen's lambasting of UNTAC after losing UN-run elections in 1993.

Since the 1980s, he continued, "Cambodians have swung towards the West, and especially America", and despite "massive aid and investment [from] the Chinese, I think many Cambodians cannot yet wipe out from their memory Chinese assistance to the Khmer Rouge".

The situation, he added, was reminiscent of Aesop's fable of the fox who, after finding himself unable to reach a bunch of grapes, remarks that they must have been sour anyway.

"I think that might be a bit like our leader," he said.

A man who on Friday fell from the second storey of a casino after being kidnapped over gambling debts is being treated for serious head injuries and a broken ankle.

Ngveang Phiteng, a 39-year-old Vietnamese farmer, was detained for five days at the New World Casino in Svay Rieng province's Bavet town by two men who were arrested and charged on Saturday, police said yesterday.

Chhay Sinarith, director of the Ministry of Interior's Department of Internal Security, said Vietnamese nationals Ngvean Yang, a 33-year-old part-time employee of the casino, and 36-year-old gambler Ngvin Ngukhay were charged with kidnapping and illegal detention.

"The victim lost all of his money gambling, so he borrowed some more from another gambler, and he had no money to pay it back. As a result, the one who lent him the money and the casino staff confined him," he said.