The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Wouldn't be able to escape” plus 9 more

If I take part in the demonstration, and you shoot me dead, you wouldn't be able to escape.

The top of the table clash between Bassac FC and Victory FC produced a thrilling 3-3 draw on Sunday in the 2013 Anvaya League.

Victory, buoyed by the presence of new Nigerian recruit Philip Ogaga, looked to steal a march on the league leaders as Bun Sokha moved to first place in the scoring charts with a brace.

However, Bassac equalised late on to stay two points clear of their rivals. In other games at Mekong University field on Sunday, KhmerDev ensured Red Cowboys remained firmly rooted to the bottom of the table with a 9-2 rout, while PSE edged PPIA 5-4 in a game not without its incidences.

The day's concluding fixtures saw Tiger FC down Anvaya Sporting Club 2-0. New signing Sunday Silva notched a goal before getting sent off for an altercation with Anvaya captain Phirun Meng, who was also red carded.

Union representatives who claim they were beaten to within an inch of their lives yesterday after they handed out pro-union leaflets in Phnom Penh's Por Sen Chey district have vowed to take legal action.

The 10 union members, who represent four different unions – the Union Federation for Labour Rights (UFLR), Cambodian Federation of Labour Unions, Khmer Workers Union Federation and Union Federation Peace for Workers – stood in front of Dayup Global Co Ltd passing out literature with information detailing the Labour Law and workers rights yesterday morning, San Lay, secretary-general of the UFLR, said.

"After we gave out all the leaflets, we went to have breakfast," Lay said. "Then a group of people came out of the factory carrying stones, sticks and cleavers to attack us."

Outnumbering the union representatives four to one, the armed men pummelled the latter group, leaving two unconscious and vomiting blood, and the others with less severe injuries, Sam Soeun, president of the UFLR, said.

Their lives were only spared because the alleged assailants returned behind the company gates when villagers who saw the beating began shouting for them to stop, Soeun said. The two seriously injured union reps were taken to a private health clinic for treatment.

Soeun has already filed a complaint with police and plans to file another with the municipal court, he said.

"We sued them for attempted murder and robbery," Soeun said. "They tried to kill us, and they took three phones and two walkie-talkies during the attack."

But Yang Rithy, administrative manager at Dayup Global, insisted yesterday that the union members provoked a fight outside the factory gates.

"They damaged company property and injured four workers," Rithy said. "We did not attack them as they said."

He added that video evidence proves that the union members started the fight and that his firm plans to sue the 10 union representatives.

The band's frontman comes on stage to sing the highlight of the set. It's his favourite song, and he's been practising it for the past three hours, he says. The teenage crowd is rapturous. His name? Bieber.

Not Justin, but "Amazing" Bieber – a Cambodian MC called up on Friday night to enchant an audience of young people in the capital.

"Amazing Bieber" is a teenage singing sensation. He also has no legs.

Last Friday, he and his band, Yodi, performed at the charity event Youth Bestival, held at Phnom Penh's Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Centre (CKCC).

Four other young people with disabilities make up Yodi, which is composed of a bass player, guitarist, pianist and drummer. They were the star act of the event, which was intended to combat discrimination against disabled youth.

Under the theme "Hope, Love, Responsibility", Youth Bestival was organised by the SEALNet Club Cambodia (SCC), an offshoot of the regional Southeast Asian Service Leadership Network, which promotes the support of disabled young people.

Their aim is to inspire and empower young people with disabilities through education and training in vocational skills, while also providing leadership skills to local high school and university students.

Friday's concert was the second event SCC have organised since the project began in 2006, but they are hopeful that their brand of positive thinking will help tackle prejudice in the Kingdom.

In Cambodia, people with disabilities make up at least 8.1 per cent of the country's population, according to the Ministry of Planning's Institute of Statistics – one of the highest rates in the world.

In 2009, the International Labour Organisation identified people with disabilities as "among the most vulnerable groups in Cambodian society" on account of their lack of "equal access to education, training and employment".

"[Cambodian people] don't get a chance to visit disabled kids, so a lot of Cambodian people don't acknowledge this issue," says Supanat Kamtue, one the organisers of the SEALNet project.

For Ranjini Menon, another organiser, SCC's goal is to promote the message that despite the fact there is still so much discrimination, there is also awareness of the needs among high school students.

After the set, Bieber said softly that he feels disappointed by the discrimination.

But it's OK, he added, because he is more than happy to stand up for his rights. "When we know that we're being discriminated again, we can talk back, saying that disabled youth also have the same rights. Whatever they can do, we can also do."

Yodi want to raise funds for disabled children by performing in bars or at events. They sing in both Khmer and English. Contact: 098 373 634/017 256 513

The week-long Olympic Solidarity technical course for wrestlers and coaches conducted by the World Wrestling Federation's coordinator for coaches, Stephen Kazarian, concluded at the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia headquarters.

Widely travelled and well-regarded as a highly proficient coach for over half a century, Kazarian, a native of Armenia who has been living in the Greek capital Athens for the past 15 years, had his 16 trainees spellbound in a wrap-up session that sharply focused on the virtues of being a good coach helping a talented wrestler.

"I am happy that there is so much improvement over what I had seen three years ago when I conducted a similar course in Cambodia," Kazarian told the Post in an exclusive interview.

Kazarian, who ranks among Armenia's most revered sports personalities, will spend the next three days in the seaside city of Sihanoukville on a specific mission before returning home.

He will survey the beautiful beaches there to determine the feasibility of staging the 2015 World Beach Wrestling Championship, which Cambodia is likely to bid for.

"We started this annual Beach Wrestling championships seven years ago. I would only be too happy to help Cambodia to stage the event if we find the facilities and beaches suitable. This year it was in Morocco and Greece will be the hosts in 2014," he added.

"My relationship with Cambodian wrestling goes back a very long way. It is a historically traditional sport, but unless you adapt a professional approach it is hard to succeed because the competition around the globe is so fierce.

"In a sense, wrestling lost its amateurism after the Helsinki Olympics once the then Soviet bloc plunged into it in a big way. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, we have so many countries in the region producing wrestlers of great quality in huge numbers, and to compete with them you have to be as good as them."

Kazarian noted that the lack of quality equipment was a significant factor limiting development of the sport here.

"If you ask me to pinpoint one vital aspect that is slowing down Cambodian wrestling, I would say without hesitation that it is the terrible shortage of Olympic standard mats."

"You need more and more mats so that talented wrestlers in provinces can train on them. Take Armenia, for instance: a country with a population of just over three million has no less than 200 quality mats. For a country of Cambodia's population [over 14 million], you can imagine how many you need and compare it with how many you have."

The inveterate veteran, who has attended scores of Olympics and World Championship in as many as 80 countries, assured the NOCC that he would take up the issue of mats with the world governing body – the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles – and find a way of helping Cambodia in this regard.

"These mats are made in Iran, Russia and Turkey, and the freight costs are so steep in bringing them to Cambodia that the cost would triple. But we will work a way out," said Kazarian, adding that the Kingdom could opt for the smaller five by five-metre mats rather than the standard nine by nine.

"I will arrange for a well-qualified coach to come down soon to Cambodia and travel to the provinces, identify talent and help them sharpen their skills," said Kazarian.

"From what I have seen, and my week-long interaction with these participants, I see a good future ahead for Cambodian wrestlers if they sharpen their focus and meet the kind of professionalism that the sport demands nowadays.

"Mind you, each category in wrestling has on offer 28 Olympic medals, seven gold, seven silver and 14 bronze, and it is quite a lot if you compare them with team sport like hockey."

NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun told the Post they were extremely grateful to Kazarian for his contribution in enriching one of Cambodia's traditional sports.

"He has not only shared his immense knowledge and vast experience with us but he has also, in his capacity as a high ranking official of the world body, helped us in developing a sound structure for wrestling," the secretary said.

"His guidance and cooperation has been invaluable."

The Cambodian Table Tennis Federation held its fifth general assembly yesterday at the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, attended by officials representing clubs and associations from across the Kingdom.

A new executive committee for the next four-year term was voted in with strategies discussed for future activities.

The election, officially observed by NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun, saw Roth Sokhon remain as president of the Federation, while Pin Pav and Jim Khean gained promotions to the positions of vice-presidents.

Sun Sothearith is to continue as general secretary and Te Sok Hong was appointed as the chief of the CTTF's financial department.

In his address, Roth Sokhon said he would lead the Federation even better than before and would find more cooperators to help fund their endeavours.

Sun Sothearith told the Post: "Our Federation has hardly any financial support from sponsors, except from our president Roth Sokhon and some from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

Cambodia's current Moody's rating is held back by "very low" institutional strength in the country and limited options for monetary policy, according to the latest report from the international agency.

The findings come despite rapid growth over the past decade, with Moody's predicting gross domestic product expansion to remain at seven per cent in 2013 and 2014.

Cambodia's B2 rating remains unchanged from a Moody's report in March. In its most recent analysis released last week, Moody's noted that 96 per cent of Cambodia's total deposits are foreign currency denominated, leaving reserve requirements placed on lenders as the only tool available to influence credit conditions.

This limited monetary policy option, combined with a lack of transparency, weak governance and "endemic" corruption, has led Moody's to rate Cambodia's institutional strength as "very low".

Nguon Sokha, director general of the National Bank of Cambodia, defended the country's economic management.

"I could not accept something based just on the previous assessment without acknowledging improvement," she said.

There are many other instruments at hand, according to Sokha, including NBC lending to commercial banks to plug reserve holes in the short term.

Sokha cites effective financial management during the global downturn of 2008 and 2009, as well as the way the sector handled recent election-related consumer jitters, as proof of the strength of Cambodia's financial system.

"Every year we make improvements in various aspects: monetary policy; institutional framework; capacity building; new institutions created," she said, noting the launch of the securities exchange.

Moody's also said that the budget deficit in Cambodia is too high, with government expenditures averaging 20.3 per cent of GDP over the past four years and revenues bringing in 13.2 per cent.

"The budget deficit has consolidated noticeably from the peak seen in 2009, but remains above the peer median," the report said, adding that a reliance on aid to fund the deficit has "reduced accountability" and hampered efforts to collect tax.

Sokha, however, is comfortable with the current levels of account deficit. She believes there is an appropriate level of spending to support Cambodia's growth relevant to its current state of development.

"Aid is slowing down and being substituted by our own pocket … tax revenue is growing, but everything takes time," she said.

Grant Knuckey, chief executive of ANZ Royal Bank, said that growing the tax base to above 20 plus per cent of GDP is a challenge that Cambodia must continue to embrace "because certainly aid and concessionary loans are not an inexhaustible source of deficit coverage".

Despite the stagnant rating, Moody's said Cambodia's risk of shock from economic, financial or political events is low. Moody's attributes this to a "relatively" stable government, a low interest rate, sufficient reserves to cover external debt and a "relatively sound" banking system.

The Cambodian government yesterday received a $70 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to expand the rice industry and support reforms in the finance sector.

Cambodian Economy and Finance Minister Keat Chhon and ADB country director Eric Sidgwick signed the bilateral agreements at the ministry's office.

Chhon said "these two loans will further support developments in Cambodia with sustainability, inclusiveness and resilience".

The Manila-based ADB will provide $55 million to the rice sector, which gets additional co-financing of $24.1 million from the Trust Fund for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program and the Strategic Climate Fund.

The investment will cover initiatives in Battambang, Kampong Thom and Prey Veng provinces.

The funding will "support the government's policy on the promotion of paddy production and rice export, which calls for improved seeds, more efficient irrigation, better farming practices, greater drying, storage, and milling capacities, and better marketing, thereby transforming Cambodia's rice sub-sector from subsistence farming to commercially-oriented value-chains", Sidgwick said.

As for the financial part of the package, $15 million will go towards further improving "the legal foundation for financial institutions to sustain financial stability" and "enhance market confidence."

Cambodian Investment Management's social-media marketing and advertising business has launched Dynamo Innovative Digital Advertising, the group said last week.

Since operations began in June, the social media business of the company has tripled, according to Anthony Galliano, CEO of Cambodian Investment, who will also head up Dynamo. He added that revenues now outweigh expenses two to one.

The new social-media company is majority-owned by Cambodian Investment Management, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Covenant International Management.

"The company will award key employees and customers shares, and will have a governing board of directors that will help spur growth and formulate strategy," Galliano said.

He added that he hopes to have Dynamo listed as a publicly traded company on Cambodia's stock exchange in the future.

Dynamo will inherit 10 clients, managing 20 social-media pages, 90 per cent of which are on Facebook and 10 per cent on LinkedIn.

"The key consumer demographics of 16- to 30-year-olds are spending most of their entertainment time on social media, primarily Facebook. Brands want to be where their consumers are, and thus the ever-growing need to be on social media," Galliano said in an e-mail.

Dynamo manages social-media pages to build up an interactive customer base and construct website emulation, which programs Facebook pages to resemble company websites.

Cambodia's bar association admonished the general prosecutor of the Appeal Court last week to ensure that authorities respect the role of lawyers after hearing that a police chief in Kampot town refused to acknowledge an attorney's right to defend two men accused of theft.

According to a copy of the letter, dated August 20 and obtained by the Post yesterday, an attorney named Try Chhoun presented a letter to Kampot town police chief Ngem Vet stating that she was representing two clients – Lim Hour and Pin Rongdamrong – only to be denied recognition and told she could not defend the men until after they had been interrogated.

In the letter, bar association president Bun Hun argued that, under the law on the rights and role of lawyers, an "attorney can represent the client whenever the client agrees", and that the defence of a client is not contingent on the permission of the authorities.

Vet, however, defended his decision yesterday, saying that because Chhoun presented the letter alone, he had no way of verifying that the two men had consented to be represented by her, and noted that Chhoun had little to defend against so far.

"How could she defend her clients when I have summonsed them two times already [and they didn't come]?" he said.

Chhoun said yesterday that since the intervention she has been allowed to defend Hour and Rongdamrong, who have been officially charged with theft.

However, Hour said yesterday that neither had stolen anything from plaintiff Thun Vuthy, but had, in fact, taken back a table that Vuthy had borrowed when he was an opposition member, before defecting to ruling party.

"I met his wife and him, and we all agreed that I could transport [the table], because it's the [opposition] party's work table that the party kept at his house," Hour said. "But now he's with another political party, so his excellency Chea Poch, who is my boss, asked me to bring the table back."

"At that time, Thun Vuthy took photos of me transporting the table, then I heard he was suing me for stealing his property," he added.