The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Galaxy Khmer project set to blitz Berlin and Norway” plus 9 more

The Phare Ponleu Selpak people have been busy, with a range of international tours and appearances scheduled over the next four months – but there's also a special delight in store for Siem Reap audiences.

Galaxy Khmer Project – the circus meets Cambodian Space Project extravaganza – is going to Berlin and Norway in January 2014. But before that, Reapers will be able to see it for themselves when it comes to Phare, The Cambodian Circus on December 21 and 22.

"The project is a unique collaboration between art director Michael Laub, psychedelic rock band The Cambodian Space Project, the German director Mark Eberle and musicians and dancers of Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang," says Huot Dara, the Phare Siem Reap co-director.

"It is a dynamic, charismatic and insightful journey through the music and sounds of Khmer rock and roll history. At the centre, a diva illuminates the story through song and dance, channeling the divas of old."

Cambodian Space Project will be supported on stage by Phare musicians playing traditional instruments, as well as dancers accompanying the songs. There will also be film projections of archive footage and film shot of circus artists performing at Phare Ponleu Selpak.

Also, in the short term, spooky new show Chills, a ghost story about Cambodian culture and belief in the afterlife will open in Siem Reap on October 1, fittingly, just in time for Pchum Ben.

Huot says, "It's about ghosts haunting villagers, mainly the youth at night. They have a fun adventure the next day at school pretending to be ghosts, scaring each other using impressive acrobatic and other circus skills."

Also, over the coming months, the theatre and circus school is taking shows to Japan, France, Portugal, Germany and Norway.

Artists from the theatre side of the school are already in France for The Terrible but Unfinished Story of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, a Khmer language adaptation of Hélène Cixous's 1985 play which, according to Phare's press material, explores "a difficult page in Cambodia's history." Even longer than the title is the duration: seven hours, Despite its length, Huot Dara says the play has been well-received. It's already a sell-out and has been known to move audiences to tears.

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"It is a co-production between Le Théâtre du Soleil and Phare Ponleu Selpak," says Huot. "In 2011 artists toured the first part of the play, in 2012 and 2013 they worked on the second part. Now they have finished the whole story and it became seven hours in length. I have heard that many people cry during the show, those who know Cambodia."

There are 30 actors in the play, each of them taking on three or four different roles, and the play is performed in Khmer with French and English subtitles.

Having opened on September 19 with three performances in Lisbon, the troupe has now moved to France taking in Limoges, Paris, Lyon and Valence. They will finish up in Toulouse on November 23.

Huot says the troupe would like to be able to perform the play in Cambodia, but as of yet have not received the authorisation to do so, due to the political nature of the story.

This month Phare is also taking a circus show, My Village, to Japan. The show, about a Cambodian village, will be performed in Little World theme park in Inuyama city, Aichi Prefecture for three months.

"It is a special production created for Japan with the purpose of introducing Cambodian culture and arts to a wider audience," says Huot. "Little World is a big park on a mountain, and the artists will perform almost every day a few times a day."

Siem Reap town has been flood free so far this year, but outlying areas have been inundated including Pouk, Angkor Chum, Krolanh, and Varin.

Department of Water Resources and Meteorology director Noun Krisna said there has been no flooding in Siem Reap town because the Provincial Authority and the Apsara Authority made improvements to the water system to avoid flooding in the town and especially at the temples.

He said, "Although rain has been steadily falling, the water is flowing fast enough from the Siem Reap River to Tonle Sap Lake which helps the river from overflowing in the city. Our river is now also bigger than before.

He added that a dam at the Ta Soum temple in the Angkor Thom district has become the priority strategy of the Apsara Authority to avoid flooding in Angkor Park and Siem Reap City. The dam strategy was planned and implemented by the Provincial Authority and Apsara in 2012 after Siem Reap town, Angkor Thom, and Banteay Srei district experienced heavy flooding in November 2011 which left about 200 tourists stranded.

Noun Krisna said, "The water normally flows from Kulen Mountain to the Siem Reap River through Banteay Srei district, but recently the authority diverted part of that water to Rolous River, another part to Pouk River, and the remainder of the water will flow into the West Baray and North Baray."

This method seems to be working effectively to avoid flooding in the temples as well Siem Reap town, but a Kok Chok resident, Seng Sech, who lives near the Bayon Temple in Nokor Krout's village claims that his and other villager's houses had been inundated because of the Apsara's Authority's dam strategy.

He said, "I am happy to see there is no flooding in Siem Reap town, but I am unhappy that the water flooded my village. The water level rose up to my waist and flooded my house and my farm and other roads."

He noted that some people had been relocated from their houses to safe places adding, "Most of the villagers left their homes and went to sleep at the school nearby."

He said that with the flooding, authorities visited villages to provide help. Mi Rith, Nokor Krout's village chief, told Insider that more than 300 families had been affected by short-term flooding.

He said 359 families from the 600 families in the village had left their home due to the water level rising about half a metre, but now they are back in their homes because the water level has decreased.

I absolutely don't believe it, because previously, [Prime MInister Hun Sen] promised to cut his head off if he couldn't prevent forestry destruction. But, today, he still has his head.

Keen Reapers have already started training for this year's Angkor Wat International Half Marathon, but for those of a less athletic bent, the one kilometre Reapers' Run of Shame tomorrow promises a more achievable goal.

The run, with its tagline, "run, walk or stagger," was devised last year by Australian expat and ABCs and Rice strategic planner Monica Butler. It was a huge success, with over a hundred people taking part and some describing it as the best day they'd had in Siem Reap.

"Obviously expats and locals in Siem Reap want something more to do than just quizzes," Butler says. "For fundraisers we're so over-quizzed. I just wanted to do something completely different. Last year we raised $2000 for ABCs and Rice in Siem Reap and we just had so much good feedback.

"We had people saying afterwards that the whole town smiled because there were these idiot barangs in costume running around for no apparent reason."

A huge hit at last year's run, the Hash House Harriers led by Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa general manager Hanno Stamm, will again take part.

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"There were lots of fake boobies," remembers Butler. "It was brilliant. So much so that we've now got a prize this year for the most tragic fake boobies. It was hilarious, all these blokes running in with these halter tops on, readjusting.

"The theme is 'dress like you haven't been to bed yet' because it's a run of shame. But it's purely wear whatever you want to and go as crazy as you want."

Butler says there are a few people this year planning to do the run on alternate means of transport, including a tuk tuk decked out as a chariot. There will also be a flag-bearer carrying a large ABCs and Rice flag.

The run starts at 3pm at Genevieve's on Sok San Road, taking in Sivutha Boulevard and then going down Pub St, finishing at the Warehouse with a raffle and prize giving.

As well as the grand prizes, the person finishing last will get a booby prize 'recovery pack' of Royal D, some beers (naturally) and Panadol.

Butler says there seems to be a really good vibe about the run this year, with more and more people planning to take part.

Registration for the run costs $12 including a free t-shirt.

The Center for Khmer Studies at Wat Damnak launched its Artists in Work program last week which is a new initiative aiming to provide local artists with room to work, exhibit and interact.

Svay Sareth is now using the centre's conference hall as a temporary studio to complete new artwork for the upcoming Singapore Biennale, in which three Cambodian artists are participating.

CKS director Krisna Uk explained that their conference hall was often not in use and the board thought it would be good to do something more creative with it. She said, "We'd like to have artists, performers and sculptors use the space, especially local artists, as it's an opportunity to make their work more well known in the local community. There is so much going on in Siem Reap and an emerging segment of a new type of artist and they need space to work, communicate and exhibit. And this is something CKS wants to help with. It's really rewarding for us to have this kind of interaction."

Svay Sareth, one of Cambodia's foremost contemporary artists, works in several mediums and is perhaps best known for Mon Boullet, in which he dragged a 2-metre wide, 80-kilogram metal ball from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh in 2011.

Born in Battambang in 1972, Sareth spent his formative years in Site 2 refugee camp where he attended art classes. On returning to Cambodia he co-founded the now well-known art and circus school, Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang before moving to France in 2002 to continue his studies. He now lives and works in Siem Reap.

Sareth is excited about the possibilities of the Artists in Work program. "CKS is a very nice place to work. If artists want to do research they can go to the library easily and there is also a pagoda if they want to do research connected to culture. There can be a dialogue between the artists and the other people that use CKS'."

He already knows of many artists who would benefit from the work area. "I know at least 10 artists who live here but they don't know how to develop," he said. "When you build a house you need foundations, and they need a place to found their future."

As all participants have been sworn to secrecy by the Biennale organisers, we cannot reveal much about what Sareth is working on. But anyone interested in seeing the work-in-progress can visit Wat Damnak for a sneak preview – although no photographs are allowed – and this openness is a key component of the Artists in Work program.

Uk explains, "Last weekend tourists who are staying at the Golden Banana saw our banner outside and decided to come in and were very interested in Sareth's work. It opens lots of doors so we're really keen to work with other artists and other artistic organisations and we are open to ideas."

For Uk, Sareth was the ideal choice to inaugurate the program. She says, "He is very talented and full of creative ideas and he is daring because he goes beyond the borders of the material. He's a source of inspiration for other artists, who can see they can do whatever they want, develop and explore."

The third Angkor Bodybuilding Association championship was held on Saturday at perhaps the most unlikely of places, the Rosana Broadway ladyboy venue. Twenty-five muscle men from Siem Reap and Phnom Penh competed in the finals, with 41-year-old Tek Bunvy taking the grand $600 prize, ranking both number one in his category, 70-75kg, and taking the overall Mr Angkor award.

The theatre packed in around 700 people, mainly Khmer, but with a fair sprinkling of expats plus a squealing group of what looked like a Korean hen party, judging by the raucous reactions and pink bunny ears.

The turn-out was the biggest the competition has had to date, and this was also the first year it was televised on AK TV and shown live in eight districts in and around Siem Reap.

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"We do this for the purpose of promoting the sport," Rocky said, "I think it was a big success but I hope that everybody liked it, and I hope that Cambodia becomes more open to the idea of bodybuilding as a sport."

After opening poses from guests Maria Ingelis Carlsward of Sweden and Mr Cambodia Sok Sopheak, the contest was staged in four rounds divided by weight: under 60kg, 60-65kg, 65-70kg and 70-75k, with a fifth "master" category for the over 40-year-olds.

Bodybuilders were judged on size and shape of specific muscle groups in eight different pose categories including 'front double biceps,' 'side triceps' and 'most muscular.' Lee explained that the winners are chosen based on various criteria, and not necessarily simply the biggest guys.

"There are eight compulsory poses but we combine all eight, and one of those poses shows the biggest muscle," he said. "We sum up all the scores between five judges. So we look at the eight poses, the style, the dancing and presentation. The overall guy who won Mr Angkor this time had to have big muscles, but also definition and have everything in proportion."

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As contestants flexed and grimaced on stage to hip hop and pop music, they gleamed a peculiar, deep bronze colour, quite unlike anything Insider had ever seen. Later a couple of contestants were spotted backstage applying body-paint with what looked like a paint roller. Lee said that the bronze colour was ordered specially from the US, and is used to enhance muscle definition.

Winners of the 60-65kg, 65-70kg and "master" rounds were, respectively: Chas Vanny, Chheng Kimsrun and Seng Thea, all from Phnom Penh, while Ngoun Sophan from Siem Reap took first prize in the under 60kg category.

Interspersed between rounds were a bokator show, an Apsara dance and a catwalk show featuring male models from Angkor Bodybuilding Association. Finally, the venue being what it was, the afternoon was rounded off with the Rosana ladyboys who performed a show-stopping rendition of crowd favourite, J-Lo's On the Floor.

HATEFUL THINGS ABOUT SIEM REAP NO. 256B
I hate those horrible squawky walkie-talkie devices that seem to be standard equipment for the town's legion of security guards.

The guards usually have them turned up full volume in case they miss important news about an imminent invasion. Or perhaps news of a violent robbery on their patch, so that they can instantly be somewhere else.

Hence awful metallic shrieking voices pollute the environment, punctuated by ear-splitting electronic squelching noises. A curse on the walkie talkies. But of course anybody living in an Asian city expecting quietness is but a fool.

FOR GOD'S SAKE
Christian churches are usually noted for their conservative nature, but the World Mission Society Church of God in Siem Reap, in a press release about donations it gave to a local orphanage, said that it has "taken the initiative in practicing the love of God the Mother.

Radical stuff indeed, and perhaps appeasement for feminists.

The church was started in South Korea and has become extremely contentious in Christian circles, and in turn, it's also become extremely litigious in fending off critic. A website called Examining the World Mission Society Church of God is dedicated to attacking the church and listings its numerous court cases against critics.

The website lists a December 27, 2011 court case in Mongolia and republishes an article from Globe International which says, "On 6 September, Minjin broadcast a news item about complaints by former members of the church and other sources concerning "doubtful preaching" by the church… After the broadcast, the journalist received many phone calls, day and night, from members of the church. They threatened her and yelled loudly, saying, 'We will kill you. We will curse you.' Moreover, a member of the church entered the TV-8 premises several times and issued death threats against the station's staff."

In July 2005 the church lost a court case in the Northern Seoul Regional Court.

The church had sued the defendant, Ji Won Tak, who had written a book titled Researches on the New Religions of Korea 2002, Collection I (subtitled, Self-Claimed Reborn Jesus Christ of Korea.)

The book was tabled in evidence in court. It gives a history of the church and in part reads, "The Church of God is an organisation that stemmed from the Adventist Church. But unlike the Adventist church which acknowledges general Christian beliefs… this organisation believes that Sang Hong Ahn who died in 1985 is God …Aware that the continuing failures of the many end of the world theories that continued in 1988 and 1994 as well as the critical views of the society, they have changed their name to the Church of God World Gospel Association to continue their activities.

"They then changed their name to Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association, but after it caused troubles in their missionary work, they changed their name to the Church of God. According to the teachings of Sang Hong Ahn Witness Association, the end of the world would come in 1988 at which time the world will disappear without a trace and except for 144,000 people who have been granted God's special protection, everything will be destroyed. It was believed that the first wife of Sang Hong Ahn, who was his so called spiritual wife, was Soo In Um.

Um divorced her former husband before she began seeing Ahn, and she was the one who proclaimed that Ahn was Jesus Christ in 1978. After Ahn died, the SangHong Ahn Witness Association was divided into a sect called New Covenant Passover Church of God that worshipped Um as the wife of God and another sect that chose Gil Ja Chang as the wife of God in 1981 and believed the second spiritual wife as Mother."

The Cambodia team returned home on Wednesday from the 27th King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championships in Udon Thani, Thailand, with an impressive haul of five silver and five bronze medals.

According to the Cambodian Sepak Takraw Federation general secretary Chhoun Leng, the silver medalists will receive $4,000 and the bronze winners $2,000 from the Ministry of Education, Sport, and Youth, added Chhoun Leng.

Twenty-seven nations took part in this year's edition of the annual Thailand event.

The enchanting city of Siem Reap will host the 2013 Prudential Astro Golf Masters Grand Final at two of the destination's most popular links on Monday and Tuesday.

The two-round event to be played in stroke play format is exclusively for 37 finalists emerging from a series of preliminary rounds played all over Malaysia since March this year. On offer are attractive prizes and goodies, while a brand new Lexus CT 200h Luxury car with a road value of 202,899 Malaysian ringgit ($63,000) will be given to anyone making a hole-in-one.

The prizes and other awards are courtesy of Prudential Astro Masters partners – AmBank, Panasonic, Bridgestone, The Star, Titoni, Pharmaton, Cross Creek, Maxis, Samsonite, Fred Lenzo, Cinta Sayang Golf Resort, Banana Boat, Schick, AXN, TVB, Astro Arena, Golf Channel, Golf Magazine, Fresh & White, Shokubutsu, Heineken, Gatorade, Sunrise Wines and Jake's Charbroil Steaks.

Since the Astro Masters began 15 years ago, nearly 37,000 golfers have experienced the joys and pleasures of playing this unique format that offers great challenges and exhilarating pleasures to golfers of any level.

Monday's opening round of the grand final will be played at the Siem Reap Booyoung Country Club, which is the city's longest golf links with a course yardage of 7,396. The action for the decisive final round on Tuesday shifts to the multiple award-winning Angkor Golf Resort, designed by Sir Nick Faldo.

Even as this elite competition moves into top gear, a more leisurely event in System 36 Stableford format for sponsors picks, special invitees and VIPs, in all numbering 53, will be rolling along simultaneously. The local organising effort has been handled by PSD Travel, a member of the golf global tourism organisation, IAGTO.

"This is a good opportunity to showcase Siem Reap golfing experience to a global audience. Through this event we do hope to raise Siem Reap's profile to a higher level as a golfing destination," PSD Travel general manager Candra Tanpatti told the Post yesterday.

"The mystical Angkor Wat is a great attraction for international golfers to visit Siem Reap," he added.

A remarkable mid-season recovery from a tardy start gives Pate 310 as good as an even winning chance when they face second ranked IRB the Lord at the Beeline Arena tomorrow in the Cambodian Basketball League sponsored by Western Union and Coca-Cola.

Three months ago even a reckless speculator would not have given Pate a fling to be in the position they are now after recording just one win from their first five games.

With Sok Tour driving the team along with some consistent displays, Pate have won their last three games to be well within range of a playoff spot. A victory over The Lord in their game, which tips off at 4pm, will push Pate up to seventh in the ranking table.

Despite surviving a close call against CCPL heat last week, The Lord remain second favourites to claim the title behind top-ranked Alaxan FR Patriots, the only side to inflict defeat on them this season.

The outcome of this contest against Pate will have no impact on The Lord's ranking order but a victory would keep the camp in good spirits ahead of November's play-offs.

The only other game featured on the day involves CCPL Heat and Galaxy tipping off at 2pm. If form book is any guide then a tottering Galaxy is likely to be seared by the Heat, who are still ruing their missed chances against The Lord.

For Heat team manager Davuth Sin, it is an ideal opportunity to reignite the passion in the side and keep the players on the hop for the crucial post-season.

At the back of every Heat player's mind will be those messed up turnovers against both Sela Meas and The Lord, and the team will probably hook up to a better defensive plan, keeping the rest of the season in their sights.

The scheduled third game between Sela Meas and Ganzberg had to be shelved for a dubious reason.

Ganzberg have now painted themselves as sour losers after the side decided to pull out of the tournament once they sensed their chances of making the next grade impossible after losing their fifth game.

A technical committee comprising officials from CBL and the Cambodian Basketball Federation has dubbed Ganzberg's actions as unsportsmanlike. Several team managers and players have also joined the tirade against Ganzberg, calling the team's decision to quit irresponsible and a slap in the face for Cambodian basketball.