The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “I just took some photos” plus 9 more

I have worked at the national counter-terrorism committee for four years. I did not do anything to affect anyone. I just took some photos of what was going on and made a report to my boss.

Dear Editor,

We have read the article about the deaf community published on August 23. We were positively happy that you shed a light on this important issue.

However, we believe that approximations and misinterpretation have undermined the quality of this article.

As founder, director and coordinator of Krousar Thmey, we cannot remain silent about the gaps in this article. Indeed, one can only notice the lack to mention the strong commitment and prominent role played by our organisation, Krousar Thmey, in the access to education for thousands of deaf children.

Krousar Thmey, a Cambodian NGO for disadvantaged children run by Cambodians for Cambodians, created a complete system of education for deaf children. After having developed a Cambodian Braille system and opening the first schools for blind children in 1993, Krousar Thmey opened, in 1997, the first school for deaf or hard-of-hearing children in Phnom Penh.

In 1997, given the absence of a native sign language and the need to provide numerous deaf children with an appropriate education, it was urgent to create a functioning sign language.

The only available option at that time was to start with an existing one. After studying the most common sign language used in neighbouring countries, so as not to isolate Cambodian deaf people from the other deaf communities in the ASEAN region, American Sign Language was chosen.

We knew evolution would be necessary, to "cambodianise" some signs. Therefore, as early as 1997, a sign language committee has operated within Krousar Thmey to adapt American signs to Cambodian signs.

Sixteen years later, Krousar Thmey has opened five schools for deaf children and welcome 700 deaf children every year from kindergarten to high school. Krousar Thmey offers deaf children a curriculum in accordance with the curriculum of the Ministry of Education in order to be integrated within Cambodian society and not to be stigmatised as "different".

We work with the Ministry of Education to allow Cambodian deaf youngsters to have access to national exams.

The foundation has started to kit deaf children out according to their degree of deafness as early as 2001 (thanks to the help of a French association of hearing aid specialists, named EnfantsSourds du Cambodge, who also train Cambodian staff to check children's degree of deafness and molding hearing aids accordingly); and provide them with speech therapy classes so they can learn to vocalise.

Besides, integrated and inclusive classes are open in rural areas so deaf children who live far away from special schools can have access to an adapted education without leaving their family. Teachers are trained by Krousar Thmey.

The foundation now has the experience and the knowledge to be a reference for teacher-training regarding education for deaf or blind children.

Krousar Thmey is also working to accompany deaf young adults towards a job, training or university of their choice. The Academic and Career Counseling department follows up on the children supported by Krousar Thmey after they graduate, guiding them and supporting them financially if needed.

Since 2004, Krousar Thmey has organised the first translation of TV news live in sign language. The first aim was to raise awareness, to open Cambodians to the existence of sign language.

But today, through two TV channels (TV Bayon and TVK) offering daily news translated into sign language, most of the deaf people educated in Cambodia have access to the news.

To say that most of the deaf community cannot understand what is provided by these TV channels is a misinterpretation of reality. All the more, since the largest sign language users in Cambodia have been trained within our schools.

Since March 2013, Krousar Thmey has been working with DDP (Deaf Development Program) in order to harmonise the two sign languages that have been developed and used over the years in Cambodia. For the Cambodian deaf community, the aim is to have one language they can be comfortable with.

No screening project has yet been implemented to know the exact number of deaf or hard-of-hearing people present in Cambodia. Many things remain to be done in order to fully include people with hearing impairment into their community.

However, it would be incorrect and misleading to pretend that nothing has been achieved or even just tempted to move towards an inclusive society in Cambodia. All deaf children are welcome to register to one of our schools (in Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap or Kampong Cham) as school will start on October 7, 2013.

The children will be tested to determine their level of deafness and register in the proper class according to their knowledge in sign language. For any information, call Krousar Thmey on 023 880 503.

Benoît Duchateau-Arminjon, Founder President,
Hervé Roqueplan, General Director,
Hang Kimchhorn, Coordinator of the program of education for deaf children

Knowing that streets would be blocked off and fearing a loss of business, enterprising vendors at Phsar Kap Ko market in Phnom Penh positioned themselves on the other side of barricades yesterday morning and sold their products.

Located on Street 9 between Sihanouk Boulevard and Street 294, the market was one of many areas hemmed in by razor-wire during the opening session of the National Assembly yesterday, which opposition lawmakers boycotted in protest over the disputed election in July.

The same street was cut off when opposition leaders kicked off a three-day rally at Freedom Park on September 15.

"If I didn't sell fish here [by street 294], I wouldn't have any customers at all," Heom Ath, 38, said, standing one metre away from the razor-wire blockade.

Some vendors were even seen selling items through the wire, but blocked streets kept many customers away.

Ath, who usually takes home 60,000 riel ($15) per day, made only 20,000 riel. Like many vendors, she was not told the market would be blocked off. Had she known, she would not have brought as much supply.

"I have been selling it at lower prices, but I still have a lot of fish left, more than usual."

Blockades in the area around the National Assembly building will be in place today and tomorrow, according to a government statement that did not specify specific streets.

Residents and business owners woke up Monday morning to a labyrinth of road blocks around the National Assembly and streets nearby. An entrance to Sihanouk from Independence Monument was inaccessible, and the only way to get to the market was via Sothearos.

"If I had a business here, I would be angry too. But I need to do my job," said a police officer who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Like her customers, Lux Sokhim, 33, had difficulty getting to Phsar Kap Ko.

"It was hard bringing my fish and vegetables to the market," Sokhim said, adding that after lugging all her goods there, she sold only half them.

The vendors, however, were luckier than the businesses that couldn't move at all.

Chhorn Rorn, 35, sells an assortment of groceries and household products from her store in the market.

"Many people here are very angry because they cannot sell anything," Rorn said.

Unable to pick up and move, she earned less than 10,000 riel by Monday afternoon, compared to the 40,000 riel she usually collects by the end of the day.

Six months after ACLEDA bank launched a microfinance institution (MFI) in Myanmar, the number of clients has outpaced predictions by more than fourfold as Cambodia's biggest bank cashes in on growing loan demand in a developing industry.

In Channy, president and CEO of ACLEDA, said yesterday that at the end of August, ACLEDA MFI Myanmar counted 2,782 active borrowing customers, much higher than an expected amount of roughly 600.
The MFI has $251,000 in outstanding loans, Channy said.

"The loan demand over there is high, it's very high," he said, adding that loans are given to micro businesses and are mostly used for trade, such as the buying and selling of groceries or clothes.

ACLEDA is not the only bank seizing the opportunity to do business in a country emerging from decades of military rule. Last year, the Cambodian branch of Japanese-owned Maruhan Bank opened a representative office in Myanmar. A few months ago, in June, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd did the same.

Representative offices are often the way that banks test the waters in emerging markets before establishing a branch.

In September of last year, MasterCard was the first international payments network to issue a licence to a Myanmar bank, setting the stage for cards to be accepted in the cash-dominated economy.

Bun Mony, president of the Cambodia Microfinance Association, said yesterday that he doesn't expect other Cambodian MFIs to follow ACLEDA's lead and head over to Myanmar, "because most of them, they focus more on the Cambodian market."

"They are starting to develop. But for me I see one constraint of the policy."

According to Mony, in order to protect the poor, the Myanmar government caps the interest rate at which MFIs can give out loans. He said that MFI funds are from investors, so if MFIs can't profit, interest will dry up.

"Even though there are MFIs already [in Myanmar], those MFIs cannot grow because there is no investment," he said.

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc and Daiwa Securities Group Inc were chosen last year to help Myanmar set up a stock exchange.

However, due to delays in setting the legal framework in place, Myanmar is running behind schedule for a 2015 launch.

In another record-breaking low point, shares of the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority dipped under 5,000 riel by market's close yesterday, while one investor sold off some 25,000 shares.

The price drop came amid heightened tensions in Phnom Penh. Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers followed through on promises to abstain from attending the inaugural session of the National Assembly after their demands for an investigation into alleged irregularities during the July 28 poll weren't met. Ruling Cambodian People's Party lawmakers attended the opening.

Security forces, local authorities and riot police hunkered down on street corners or manned steel and razor-wire barricades, a presence that choked local businesses and raised concern among investors.

According to data from the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), the water supply authority's price declined 4.35 per cent yesterday to 4,840 riel, down from 5,060 riel at closing on Friday.

Soleil Lamun, deputy director of the market operations department at the CSX, blamed the prices – which first inched downward weeks ago and have continued to fall ever since – on the lack of investor confidence brought on by an uneasy political climate.

"This morning placed more of a burden on PPWSA prices that were already slowing because of the political deadlock," Lamun said yesterday. What's worse, "only one foreign investor sold the stock at the lowest price, and it made him or her lose a lot of money – this makes our market look not so good".

"I think this person might be concerned about the political issue, but they could just urgently need the money – I am not sure," he added.

He said that even though the price sank to new depths – shares closed at 9,300 riel when PPWSA went public last year – the fact that a sale was made shows that investors are still interested.

Kuy Vat, chairman of underwriter Phnom Penh Securities, agreed that the political stalemate sapped market confidence.

"Of course, the investors are concerned about our political issues, so they will not focus on the stock," he said.

The water authority issued some 13 million shares to the public in 2012.

Responding to deteriorating working conditions in the garment sector, the UN-backed Better Factories Cambodia program is going to make public, for the first time in years, how factories fare against international labour standards, the monitoring group said.

Starting in January, BFC, which is part of the International Labour Organization, will publish quarterly online compliance reports for more than 450 exporting garment factories that have already had two or more assessments and are registered with the program.

"We urge brands, auditing firms and corporate social responsibility organisations to join us in this step towards greater transparency … in the apparel sector," said Jill Tucker, ILO-Better Factories Cambodia chief technical advisor.

The plan, however, has the government, stakeholders in the industry and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) all concerned that it could prompt buyers to relocate to another country.

"This public disclosure could result in a greater negative than a positive," GMAC secretary-general Ken Loo said yesterday.

Loo said buyers do their own audits, and even though GMAC is in favour of transparency, he argues that more time is needed to study the potential impacts this decision could have.

Factory assessments carried out from October are to be made public in January. Prior to disclosure, factories will be given the opportunity via a pre-report to clean up their act before an official assessment against criteria of 21 "critical issues" is released online.

The criteria, according to BFC, are in line with Cambodian labour law and international standards. They include correct payment of wages, no child labour, freedom of expression and fire safety.

Entering Cambodia in 2001, BFC stopped disclosing factory names in 2005 in a bid to enhance competitiveness after certain US trade preferences ceased.

Tucker, with BFC, said the country now needs to take steps to enhance its reputation at a time when producers from larger countries are also tightening monitoring.

Like GMAC, the government is also concerned that buyers may shy away, closing factories and leaving workers jobless.

"Right now, the three parties [ILO and factory owners and unions] are not in agreement, because the owners are afraid this will affect their businesses when they release the names to the public," said Sat Samuth, under secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour.

Though BFC doesn't yet monitor footwear, the announcement comes after two Cambodians died when a mezzanine floor crumbled at the Wing Star Shoes factory in May.

BFC will also publish names of unions that lead strikes not conforming with "legal requirements".

Kong Athit, vice-president of the Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, welcomed "responsible transparency", but said a balance needs to be struck in which employers are also held to account during disputes.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MAY KUNMAKARA

Floods wreaking havoc in northwest Cambodia have claimed the lives of five more people in the past week, bringing the death toll to 18, the National Committee for Disaster Management said yesterday.

Officials predict water levels in the Mekong River, which started flooding last month, will continue to rise for another four to five days.

The flooding, caused by heavy rains and the opening of dams in Vietnam and Thailand, has affected seven provinces – Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kratie, Oddar Meanchey, Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng – forcing more than 2,000 families to evacuate.

"Local authorities and the Cambodian Red Cross are in provinces which were hit by flood and they have already evacuated residents to safe places to ensure their safety," said Nhim Vanda of the National Committee for Disaster Management.

Undettered land rights protesters yesterday returned to the scene of a brutal crackdown carried out by men in civilian clothing and police on Sunday night in an attempt to draw attention to violence and what they say was a stolen election.

The raid on a peaceful candlelight vigil held by about 20 protesters from the Boeung Kak and Borei Keila communities at Wat Phnom on Sunday left at least 10 people injured, according to activists' count, with two elderly women remaining in hospital yesterday.

An unknown number of journalists and rights workers sustained injuries from electric prods and large marbles fired from slingshots by men in face masks under the watch of assembled police.

Military police spokesman Kheng Tito yesterday blamed the nighttime dark for the callous attack on peaceful demonstrators.

"I don't know who started it first. But it was nighttime and we could not see clearly who is who. Sorry, but I really don't know," he said, before declining to comment further.

A number of police and Interior Ministry officials and spokespeople could not be reached for comment yesterday.

According to prominent Boeung Kak activist Tep Vanny, two elderly women, including Vanny's mother, remain in Calmette Hospital after being struck with slingshot-fired marbles.

Yesterday morning, a small group of women returned to Wat Phnom and successfully forced police officers that had camped out at the site of Sunday's vigil to leave the area.

A large crowd formed and the protesters' anger quickly spilled over when a man was singled out as a supposed government infiltrator.

"He took photos of me and I asked him where he was from. He said [he was a reporter] from Voice of America. I asked to see his press card. But he had nothing," said Khieu Lay, 38, a Borei Keila protester who outed the man to the crowd.

Sor Chenda, who soon admitted to being an undercover police officer, was soon surrounded by an aggressive mob.

He was chased down and forced back to Wat Phnom after briefly managing to escape about 30 metres down the road.

"I have worked at the national counter-terrorism committee [at the National Police] for four years. I did not do anything to affect anyone. I just took some photos of what was going on and made a report to my boss," Chenda told the crowd.

"Don't accuse me of being a spy. I have told you who I am; there is no need to question me any more."

Chenda remained trapped by the crowd for at least half an hour, until representatives from the UN rights office whisked him away into a waiting vehicle

The crowd then set it sights on other would-be "government spies", turning on at least four others, including a man who claimed to be from a different Boeung Kak group, who were forced to quickly flee the scene.

"Ninety per cent of the media report unprofessionally and tell lies … so when we see anyone strange taking videos or photos, we want to know where they are from," Vanny said.

Later that afternoon, as riot police gathered at the Council for the Development of Cambodia across the road from the temple, about 40 monks from the Independent Monk Network departed from Wat Phnom on a silent march to Sisowath Quay.

"We sent our petition [to delay the opening of parliament] to the King, but I believe it ended up in the dustbin," network head Venerable But Buntenh said.

Opposition party spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday that the CNRP supports peaceful demonstrations by the land rights activists – who have taken centre-stage at a number of recent election protests.

"They understand that free and fair elections can help to solve the problem. If the election is not free and fair, they will continue to suffer. I feel sorry for them," he said.

Sovann added that the CNRP condemned Sunday's violence and that the use of "gangsters" to crack down on peaceful protesters was not new.

"This is a bad culture that I have seen for a long time.… I do not accuse anybody, but I think the ruling party knows very well who has done this."

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHHAY CHANNYDA

Police are investigating the apparent murder of a Toul Kork man after they found his axe-hacked body in Phnom Penh's Por Sen Chey district.

The victim, 40-year-old Tep Soy of Boeung Kak II commune, was found with what appeared to be multiple axe wounds, said Por Sen Chey district deputy police chief Vong Sereyvuth. The motive remains unclear.

"The body had terrible axe wounds on his face and head," Sereyvuth said. "Investigators believe [Soy] was murdered, but they are not sure if it was a robbery or a spite-driven attack."

When police found Soy's body, they found cuts on his forehead and face, Sereyvuth said. An axe, shoes and a cap were placed next to his body.

Because Soy's body was found kilometres away from his home, police are looking into the possibility that he was killed during a motorbike robbery, Sereyvuth said.

Soy's body was taken to a pagoda in Por Sen Chey, where his family lives.

Manned barricades that dotted the city yesterday, strangling traffic along Norodom, Sothearos and other key thoroughfares, will remain in place through tomorrow, the government announced.

The unsigned directive issued yesterday, which emanated from the election security council chaired by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, thanked citizens and authorities for good public order during yesterday's first parliamentary meeting, and added that roads would continue to be blocked on September 24 and 25.

"Please understand and tolerate … the blocking of some roads around the National Assembly area for security reasons for the first meeting of the fifth mandate," the directive reads.

Yesterday, many residents and commuters expressed frustration over the razor wire blockades which caused traffic jams and prevented access to central areas around the National Assembly, the prime minister's house and the Royal Palace.

"I want to return home but that's impossible. I want to go to work but cannot get there," said Keo Sophea, 29. "I wonder if they need to block the streets. If so, they should let people know by announcing on the radio or TV. What the government does makes people more furious, it makes us think they are restricting our freedom of movement."

Many commuters and residents became exasperated when police refused to allow anyone but foreigners through.

"This really disturbs me, I wasted my motorbike gas and I did not get to work on time," said Chea Sokea, a security guard who waited at a blockade for hours, trying to get to work in the Phnom Penh Center – an office building across from the National Assembly in which the Post's offices are also located.

One resident along Sothearos begged to be let through to her children.

"Please let me in. If I cannot enter, when do I have lunch? My little children are left with other people," said a 40-year-old housewife who wished to be unidentified.

Military police officers abdicated responsibility for the roadblocks.

"Please ask police about the road blocks…all we know is that this morning was the National Assembly meeting, so we maintain the situation at all cost," said Kheng Tito, a national military police spokesman.

Phnom Penh National Police chief Chuon Sovann and National Police spokesman Kirth Chantharith could not be reached for comment yesterday.

"I just block it at my boss's order. I do not know when it is opened," a police officer told the Post.