The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “More and more demading” plus 9 more

I think [they can ask for a lot more], because their constituents are more and more demanding and are more and more vocal.

Taiwan's E. Sun Commercial Bank has purchased a 70 per cent stake in Cambodia's Union Commercial Bank.

The deal, planned for months but announced yesterday at a press conference at the Sofitel hotel in Phnom Penh, will bring technology upgrades and more loan capital to the Cambodian bank, according to UCB chairman Yum Sui Sang.

"They are very strong in IT, so they will help to strengthen our performance and develop our services," he said.

UCB's annual reports show its net profit after tax in 2012 was $5.1 million, up from 2011 net profit of about 4.5 million.

At the end of August, loans outstanding at UCB reached $200 million, while deposits were at $280 million, Sang told reporters.

E. Sun Commercial Bank, whose name refers to the highest mountain in Taiwan, was established in 1992. At the end of June this year, the bank had total assets totalling $43.9 billion.

Joseph N.C. Huang, president of E. Sun Financial Holding, the parent of E. Sun Commercial Bank, said that the bank's main focus will be loans to small and medium enterprises as well as the real estate sector.

"There are many players in the market so there are many competitors. But we still can catch customers in different market segments," Huang said.

"There is still much room to grow."

The Post reported in March that the planned value of the buy-in would be $69.3 million.

Following the historic silver medal won by Cambodia's Sok Sopheak in the 67kg competition of the 47th Asian Bodybuilder and Physique Sports Championships earlier this month, as well as five other team members grabbing top-ten placings at the Ho Chi Minh City event, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia and the Cambodian Body Building and Fitness Federation held a joint press conference at the NOCC headquarters yesterday morning to announce targets for the 27th SEA Games, which are being held in Myanmar in December.

"To obtain medals at the 2013 SEA Games, our men need to get enough food. They must consume at least 4,000 to 6,000 calories [per day], so we need to find donations to respond to their needs," NOCC general secretary Vath Chamroeun said in his address.

"I'm confident we will win medals at the SEA Games because our men are now so much better conditioned, and the Federation is thinking about sending out five or six athletes," he added, noting that gold medalists will receive a total of $18,000, silver $9,000 and bronze $4,000 as part of sponsorship deals and government rewards.

Body builder Sok Sopheak told reporters: "We need at least $15 to respond to our daily food requirements. Therefore, anyone who loves this sport and wants to help the national team, please sponsor us as we are not supported the same as other sports."

The Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group III cycle rolls into action at the Aviation Tennis Club in Dubai today at 7.30pm Cambodian time after the official draw clustered Cambodia in Pool B along with Pacific Oceania, Vietnam and hosts United Arab Emirates while assigning Pool A to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Oman and Iran.

Cambodia, which caused a flutter in Doha last year by earning promotion to this group with a clean sweep in their Davis Cup debut, will open their quest against their neighbours Vietnam.

Teams topping the respective groups will be guaranteed promotional tickets to next year's Group II while the two bottom finishers will drop down to Group IV

"By the look of it, Pool A certainly looks the tougher of the two but in any layer of Davis Cup there is no such thing as an easy draw," Cambodia's non-playing captain Tep Rithivit told the Post by phone after attending the draw ceremony yesterday.

"Every rubber makes an impact either for promotion or relegation. We have to take one tie at a time and keep doing our best.

"Our aim is to repeat the Doha winning dose. Every step you climb, the competition gets a lot stiffer. Retaining our Group III status is of paramount importance and any achievement over that will be a bonus," he added.

The Cambodian players were put through their paces yesterday by national coach Braen Aneiros as the squad got the first feel of Dubai's sweltering weather conditions. The matches, however, are scheduled to start at the much cooler clime of 4:30pm local time.

Cambodia is three hours ahead of Dubai on the time scale but this should not pose any problems for the national team, according to Aneiros, who represented Panama in the Davis Cup during his playing days

"We have had a couple of late evening sessions in Phnom Penh under the lights to simulate conditions here in Dubai," said the coach.

Ranked at 71st among Davis Cup playing nations, Pacific Oceania, made up of players representing various island nations in the region other than Australia and New Zealand, lost their relegation battle in Group II to Lebanon last year.

The best Cup run for Pacific Oceania came in 2005 when the team made it to the second round of Group II.

The United Arab Emirates earned promotion in Doha alongside Cambodia last year. It was 11 years ago that UAE achieved their best record by finishing third in Group III.

For the fourth year running, Vietnam find themselves in Group III. The country stayed away from Cup competition for more than three decades after the Vietnam War and returned to the fold only in 2003.

In the other pool, Hong Kong has by far the best credentials having spent many seasons in Group II. Malaysia, Oman and Iran have had varying degrees of success in this bracket and are regarded as well-heeled teams.

Using Cambodia's roads can be a hairy experience. It also tends to be a not altogether sober one, as artist Meas Sokhorn aims to get across in his installation H.E. Drink and Drive, part of "The New Age: Until Now" exhibition opening tonight at Java Gallery.

H.E. Drink and Drive is a curious work: a mass of black fibreglass in an unidentifiable shape, puckered by dents that resemble craters on rock or the imprints of facial features. Ominous red paint trickles around the construction, while broken glass bottles hang off the bottom on strings.

Sokhorn blames the media and advertising for glamourising alcohol and presenting it as something that can give people power, rather than something to be wary of.

"Why do people always celebrate with a drink?" he asked. "There's always more drinking, and always more accidents."

For him, drink-driving is an unfortunate aspect of Cambodia's new age. "The New Age" is an exhibition featuring five contemporary artists: Sokhorn, Prum Vichet, Sou Sophy, Chhim Sothy and Phe Sophon.

Curated by young artist Reaksmey Yean, it aims to portray the fluidity of contemporary Cambodia, post-Paris Peace Agreement of 1991, but also the other 'new ages' of the 20th century: "'The New Age' could also represent when Sihanouk achieved independence from France … and then the Lon Lol time, the Khmer Rouge and then after the Vietnamese occupation," Yean said. "The question [in this exhibition] is about the energy of rebuilding and destroying, so we're talking about whether past events have been passed on to contemporary society or the contemporary Cambodian society itself has the energy of rebuilding and destroying."

In this exhibition the curator showcases a wide range of artistic skills. Recycle of Life and Destroying and Rebuilding are collaborative paintings by Prum Vichet and Chhim Southy. For this, each artist wrote about their views on contemporary Cambodia, with Vichet then visualising the ideas. These paintings depict the exhibition brief neatly: each work depicts a flower through the stages of blossoming, gradually becoming a more dark and powerful entity, having destroyed its surroundings in its wake.

Destroying and Rebuilding is particularly striking, linking the power and military might of missiles, tanks, warships and tall buildings, with phallic imagery. The earth beneath is dry, cracked and worn, suggesting that with rebuilding comes inevitable destruction.

"This is about people creating things, but at the same time, the people who build become destroyers. It's very similar to Cambodia today. For instance if you go to the jungle, there are trees maybe 20 metres from the path but when you get to the middle, it's just a field without trees," Vichet said.

While Vichet's work is political and thought provoking, its vibrant colours are also brightly appealing. Sou Sophy's The Black Rain is, as the title might lead you to expect, dark and dreary. A pencil and ink work on canvas, the picture depicts a small boy lying upside down behind what appear to be black drops of rain.

"Black rain is a metaphor of cruelty, an unjust system and bad experiences," Sophy said. "Though Cambodia has passed the black rain of the Khmer Rouge, it seems that the shadow and a new sort of black rain exists again within contemporary Cambodia."

"The New Age: Until Now" opens at Java Gallery & Cafe this evening at 6pm and runs until October 13.

Marches through the capital will take place as part of the Cambodia National Rescue Party's days-long sit-in, scheduled to begin on Sunday, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said.

"We will march through Phnom Penh.… We will stay [at Freedom Park] day and night," Rainsy told thousands of vendors and onlookers during a public speech at the O'Russey Market in the capital's Prampi Makara district.

The opposition leader's announcement came as a government spokesman said a force of 60,000 people, many of them police and military police, had worked on election security since campaigning began in June.

The CNRP announced on Monday it would stage another mass demonstration in the form of a peaceful sit-in for at least three days at Freedom Park, where thousands gathered to protest against "vote-rigging" last Saturday.

According to final results released on Sunday, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won the July 28 election, earning 68 seats compared to the opposition's 55.

Rainsy, who said again yesterday that his party would boycott parliament later this month if election irregularities are not addressed, did not provide planned march routes and times.

Phnom Penh Municipal Deputy Governor Khuong Sreng warned that authorities would take action if they marched outside the permitted demonstrating times of 6am to 6pm.

"And maybe there is no hope for them to [even] sleep at [Freedom Park]," he said.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan would not confirm yesterday how many troops or police would be deployed, but said the figure would be "proportionate" to the number of demonstrators.

"We will use the people who are already [assigned]," he said.

Those personnel, he added, came from a pool of about 60,000 government employees, including police and military police, assigned to work on election-related security under Minister of Interior Sar Kheng.

"The committee has overseen law and order during the election process – it's still going on now," Siphan said. "It costs a lot."

Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said his party hoped to attract up to 50,000 people to Freedom Park and was exploring the possibility of spilling crowds into nearby public spaces such as Wat Phnom to ease congestion.

"There will be three days straight of staying all night," he said. "Senior party officials will be there to take charge of the situation."

Chhay said the party would provide toilets, rubbish collectors and tents, while supporters had pledged food and raincoats.

"All facilities are planned," he said, adding the CNRP would have a medical team on hand. "Tents will be in place and people will be able to get a lot of shade."

The CNRP yesterday sent a letter to Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong informing him of the sit-in. It does not, however, mention the party's intention to march, and Chhay said he was not aware of any such plans.

"On September 7, people were upset we didn't allow them to march," he said. "We don't know if we can keep them there. If they decide to go somewhere, the party will have to follow what they want and find all means to protect them."

Military police spokesman Kheng Tito would not confirm exactly how many troops would be deployed or had served through the election period, during which armoured personnel carriers have cruised the streets.

"I can say thousands of military have been deployed in Phnom Penh," he said.

Union leaders yesterday were trying to deploy their thousands of members to support the CNRP sit-in. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, appealed to his faithful – who include garment workers and teachers – to join the mass demonstrations, while Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, called for factories to be closed next week.

Spokesmen from the National Police and the Ministry of Interior could not be reached.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MOM KUNTHEAR

Cambodia's Long Sophy and his team, including trainer Im Ouk, flew out to Jakarta yesterday evening ahead of the historic fight against Indonesia's Max Metino in ONE FC: Kings & Champions mixed martial arts event on Friday.

Born in Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime, Im Ouk lost two of his brothers during the war.

After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, Ouk and his family fled to Thailand where he got to meet and train with some of the Cambodian Kun Khmer champions who had also managed to survive the upheaval.

After six years in Thailand, the family was sponsored to New Zealand and then moved to Australia, where he got involved with taekwondo, judo and kickboxing. His interest in MMA goes back to early '90s. He promoted Kun Khmer in Australia and since meeting his wife in Cambodia moved back to the Kingdom to start the A Fighter club in Phnom Penh, where 20 fighters are now training in MMA.

In this exclusive interview with Post sports writer HS Manjunath, Im Ouk previews the big fight and talks about the two fighters, their records and chances.

How do you rate Sophy's chances in this fight?
I am very confident that Sophy will win the fight because he is an all-round fighter. He can grapple, sprawl and his striking is world class. His opponent is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner with no experiences in fighting, and I believe people give too much credit to BJJ guys because they know nothing about Kun Khmer art.

Kun Khmer is over 2,000 years old – we also have submissions and wrestling techniques that are crucial to MMA.

How is his fitness level and are you confident that he can stand up to the demands of this hard fight?
Sophy is very fit and strong he is ready.

What is your area of expertise and how are you helping Long Sophy?
I make sure the fighter's mental side is 110 per cent ready. I sit down with all my coaches and decide the best game plan for the fight.

There are those who are expressing concern that Sophy may have been rushed into a big fight like this without adequate fitness or fighting skills in MMA. How do you counter this?
Long Sophy has been training well for over six months in MMA and he is more than ready to have his first MMA fight.

I saw a promotional video made by Metino's Warriors team trying to project an image that he is a fearsome fighter and he has an imposing record to back that claim. Will this put Sophy under extra pressure?
Not at all! Sophy is just keen to jump in there and mix it with Metino.

As the first fighter from Cambodia to fight on a global platform in MMA, Sophy has already created history. How do you think this fight will impact other Cambodian fighters?
This fight is the stepping stone for a Cambodian fighter to leave the country to compete in MMA on the world stage, and I believe after seeing Sophy fight and discover ing that the money is good most of our Khmer fighters will be keen to follow.

Sceptics keep saying that this could turn out to be a one-way fight and there are fears expressed in some quarters that the outcome could prove physically dangerous for Sophy. Do you have any concerns at all about Sophy's safety aspect?
Those people are just jealous of our team! Was it not our fighter Tork Sophon who claimed a win for the first international MMA event on CTN, when all of their Khmer fighters got KO'd?

That night, we were the only one who saved a bit of face for Cambodia. Plus a lot of people don't realise MMA is much safer than what people think, so I have no concern for Sophy's well being.

In your analysis, what are Sophy's known strengths and Metino's possible weaknesses?
Sophy is known for his striking and grappling. And Metino's weaknesses would be his abilities while standing. And the fact he has never fought before [in a mixed martial arts cage] will also be his disadvantage.

It is a big night, big stage and big opportunity. Are you confident Sophy will bring credit to Cambodian MMA?
Yes! It will be a big night for the whole of Cambodia and we will show the world what A Fighter team can do.

Come Friday, Long Sophy will be making history at the Istora Senayan indoor stadium in Jakarta before an estimated worldwide TV audience of 500 million as the first Cambodian to step into the ONE FC cage to fight Max "Ombak" Metino in the biggest mixed martial arts fight night ever staged in Indonesia – ONE FC: Champions & Warriors.

The Singapore-based ONE Fighting Championship, Asia's leading MMA promotion, has lined up for its fourth event of the year an explosive 11-bout card involving some of the world's best in the business and the most fearsome homegrown warriors, who are exponents of the indigenous martial art penchak silak.

For a country that has taken immense pride for centuries in its own traditional forms of fighting like bokator and Khun Khmer kickboxing, Cambodia may find MMA to be a relatively new experience at this global level. But an invitation from ONE FC to a rising star like Long Sophy for a night as big and truly international as this has completely changed the dynamics and is creating an exciting buzz in Cambodia.

A highly-motivated 23-year-old from Anlong Vel village, located in the Svay Por commune of Battambang province, Long Sophy has developed himself as an all-round fighter in much shorter time than most of his fellow boxers.
He has acquired a level of striking that his trainer Australian-Cambodian Im Ouk, who runs the A Fighter MMA club in Phnom Penh, regards as world class.

While Long Sophy has youth, energy and passion, his rival, Jakarta hometown star Metino has a wealth of experience, mixing his sharp skills in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) with numerous other fight disciplines since 2001.

The 38-year-old Indonesian fights out of the Warrior Dojo Fight Camp, part of Jakarta's Synergy MMA Team he first joined in 2004 under Indonesia's first BJJ black belt Niko Han.

There is one common thread, however, that runs through both these accomplished bantamweights that could perhaps give the fight of their lives a touch of parity. They are both making their MMA cage debut.

Metino is giving away 15 years in age to his Cambodian rival. Will it make a difference? In most other sporting ventures, it would to a certain extent.

"But not here. MMA is a mature fighter's sport," Im Ouk told the Post.

However, the trainer noted that the main factor was getting a hit in the face. "Metino has never taken a punch, kick or an elbow in the face before," added Im Ouk.

As is to be expected, both Sophy and Metino have no time to lose when it comes to preparation and both camps are doing it on a war footing.

Two of the best MMA coaches in Cambodia, Chan Richard Hun and Barry Guerin, are working with Sophy at the Olympic Stadium and to sharpen his special technique, elbowing, he turns to his brother and renowned Khun Khmer boxing coach Long Salvorn.

The Sophy camp knows far too well that Metino is quite formidable on the ground and the best chance for their fighter to topple him is by standing up.

Sophy told the Post he was learning how to grapple. "So if I hit the ground, I can control the situation in order to stand up and quickly counter attack," he said.

"I believe I can do it and I am not concerned about my stamina. I am used to boxing over 10 rounds quite often."

Intensive cross-training is what Metino has been going through, and his professed strengths like his ground game and submissions make him a tough fighter to handle.

"Yes, I have the confidence that I will win," he told the Post. "This is the biggest combat sports competition ever held in Indonesia and I will be looking to put on a show for my countrymen . . . It is an honour for me to fight in my home town."

The Indonesian revealed that he did not see a specific way of winning the fight. "I will just go along with the flow of the fight, flowing like water. I have the best coaches and team with the right strategy and I think I can defeat [Sophy]."

Metino's patriotic fervour and the massive crowd support is certain to give him an edge even before he enters the cage.

But Long Sophy is neither anxious nor worried. As he proudly declared: "I am there to give my best and do my country proud."

The Sophy-Metino fight is the third match-up on the undercard of Friday's event, which features a top billing flyweight contest between Japan's Shinichi Kojima and Andrew Leone of the United States. Bouts are slated to start at 7pm Cambodian time and can be viewed live on STAR Sports.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHENG SERYRITH & DAN RILEY

ONE FC: Champions & Warriors
Fightcard – Friday September 13
Shinichi Kojima (Japan) v Andrew Leone (USA)
Kotetsu Boku (Japan) v Vuyisile Colossa (South Africa)
Willy Ni (Netherlands) v Vincent Latoel (Indonesia/Neth)
Jake Butler (USA) v James Kouame (Canada)
Mahmoud Hassan (Egypt) v Alain Ngalani (Hong Kong)
Bruno Pucci (Brazil) v Bashir Ahmad (Pakistan)
Eugenio Tan (Malaysia) v Vincent Majid (Indonesia)
Caros Fodor (USA) v Yang Seung Ho (Japan)
Long Sophy (Cambodia) v Max Metino (Indonesia)
Almiro Barros (Brazil) v Kian Pham (Australia)
Raymond Tan (Malaysia) v Brianata Rosadhi (Indonesia)

The Ratanakkiri office of rights group Adhoc filed a complaint yesterday to provincial authorities after four opposition party activists were questioned over a new village church they had set up.

The activists were questioned by soldiers and police officers earlier this month on suspicions that they were trying to establish their own "authorities" after they began looking for a church representative, youth leader and teacher for a new religious office in Lumphat district's Seda commune, Adhoc said on Monday.

"Police questioned them one by one about [whether they were trying to] establish village and commune authorities and district police officers that would serve the Cambodia National Rescue Party," Adhoc provincial coordinator Chhay Thy said.

Such overzealous policing is "political discrimination, and placing restrictions on CNRP activists" he said.

According to a summons from district police obtained by the Post on Monday, one of the CNRP activists, Sev Dek, 35, was called in to be questioned over "issues" that were not specified.

On Tuesday, Dek said he was questioned by district police chief Souy Thay and a soldier also visited his home.

"He asked me about [whether we were trying to] appoint village and commune authorities and district forestry [authorities]. I told him that it was not true," Dek said, adding it was clear police had confused the activists' church activities with their political affiliations.

Souy Thay, district police chief, said local sources told him that CNRP activists were choosing and appointing members.

"We did not intimidate them, we just wanted to know and they said they were looking for new [church] members to appoint to a new committee [which is not a problem]," he said.

The total value of construction project investment in Cambodia rose more than 100 per cent during the first half of 2013 compared with the same period a year ago, according to Im Chhun Lim, the head of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction.

Lim, whose comments came at the opening of a three-day construction exhibition in Phnom Penh yesterday, said the value of the building sector reached nearly $2 billion from January to June, up from $870 million year-on-year.

"It has been noted that construction investment has increased sharply in the recent years. This means that we have a peaceful and good investment climate for the investors."

Pung Kheav Se, chairman of the Cambodia Constructors Association (CCA), said the sector is seeing growth through injections of local and foreign capital, and the funds will help the industry modernise and apply uniform standards.

"In Phnom Penh, we can see all kinds of modern high-rise buildings with quality high-tech equipment on a par with developed countries," he said.

On Friday, Hong Kong-based Hongkong Land broke ground on a $100 million 20-storey building in the heart of the city near Wat Phnom.