The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “Loggers questioned by court” plus 9 more

Stung Treng Provincial Court yesterday questioned six men apprehended while allegedly transporting more than 17 cubic metres of illegal Thnong timber by boat in Sesan district, said Y Ek Savtey, director of the provincial forestry administration.

Hou Sam Ol, a provincial coordinator with rights group Adhoc, said the men were arrested on Friday night in a joint operation between forestry administration officials and military police, and that while the men were not the luxury wood's owners, "by law, they colluded to smuggle the timber".

The timber seized on Friday came from a forest in Sesan district, Sam Ol added.

Touch Thear, the provincial director of the agriculture department, speculated that the timber could have come from the Prey Khieu forest, which covers tens of thousands of hectares in Stung Treng, Mondulkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces and contains a large number of economic land concessions.

Provincial prosecutor Chreung Khmao could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Court of Appeal has ordered the reinvestigation of the case against disbarred lawyer David Chanaiwa and his nephew, who were sentenced in June for attacking journalists after a car crash in Phnom Penh.

The two men were charged with assaulting reporters who arrived at the scene after Chanaiwa's nephew, Prak Ou Fie, 20, crashed his car in the capital's Daun Penh district in March.

Chanaiwa's lawyer, May Vannady, requested the court drop the charges, but the court decided to call the reporters involved in the incident to shed some light on what happened.

"My client did not beat the reporters," Vannady claimed.

Chanaiwa, 41, was given three years in prison and fined 6 million riel ($1,500), while Ou Fie was given two years to pay a 4 million riel fine.

Former under-sectetary of state Yean Sina was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison over his involvement in the incident and remains at large.

The World Bank recently ranked Cambodia 184th out of 189 countries for ease of starting a business, but you wouldn't have known it at Phnom Penh's recent Startup Weekend.

Pitches for Cambodia's first commercial organic chicken farm and for an app to connect tuk-tuk drivers to passengers were among dozens of ideas brought forward at the 54-hour event the weekend before last. In all, about 120 participants came together to form teams, conduct market research, develop business schemes and finally present their projects to a judging panel.

The Phnom Penh venue, a sleek office space with spiral staircases and gleaming interiors, looked like it belonged in Silicon Valley rather than in the capital's dusty outskirts on Chroy Changvar – a fitting contrast for an entrepreneurial tech event in one of Asia's least developed countries.

"Cambodia is way behind others when it comes to startups," Tharo Sen, one of the participants, said. "But most of the ideas this weekend are based on what consumers here value [and can later] scale up to other countries."

Tharo's team won the competition with a mobile app that could let friends recommend shops to one another through photos in return for rewards. The team's video pitch is now competing for $500,000 in prizes against more than 200 other teams from around the world.

This was the third Startup Weekend in Cambodia, but this year is the first time that Cambodia is joining the annual Global Startup Battle. A Phnom Penh win would be remarkable for a country where less than 20 per cent of the population have internet access and less than 10 per cent use social media.

At Startup Weekend, the majority of participants had backgrounds in business and marketing rather than technology.

This might make it "a bit difficult if the project is based on technology or the business idea relies on technology", said Chantra Be, one of the organisers. "The ideas are good, but [it's] still a bit difficult in really making a profitable business."

The World Bank noted in an October report that would-be entrepreneurs in Cambodia must complete 11 separate procedures under government rules to start a business, with the whole process taking about 104 days.

Cambodia recently "made starting a business more difficult by introducing a requirement for a company name check at the Department of Intellectual Property and by increasing the costs both for getting registration documents approved and stamped by the Phnom Penh Tax Department, and for completing incorporation with the commercial registrar", the report says.

"The main challenges of startups in Cambodia are lack of legal startup platforms and encouragement from government in terms of law and funding," Chantra said, also adding that "the Cambodian market is too small".

Such obstacles are frustrating the developers of Cambodia's electric car, the Angkor EV 2013, which had been hailed as a national innovation in affordable, green transport. Although a model was unveiled in January, production has stalled due to a lack of funding.

Still, Cambodia does offer some advantages for entrepreneurs, said Chris Brown, a Startup Weekend judge and founder and CEO of Cambodia-based MangoMap, a tool for creating interactive web maps.

The low cost of living in Cambodia makes software developers' services more affordable, he said. In Cambodia "the best guys get about $1,500 a month; the average guy gets about $1,000 monthly". In the US or Europe, they earn about six times that, he said.

Moreover, the spread of multinationals to Cambodia's larger neighbours means that the average retention time for software engineers at startups in Thailand and Vietnam is about one year, while in Cambodia, it's four years – a situation that allows entrepreneurs in Cambodia to build stronger teams, he said.

These benefits have aided the launch of several successful Cambodian startups, from Yoolk, an online yellow pages service with clients around the world – and a Startup Weekend sponsor – to Chibi, a text message-based dating and networking service that won Cambodia's first Startup Weekend in 2011 and now has about 10,000 active users.

Phnom Penh-based InSTEDD, another Startup Weekend sponsor, uses communications technology to track and share information about health issues, natural disasters and other concerns facing disadvantaged communities in four continents. And Startup Weekend mentor Ear Uy's Asva the Monkey, a puzzle game with visuals drawn from traditional Cambodian culture, is a top download in several countries.

That all these businesses have ties to Startup Weekend is no accident – Cambodia's tech community is a small network where most people know each other. But it's also growing. The latest of Cambodia's "BarCamp" tech forums, held in Phnom Penh in October, dwarfed similar events in neighbouring countries, drawing more than 3,000 participants including many students.

While nearly 80 per cent of Cambodia's population live outside of cities and more than half live on less than $2 per day, internet users grew by 548 per cent in 2012, according to a report by the social media agency We Are Social. The report also found that by late 2012 there were 1.3 mobile phone subscriptions in Cambodia for every person. The country's young people – more than half of all Cambodians are under age 25 – are likely to help technology spread.

In the meantime, Cambodia's emerging tech community is looking forward to its next gatherings, including another BarCamp in December, which its organisers are publicising all over social media.

"See you soon in Sihanoukville," they write.

The wages of 400,000 civil servants from 39 government ministries are to be paid via a new electronic banking system due to be rolled out next month.

Secretary of State for the Ministry of Economy and Finance Chu Kim Leng announced the new payroll system on Friday, according to local media reports, marking the beginning of the end for cash-only payments in the government sector.

The ministry, ACLEDA Bank, Canadia Bank and WING – a company that allows clients to make and receive payments using their mobile phones – signed off on the deal last week.

According to In Channy, president and CEO of ACLEDA, the government will deposit salaries into an account at either one of the two participating banking institutions or with WING starting in January 2014.

"The two banks and WING are the options the employees of ministries can choose to get their salary through," he said.

Cambodia National Rescue Party chief whip Son Chhay said yesterday the move away from hard cash was well overdue but warned more work still needs to be done.

"This is what the government should have done a long time ago," Chhay said.

"We still need to know how the system will work. What is the paperwork that government officials will need to get done to open a new bank account?"

Chhay raised fears over the transparency of the new system and the existence of "ghost staff" – nonexistent government staff receiving salary payments.

"I doubt it will in any way help reduce corruption.… We have heard reports of civil servants losing money or having a percentage of their salaries taken out by the Ministry of Economy and Finance."

He said that the government should make sure that those who receive salary payments are all legitimate government employees.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Cambodia has retained its B credit rating despite ratings company Standard & Poor's citing the country's ongoing political standoff as a "major" constraint.

S&P affirmed Cambodia's B/B credit rating last week, labeling the country as having a strong and stable long-term and short-term outlook.

Engagement of international donors, a "modest" debt level of 25.4 per cent of gross domestic product, an expanding tourism sector and strengthening garment exports were key factors behind Cambodia retaining its rating, the ratings firm said.

However, S&P also expressed concerns for Cambodia's low average income level of $1,040 per capita and the government's "non-transparent" policy making, saying these are "persistent" rating constraints.

"We see less than a one-in-three probability that the rating will move up or down in the next 12 months," the report released on Saturday said.

S&P warned that if the stalemate between the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party and the ruling Cambodian People's Party deteriorates "to the point where social stability is threatened", the B rating may be downgraded.

"The government has not shown a tested and functioning mechanism in leadership succession . . . Although demonstrations have not resulted in widespread violence, in our view, the risk to political stability has heightened."

But In Channy, president and CEO of Acleda Bank, is confident Cambodia's rice and garment export markets and micro-economies in tourism will continue to influence strong growth.

"In terms of the risks S&P have identified, I think they are right to be concerned . . . [But] as a country we are certainly moving in the right direction and it is shown in S&P's stable outlook for Cambodia."

Business Research Institute for Cambodia CEO Hiroshi Suzuki said he had not yet seen any adverse affects on Cambodia's economy resulting from the political tensions.

"If S&P thinks the political situation is a critical issue, S&P should give 'negative', instead of 'stable'," he said.

The recent protests in Bangkok echo the biblical story of Barabbas, which is described in all four gospels due to its shockingly emblematic depiction of the power of group emotion.

After a mob had been roused by fanatics, it bayed for the blood of Jesus Christ; but the governor, Pontius Pilate, knowing the man had done little except preach his own doctrine, held back.

The fired-up rabble would not relent, however, despite Pilate asking them three times to be conciliatory and to engage in dialogue.

Exasperated, he tried another tack and asked if he should release the tranquil Jesus – or Barabbas, a foul thug who had committed insurrection and murder.

"Give us Barabbas!" the crowd roared.

Metaphorically speaking, the duly-elected government of Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is being asked by the mob to make way for a foul-mouthed bunch led by their favourite thug, Suthep Thaugsuban.

Suthep's past corrupt dealings led to the downfall of then-PM Chuan Leekpai's Democrat Party-led government in 1995, and later, in another case of alleged illegality in 2009, Suthep was disqualified as an MP.

Soon after, in his capacity as DPM in the previous Democrat government, Suthep signed an order for troops to move against Red Shirt protesters in central Bangkok leading to scores of civilian deaths.

Most recently, wearing his Nazi-like black-shirt uniform, the histrionic Suthep has been whipping up his lemming-like followers into an anarchic frenzy and urging them to occupy public buildings across the capital.

Actually, comparing him to Barabbas is perhaps unfair to Barabbas – and I say that advisedly, having interviewed Suthep many times and lunched regularly for years with his former sidekick, Likit Hongladarom.

All that is not to suggest that Yingluck's government is without fault.

For starters, it has been unduly influenced by her elder brother, the former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who fled into exile to avoid serving a jail term for corruption.

Under Thaksin's apparent direction, it has made profound political mistakes, notably over an ill-conceived scheme to pay rice farmers a guaranteed price for their crop.

And it botched an attempt to pass a blanket amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return home – and would have let Suthep off the hook for the murder charges he faces.

But in a civilised society, mobs do not go on the rampage and politicians are not crucified for policy misjudgements; instead, they face internal leadership challenges or no-confidence votes in parliament.

In fact, Yingluck won a confidence vote handsomely last week, but had the vote gone the other way, she would have been obliged to call an election and let the people, young and old, rich and poor, decide her fate.

Suthep's Democrat Party, ostensibly led by the puppet Abhisit Vejjajiva, will not even accept that outcome to the current unrest because it lacks enough support to win a general election. The only way it can come to power is by fomenting mobs that force military intervention which then leads to a Democrat regime taking over, as in 2008 – and as they clearly hope will happen now.

If it does not happen, then, as in 2006, they will boycott the next election and later argue the poll was fraudulent because they did not take part – and then they will again instigate mob action.

It is a despicable cycle that shows no sign of ending.

Perhaps the only way out is to emulate Pilate and give the people a straight shout-it-out choice between Yingluck and Suthep.

The women and the poorer folks in the countryside will naturally go for Yingluck.

But the fat cats in Bangkok, the guys who decide these things, they'll bellow: "Give us Suthep!"

So let 'em have him. It'll serve them right.

Let's see how long they can tolerate his shady shenanigans, his endemic immorality, his pigsty mouth and gargantuan ego; it's a fair bet that they'll soon be calling for nice Ms Yingluck to come back.

A young Cambodian woman from Takeo province beat international competition for the top prize at this year's Angkor Photo Festival last weekend.

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Neak Sophal, a 24-year-old graduate of Phnom Penh's Royal University of Fine Arts, won the award for her collection "The Hang On".

Françoise Callier, program coordinator of the Angkor Photo Festival, said the 24-year-old photographer was chosen as the winner because she told the real story of Cambodian people through her photos.

"Her story is really the best," said Callier of Sophal's exhibition, which depicts the daily lives of Cambodian people without showing their faces.

"Some of the collections don't really tell stories, but hers is very interesting," she added.

Sophal said she was both surprised and delighted to have won the award, adding that she attempted to portray many walks of life in Cambodia.

"My photography collection was about the Cambodian people's daily lifestyles, which are always burdened," said Sophal.

The title of the collection refers to Sophal's idea that people from all backgrounds are constantly struggling to "hang on" to life.

"Some are lucky enough to be able to do their favourite job, some would prefer a higher salary, some just find a job for a living. But they will all face difficulties in their lives," she said.

As the winner, Sophal will receive the Hope Françoise Demulder Award and a cash prize of €2,000 ($2,720) supported by the Un Declic Contre Une Claque Association in Paris, France. She will also receive a Canon Powershot S110 camera.

Sophal said she has no plans yet as to how to spend the grant money, but added that her camera needs a new lens and that she may well buy one in the near future.

She was announced the winner on the closing night of the Angkor Photo Festival at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor. This was her first year at the festival.

It took an independent jury composed of seven judges several hours before they chose Sophal's photography collection as the winner. At the end of the week, participants presented slide shows of their work to music.

Sophal's work has previously been exhibited around Phnom Penh. In January, her exhibition "Behind", which portrayed Cambodians showing their backs to the camera, ran at Java Cafe in Phnom Penh. Her "Sonleuk" exhibition, which depicted people from her home village covering their faces with leaves, ran at Romeet Gallery in October.

The Angkor Photo Festival in Siem Reap, which is organised by the Angkor Photo Association, was created in 2005 and is the longest-running international photography festival in Southeast Asia.

This year, the festival welcomed internationally acclaimed photographers Shahidul Alam and Jean-François Leroy as guest curators. The top prize in 2012 went to Truth Leem of South Korea.

Cambodia's only literary journal returned to print last weekend at the Cambodian Book Fair after a three-year hiatus. The 150-page volume contains short stories, poems and essays written by young Cambodian writers.

Teri Yamada, editor and co-founder of Nou Hach Literary Journal, said publishing the works of Cambodian writers validates their creativity. "It provides significance to their work, and to what they see and feel in this changing society," said Yamada, adding that Cambodian literature has yet to fully recover from the cultural destruction of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Founded in 2002, Nou Hach halted production in 2010 due to a lack of funding and rampant piracy. But after raising money from both local and international donors in both Cambodia and the US, it resumed publication.

Yamada said that she aims to expose Cambodians to literature and inspire creativity, adding that Nou Hach is distributed to high school teachers to target young people.

The newest issue, said Yamada, comprises younger authors and bolder topics compared with previous years, with writers exploring issues ranging from corruption to sexism. The poem "I Repeat a Level" by Heng Oudom explores corruption in schools, while "A Daughter's Tears" by Kao Sokchea tells the story of a young college-educated woman who unhappily agrees to an arranged marriage.

Yen Chheangly, whose poem "Strobe Lights" contrasts images of Phnom Penh's high-powered club scene with urban poverty, said that the journal has helped him discover his muse.

"When I didn't know how to write, I would see something sad or happy and I would have to keep that feeling to myself. Now I can use my heart words and spread it out."

This is the first time Chheangly's poetry has been published. For the past six years, he's been developing his poetry skills with the help of Nou Hach's free seminars and workshops that bring in foreign authors and academics.

Chheangly, whose poem won second prize in the Nou Hach's poetry competition, said that he hopes that the journal is read both at home and abroad.

Japanese amateur runner Minora Onozuka and a seasoned campaigner from Singapore, Vivian Tang, won the men's and women's events, respectively, in the 18th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon yesterday with Cambodia's most prestigious charity run attracting a record number of 7,579 participants from 75 countries.

Breaking sunshine and a cool early morning breeze in Siem Reap presented the perfect clime as 3,000 runners lined up for the 21km run, which was the first to be flagged off by Tourism Minister and National Olympic Committee of Cambodia President Thong Khon.

The other supporting events – a 10km for men and women and a 3km fun run – came under the starter's orders at short intervals. There were also special category events for participants with disability apart from a wheelchair race.

Cambodia's pride and multiple winner of half marathons, Hem Bunting, was among the starters, but after covering five kilometres he reportedly felt pain in his stomach and dropped out to rest.

Once the big field sorted itself out, Onozuka worked his way up to take over the running with nearly half the trip ahead of him. The 33-year-old Tokyo resident, heading for his first overseas success, conserved himself well enough at that stage to raise the tempo towards the end.

In the final section, Onozuka had established a winning lead, clocking in his personal best time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 10 seconds.

Chasing him hard to the finish, 38-year-old Assad Attanini of Australia finished second in 1 hour 17 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of 20-year-old Peter Gardener of the United States.

"I have won a couple of long distance races back home," Onozuka told the Post through an interpreter.

"I run for fun. I am an amateur. But this victory is really special for me not only because it is my first overseas win but because it is milestone year for Japan-Cambodia friendship."

Japan and Cambodia are commemorating the 60th anniversary of Japan-Cambodia relationship and co-operation while Japan is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of its partnership with Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Cambodia is a member.

Tang, 43, built on her past experiences in Siem Reap and was comfortably home with a winning time of one hour, 27 minutes and 28 seconds nearly four minutes ahead of Janette Agura of the Phillipines and Charolette Cutler of Great Britain.

Cambodia's Nary Ly was among the contestants in the women's run, but at no stage was she in serious reckoning.

The 10km run for men and women was the next best attraction of the day. Anand Parekh of the United States won the men's contest in a smart time of 38 minutes, beating by seconds Jamie Chambers of Great Britain, who narrowly held off a swoop by Cambodia's Ork Rohit.

The race was thrilling all the way up the final run home with less than a second eventually separating the three.

Parekh, however, had to give the awards ceremony a miss as he dashed off to the airport minutes after the race to catch a flight back.

Finland's Heidi Makineri won the women's 10km run in 44 minutes and 35 seconds, Lorette Vinet of France and Sophie Chavanel.

Addressing the participants and a big crowd of spectators before the early morning start, Tourism Minister Thong Khon described the record participation this year as a watershed moment in Cambodia's sporting history.

"We have never seen these numbers before. It is most heartening that there is a 20 per cent increase this year and we hope this will go even higher next year", said the Minister.

"It's a tremendous boost to our country's image in the world. It also shows that Cambodia is a wonderful tourism-sports destination."

NOCC secretary-general told the Post it was "a sign of great progress that 4,000 foreigners took part this year and, more importantly, we had more nationalities represented – 75 countries and regions in all.

Excitement is also running high among this year's participants over the prospects of a full Angkor Wat International Marathon taking shape next year.

When the Post drew his attention to this buzz over a full marathon, Thong Khon said: "Right now we focus our efforts on consolidating this half marathon and making it a better experience for all . . . As for the full marathon, yes it will happen."

There were a few oddities that stood out like a runner in 10km taking along her pet dog on a leash and a senior citizen completing the 21km barefoot. Then, there was this runner in a tiger costume.

But the most striking of them all was a female competitor finishing the run with her baby in her arms.

Pedalers power to podium
In the weekend's traditional cycling races held the day before the half marathon, 18-year-old national team rider Yoeun Phyuth captured the 100km men's title in a dramatic finish while Jolanda Zwetsloot of the Netherlands doubled up on her 2013 women's Mountain Bike Series victory with a 100km win in 3:07:08.

Engineering student Phyuth beat fellow Cambodian Meas Samnang by just one hundredth of a second, completing the course in 2:55:51. Swiss cyclist Simon Gadient was also just fractions of a second behind in third.

The 30km events saw male rider Mol Salim triumph in 47:27:06, nearly a minute in front of Soun Visal and Em Perk.

Female cyclist Michelle of the Philippines grabbed first with a time of 1:39:00, 47 seconds faster than Mok Sakhun, with Prak Pov in third on 1:53:04.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY YEUN PONLOK, TRANSLATED BY CHENG SERYRITH

The Anti-Corruption Unit arrested two employees of Electricite du Cambodge in Mondulkiri, after they allegedly stole about $100,000 (400 million riel) from the electric utility.

Suot Sarim, an EdC office employee, and Ny Sophor, an EdC cashier assistant, were both arrested on Wednesday after ACU investigators allegedly found the two were forging documents in order to take money since January last year, Mondulkiri prosecutor Khut Sopheang said.

"They were charged on Thursday, and detained after [the] ACU discovered they exploited the state budget," Sopheang said. In a separate case, Phy Rith, deputy director of Preah Sihanouk's provincial Department of Customs and Excise, was arrested by ACU officials last week for allegedly overcharging people for property taxes and pocketing the money, according to provincial judge Nhem Visal.

Rith was arrested on Wednesday following an ACU investigation, Visal said.

Following the arrests last week, General Department of Taxation director Kong Vibol signed an announcement on Friday that requires all state enterprises to issue physical bills for all goods and services they provide to clients in the future.