The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “People are confused” plus 9 more

They want to fight the Hun Sen regime. I want to fight repression, and I think a lot people are confused between fighting repression and just fighting the CPP.

Christmas really isn't the same without a traditional Christmas dinner of roast meat and vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Pork and rice, while delicious, just doesn't cut it. Unfortunately, many Cambodian kitchens lack ovens, which most would agree are fairly useful for, you know, roasting stuff.

However, it is theoretically possible to cook an entire Christmas spread using a standard issue two-burner stovetop. The idea is that by trapping the heat in a lidded saucepan you can "roast" the food.

In the interests of improving the authenticity of our readers' Christmas celebrations – and because we like mucking about in the kitchen – 7Days decided to put this to the test.

To start with, we cut our chicken into quarters and chucked the pieces in an oiled frying pan then, while they were sizzling away, we chopped up some carrots and onions. Once the chicken was nicely brown, we layered it, the vegetables and some whole heads of garlic in a large saucepan and whacked a lid on top.

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Next we sliced up some potatoes and parboiled them in salted water then threw them in the saucepan with the other veggies and chicken. The onions and chicken seemed to be burning a bit at this point, so we sloshed a little of the water from the potatoes in with the rest.

There's really no way we could think of to cook a real Yorkshire pudding on a stovetop. The usual method is to pour batter made of milk, water, eggs and flour into a muffin tin and then bake them in an oven.

We thought of frying the batter in a frying pan, but then you would just have pancakes, so we decided to try deep frying them instead. We tentatively plopped a few spoonfuls of batter into some boiling oil and the results were … interesting.

The dribbles cooked instantly into little tendrils, and we ended up with "puddings" that looked more like tiny tentacled Cthulhu-esque squid-creatures – the stuff culinary nightmares are made of.

By this time the chicken and vegetables were cooked through so we took them out and used the residue and juices to form the basis of a gravy made with a little flour, water and chicken stock.

A good roast's skin should be crispy and its flesh moist and juicy, the vegetables should be crunchy on the outside and smooshy on the inside, the Yorkshire pudding light and fluffy and the gravy smooth.

Our Christmas dinner was none of these things. The effectiveness of the stove-top method is reliant on having a thick-based saucepan – otherwise the base gets too hot and burns the food – and ours probably wasn't heavy enough. When we sloshed the extra water in the saucepan, the contents became too moist which meant it all steamed rather than roasted.

However, despite all expectations it was still quite edible. The flavours of the onion, garlic, vegetables and chicken all mingled nicely in the saucepan. And while none of it ended up being crispy or crunchy it was all definitely cooked.

If you're keen on having a proper Christmas dinner at home – and opposed to buying a rotisserie chicken at any one of the numerous street stalls around Phnom Penh – definitely give the stovetop method a shot. Maybe try and find a better way to make Yorkshire puddings though. Otherwise, those things will haunt your dreams.

$10 to feed four people.

A Dutch man who was released on bail after being convicted of sex crimes two years ago has been charged in a new case alleging he recently sexually abused two boys, age 6 and 9.

Sebastian Reuiji, 40, will be detained at Siem Reap's provincial prison, said Duong Thavry, chief of the provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit.

"[Reuiji] was charged with indecent acts against a minor under the age of 15," Thavry said. Officers from the unit arrested Reuiji in his Siem Reap rental house on Wednesday, after receiving complaints of sexual abuse from the victims, Thavry added.

In October 2011, Reuiji was convicted of sexually abusing five children between the ages of 7 and 13 in Siem Reap, Thavry added. The court sentenced him to three months in prison, but he was released on bail.

Samneang Seila, from NGO Action Pour Les Enfants , said Reuiji should be deported.

"He is a dangerous person."

Cambodia's nine phone service operators plan to establish an independent body to debate issues within the industry, according to a statement yesterday from the Telecommunications Regulator of Cambodia (TRC).

Forming the Association of Telecommunications Operators in Cambodia, or the ATC for short, was agreed upon in principle at a meeting with the TRC on December 13, the statement said.

The new association is described as providing "a single voice for debate and to improve discussion with the TRC".

Thomas Hundt, CEO of one of the larger providers, Smart, said the idea for the ATC was put together years ago, but it never came to fruition.

While the organisation will encourage discussion between rival companies on issues such as pricing regulation, technological changes and Cambodian telecommunications law, Hundt said it would not be a panacea for every industry conflict.

"In no way can a common voice be guaranteed by the ATC. It is unlikely that most issues will be agreed upon. We are competitors, after all," he said.

Hundt stressed that the organisation was still in the planning stage and no initial meeting or schedule had been set.

In the same statement, the regulator said that all nine providers had agreed to "follow and implement" government regulations relating to Prakas 232, enforcing fixed mobile phone charges of 4.5 cents per minute inside a network and 5.95 cents between different networks.

The government reinforced the minimum price-fixing on November 28, more than three years after the rules were drafted, in an attempt to "ensure fair competition". The announcement received widespread backlash from mobile phone users and telecom operators earlier this month.

Mobitel and Smart were yesterday found to be offering 100 per cent top-up bonuses as part of a holiday promotion, seemingly contradicting Prakas 232.

Hundt said, however, the bonuses were in line with the regulator's rules allowing promotions during holidays. Mobitel CEO Ian Watson did not return a phone call seeking comment.

"Our bonus offering is in line with the regulations," Hundt said.

Mao Chakrya, director general of the TRC, said the regulator would hold an internal meeting on Monday to examine the state of the industry and the minimum prices, suggesting that the prakas was far from permanent.

Chakrya said the discussion would result in finding "what we are going to change to match the current situation for benefiting customers".

In November, Cambodia won the coveted World's Best Rice award for the fragrant variety. It was the second year in a row that the product finished first in the global competition, held this year in Hong Kong. Kann Kunthy, chief executive officer of Battambang Rice Investment Co, was a presenter at the competition. The Post's Chan Muy Hong sat down with Kunthy to talk about what the award has done for rice exports, and what challenges to stay competitive lie ahead.

How is the World's Best Rice award-winner selected?
Rice producers from around the world can submit rice samples to compete. I do not remember the number of competitors this time. But for the first round, six countries were selected to go to another round.

That included Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, India and the United States (California rice). There were three countries left after the second round: Cambodia, Thailand and the United States. Then Thailand was out. We were competing with California rice and we won. They judge the rice according to four criteria before and after it is cooked: the aroma, the overall look, the texture and the length of the grain.

The award is nice, but how has it helped farmers?
We first won in 2012. I didn't think then that we had benefited from it. But this year, we have seen attention from both local and international media, and people keep talking about it. The award was won by Cambodian farmers. This award belongs to no one specifically, but to all the farmers out there who have grown quality rice. I think this award should be the starting point for relevant stakeholders to come together and push the whole sector forward.

What needs to be done?
The number one challenge is capital. We take loans to invest in rice millers. We take loans to buy paddy rice. Buyers do not pay us immediately, so the interest rate keeps going up. This is triple risk for us. We need a lower interest rate loan.

Number two is energy costs. Compared to nearby countries, Cambodia has a lower energy supply and it is expensive. It is quite a big deal for us because it makes our operational costs higher. Number three is transportation and logistics to export rice, which require money too. We need a cheaper way to transport rice. Finally, there is no marketing or public relations campaign to promote our rice to a wider market. I believe if we could link the rice sector with tourism through marketing, we could bring the fame of our fragrant rice to the globe while attracting more tourists.

What kinds of potential do you see in the rice sector?
We see more demand for Cambodian rice because Cambodian farmers are still using traditional ways of farming, which means we have better potential in producing better quality rice for export. Rice production in Cambodia is at nine million tonnes annually. I think in the future if we have better water management systems and we use all the available land to farm, Cambodia's rice production could reach 20 million tonnes a year. If the government could provide information databases about soil mapping and where to seek quality seeds and what province has potential for what kind of rice, I think it will attract more investment that will help improve the whole rice sector.

What should be done to strengthen the competitiveness of Cambodia's rice sector in the region?
The government should focus on marketing. The private sector should make rice quality better. In our case, we are planning to do contract farming with local farmers in which we will be working with them in selecting quality seeds, using soil and assisting them with farming techniques from our experts. ASEAN economic integration is approaching, meaning no tax will be charged on importing and exporting among the member countries. I think Cambodia should be ready in terms of competitiveness in price, quality and service.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

The Cambodian Badminton Federation has confirmed that its upcoming 14th edition of the Victory Over Genocide Day (7 Makara) Badminton Cup will be held at Svay Rieng provincial hall on January 11-12.

Events include singles and doubles for men's U16, U19, U40, 40 to 50-year-olds and over-50s as well as female doubles of all ages. All participating clubs and associations are allowed to enter up to four players in any one category, although the host club can submit up to eight players.

A U$$250 cash prize will be awarded to event winners, with runners-up getting $150 and third placers $100. Registration closes on January 5.

Cambodia found themselves back on the golden path yesterday at the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar with triumph for the vovinam team. The Vietnamese martial art was the Kingdom's most successful discipline at the 2011 Games in Indonesia, with team members grabbing two golds, seven silvers and three bronzes.

Yesterday's morning session at the Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw hadn't offered much promise, however, with Chrin Bunlong, Kat Sopheak, Ly Boramy and San Socheat failing to repeat their silver medal in the men's leg attack performance (known as Don Chan Tan Cong). The four were judged fifth on 265 points, as Vietnam clinched top spot with 280.

Cambodia's Pov Sokha also missed out on the podium, coming fourth in women's yin yang sword forms (Tinh Hoa Luong Nghu Kiem Phap) with 262. Myanmar's Hnin Thi Da won with 269.

All was forgotten, however, in the afternoon when heroes Soeung Visal, Chin Piseth, Kat Sopheak and heroine Souer Chanleakena clinched gold in the one female defender against three male attackers with weapons performance (Da Luyen Vu Hhi Nu).

It was the Kingdom's sixth gold medal of the Games, keeping them ninth in the medals table of 11. Thailand remain at the summit with 79 golds.

Two bronze medals were also kicked out for Cambodia on the vovinam mats with Mao Monita in women's 45-50kg and Tin Pheap in men's 55-60kg winning their quarter-finals but losing their semi-finals yesterday.

The delegation are hoping for more vovinam medals, as well as from events such as taekwondo, judo, kempo, sepak takraw and traditional boating before Sunday's closing ceremony.

Bunna Cheang lost her women's 53-57kg taekwondo quarter-final 15-1 on points at the Wunna Theikdi Indoor Stadium in Naypyidaw.

Cambodia had earlier yesterday spurned the chance to steal a march up the table on noisy neighbours Laos by losing the gold medal match in petanque mixed triples (two women, one man) at the Petanque Arena near Naypyidaw's Athletes Village.

Tep Nora, Chhin Srey Pich and Duong Dina had been blazing a trail in the competition, winning all four preliminaries on Wednesday before dispatching Vietnam 13-6 in yesterday morning's semi-final to guarantee silver.

But the trio came a cropper in the final despite surging into a 4-0 lead to eventually lose 13-5 to Laos players Thepphakan Bovilak, Nienmani Lar and Souliya Manyvanh.

Meanwhile, Cambodia's other triples squad (two men, one woman) of Songvat Chakriya, Sieng Vanna and Ya Chandararith suffered a 13-9 defeat in the semi-finals to another Laos outfit to collect the bronze.

The Cambodian women's hockey team conceded their hundredth goal in their fifth and final group game yesterday at the Hockey Field in Yangon, going down 7-0 to hosts Myanmar.

Pakistan-born coach Rana Asif Maqsood will be overwhelmed with areas to improve on but he should be commended for at least producing a team for competition out of absolutely no hockey tradition in the Kingdom and, indeed, not a single Astroturf facility suitable for training on at home.

The side will have one last chance to score a goal in the competition today when playing Indonesia, who beat them 15-0 on Monday, in the fifth place play-off at 10am Cambodian time. Myanmar will take on Singapore for the bronze medal at 12:30pm before huge favourites Malaysia meet Thailand in the title decider at 3pm.

At the athletics track of Naypyidaw's Wunna Theikdi Sports Complex, Kieng Samorn came up short in the men's 1,500 metres, finishing sixth. The Cambodian middle distance runner and London Olympian had made his way to second place up until the last 200m, when he appeared to run out of gas.

Angelina Jolie says her sons eat them "like Doritos," locals find them a tasty snack, but could the humble cricket ever be commonplace in a westerner's shopping basket?

New company Khmer Iron Cricket thinks so, and with a range of high-protein delicacies including cookies and baked spicy dehydrated crickets, is hoping to tempt the fussiest palates while, in the long term, providing a sustainable source of protein to malnourished Cambodian children.

Having launched in Kep and Phnom Penh a month ago, long-term French expats and friends Gérard Thévenet and Philippe Lenain are now selling their cricket-based products in Temple Town at outlets including Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa, Bopha Angkor Hotel and Cassia restaurant.

"At the moment we already have 25 points of sale in Siem Reap," Lenain says. "We sell through hotels and souvenir shops. My partner Gérard has a travel agency here so we are using that for support."

Thévenet and Lenain, based in Kep, had been living in Cambodia for several years when Thévenet came up with the idea to start a cricket farm.

The pair discovered that crickets were not only plentiful, but raising them was cost effective and most importantly they were a great source of protein, containing 59 per cent. Coming from a family of farmers, Thévenet recognised that Cambodia was the perfect environment for raising crickets, and being a chef he was also curious to explore the insect's nutritional benefits.

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Khmer Iron Cricket sells spicy dehydrated crickets that have been baked for 14 hours with garlic and spices, and power protein cookies containing whole crickets and flavoured with coffee, coconut, cinnamon or durian.

Packaged in neat little boxes with transparent lids, the cool branding suggests something that wouldn't look out of place in the world food section of Selfridges Food Hall. The slogan, 'powerfully delicious!'is derived from the Khmer term for this type of cricket – iron cricket.

"When we interviewed some Khmer people they had the idea that this cricket makes you strong," Lenain explains.

"We also sell powder made from ground crickets and down the road I'd like to use this as a nutritional compliment, to mix with food. That's our main aim – to sell it to feed malnourished children.

"I have contacted many NGOs but at the moment we're still at the stage where we must get the approval of the Ministry of Social Affairs. I have a good contact with the World Food Program; this is really at the top of the chain, because they have programs in Cambodia which are really addressing malnutrition."

He adds that the tourist interest in his cricket products was accidental.

"We didn't have the tourist angle in our minds at all, but in Kep there are a few tourists, hotels and restaurants. Some people who had tried them said their clients really liked them, and wanted more."

But while people are evidently going crazy for crickets, being new to the business, it took Lenain and Thévenet nearly a year of trial and error before successfully delivering the product.

Now about one and a half million crickets are kept in 300 square metre layers of boxes down at the farm. They are fed on a diet of vegetables including pumpkin and eggplant, and harvested every six weeks. After four weeks, bowls of coconut fibre and rice husk are placed in their 'living quarters' to attract the females, who lay their eggs once a day.

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The crickets are cooked according to recipes devised by Thévenet, who used to own La Taverne restaurant in Phnom Penh.

"Some we do with spices, some are simply dehydrated, without flavour – plain," says Lenain. "They are added to the cookies, or they are turned into powder. The taste of the cricket is not very powerful, maybe a bit similar to a chestnut."

In the future, Khmer Iron Cricket plans to introduce some new products and also launch abroad.

"We are working on a protein bar for sportsmen, on protein pastas and many more delicacies," Lenain says. "We're discussing with companies to represent us in France, in the USA and in China. It's still early days, but we're ready to expand."

"Everybody eats insects – except us, except the western world.. We are the exceptions."

He adds that the protein content of these little critters is astonishingly high.

"Beef is at 28 per cent, chicken would be 20, maybe 25," he says. "Fish is only ten or 13. So 59 per cent is very, very high. The good thing about it is that I read to get one gram of protein from crickets, it takes forty times less food than for cattle."

LOW DECEMBER TOURISM NUMBERS
Chill winds hit town this week, matching the chilly outlook that some in the tourist industry have about this year's high season which, to date, has certainly not hit the expected heights. Despite predictions of a record high season, numbers appear to be down this month. There's also concern that the high season may be somewhat shortened this year – the Chinese New Year usually falls in February thus extending seasonal numbers into that month. But this year the celebration falls in January, and there are reports that February numbers are dropping off, and that March will see a crash in tourist numbers. One major hotel reports that it has absolutely zero bookings for March.

And of course there's the perennial debate about whether Siem Reap has too many hotels. That certainly wasn't the case last year with high occupancies, but this year there is an estimated 800 new hotel rooms bringing the number of rooms in town to around the 10,000 mark. Plus pundits note that there is a rash of new hotels under construction throughout town. This, observers say, could drive many hotel room prices down to about $35.

There are concerns that continual political problems in Thailand could adversely affect tourism numbers and many tourism players are keeping a wary watch over developments in Myanmar, with a fear that the opening up of tourism there may harm Cambodian numbers.

'DIVOTS' McHENRY MOVES ON
The ebullient and effusive Emmett McHenry has finished a five-year stint as general manager of the Sokha Angkor hotel and in a press release he said, "In the five years since I joined the team at Sokha Angkor , the hotel has come on in leaps and bounds. We've served prime ministers and presidents and I'm proud of all that we've achieved.

"I believe in developing strong multi-cultural teams which demonstrate the essence of Cambodian hospitality and I can honestly say that the team I leave at the Sokha Angkor is ready to tackle any challenge."

His achievements at the Sokha Angkor include strong growth for the hotel in all markets and guests are drawn from throughout the globe – 70 per cent of those who stay in the resort are from Asia, 8 per cent from Europe and 8 per cent from North America.

Emmett officially finished at Sokha on December 10 and on Monday December 16 he celebrated birthday number 65 at Viva Restaurant. A star of the night was his recently born baby daughter.

He declared he will stay in Siem Reap and seek new challenges, including much-needed improvement in his golfing prowess.

He is also president of the Cambodian Hotel Association Siem Reap Chapter which should soon have 50 members, and he will continue to advise the charity which he set up with Sokha Angkor which provides help and assistance for 156 families living on the lake. This charity has ensured that every child has a school place, and books and bags.

SHORTS
Must see show: Cambodia Space Project performs Galaxy Khmer tonight and tomorrow night at the Phare Circus.

Festive dinners: Nest Angkor Cafe-Bar has a Christmas day special set dinner worth $35+ with a glass of champagne and coffee or tea. The New Year's Eve countdown includes a $55+ set menu with a glass of champagne, coffee or tea and a souvenir gift. Live music and surprises will feature until countdown, with a drink promotion from 10pm until late.

Telling moment: One of Siem Reap's longest running and much loved restaurants, Tell, has taken a dramatic step and opened an extra floor upstairs with great views of all the night-time downtown madness. And as always, great food. Plus there are two private rooms allowing those who insist on smoking to smoke without bugging others.

Phnom Penh-based British photographer David Holliday describes his first Siem Reap exhibition, which opened on Saturday at Palate Restaurant, as "Painting with photographs." The show, titled "The Montages La Palate", consists of brightly coloured, almost cartoon-like portrayals of street scenes, river views and old French colonial houses.

Londoner Holliday, who has lived in Phnom Penh for three years and exhibited at The Plantation hotel and Rubies Wine Bar, uses a special technique to create the comic strip-style look of his montages. He says his processing method has been compared to illustrations in Tintin books – and indeed looking at the bright colours and sharp outlines of the photographs, this is definitely true, particularly of the images of bicycles and motos.

"I have a technique I developed by chance," he says. "But I have to keep this a little bit secret. I am still experimenting with technique and not all I produce gets shown as certain subjects do not work with this style or montage."

The finished results look more like paintings or prints than photographs, and he agrees that once he has finished "dabbling" with them, this is certainly the case.

"Sometimes photography is described as painting with light. I would describe my works as painting with photographs," he says. "I construct them by hand rather like painting with a brush on a board before printing on huge canvases.

"Often I fill in and add details with wax crayons and scraps of paper. I use canvas now and am experimenting with more mixed media, like oil paints or crumbled up brick and glue."

Each picture takes about two weeks to make. Holliday is inspired by old buildings, street scenes and the small details he notices while out and about in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and the provinces.

"I love windows and doors, shutters and crumbling paintwork," he says. "I love the old cultures in alleyways and features. But I also like the trendy motorbikes and sense of style people have. At the moment I am expanding my moto-style picture into a huge street montage using several canvases. I am also working on Siem Reap images."

Subjects include Phnom Penh's dilapidated White Building, an old abandoned coffee shop, a motorbike fashion parade, houses overgrown with plants and scenes from Otres beach after the rainy season.

One of Holliday's favourite montages is Boat Village 4, which he created after chartering a boat on the Tonlé Sap.

"It was just me and the captain, who had no idea what I was doing," he says. "I sat on the roof and took several hundred images. The tin roofs came out nicely. I wanted to portray the living conditions of the riverside squats and shanty towns and this is not possible by foot. Some people live in boats, some in falling down shacks.

"When I began to work on the picture, I made four very long photo montages and some smaller ones; I tacked them to my wall and it was a big confusion at first. There was too much detail, also the river was murky brown and dull.

"My son Dominic had the brilliant idea to make a reflection of the shacks, boats and houses on the brown river therefore keeping the colour. This I did."

"The Montages La Palate" will run at Palate until March 10 2014.