The Phnom Penh Post - ENGLISH: “At least three killed at factory clash” plus 9 more

At least three protesters have been shot dead by police this morning at the Canadia industrial complex in the capital's Por Sen Chey district, Phnom Penh deputy police chief Chuon Narin has confirmed.

The use of force came as riot police moved in to break up a demonstration by thousands of workers who blocked Veng Sreng street, the site of an ongoing demonstration that began yesterday evening and saw hundreds of riot police deployed to the area after midnight.

Only moments ago, Post reporters on the scene confirmed that the widespread use of automatic weapons fire was still ongoing.

Union leaders and rights activists reported even higher death totals.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he had received information that four strikers had been shot dead and many more injured.

"The situation now is still tense," he told the Post. "Why are they cracking down on us as we just demanding our salary?"

Chan Soveth, a monitor for local rights group Adhoc who was at the scene, also said he had heard four strikers were killed, with another 10 badly injured and multiple arrests.

"They were beating people on their heads," Soveth added, saying authorities tried to chase strikers who attempted to run to their rented rooms near the site.

National Military Police spokesman Brigadier General Kheng Tito, who would confirm only one death when reached earlier, defended the use of force.

"We're just doing our jobs. We fear the security situation, so we have to crack down on them," he said. "If we allow them to continue the strike, later on, it will become messy and more complicated to control."

Tito added that nine police officials were injured by stones, some fired from slingshots, during clashes with workers in the area.

Dave Welsh, from labour rights group Solidarity Center, condemned the police use of live ammunition as outrageous.

"In that economic zone, things have been getting out of hand," he said. "Whatever the case, this is complete disproportionate use of force, illegal and completely outrageous on behalf of the government."

The demonstration comes amid an ongoing national strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour's Labour Advisory Committee set a new monthly minimum wage of $95 - $65 less than striking unions demanded. The ministry raised the minimum wage another $5 earlier this week. Additional reporting by Shane Worrell and Sean Teehan

They have a job to protect the nation. This is not a demonstration … this is a rebellion.

Authorities yesterday injured dozens of union leaders, garment workers and monks, arresting at least 15 of them, in a series of crackdowns against demonstrators protesting the industry's minimum wage.

Garment workers and their supporters who were gathered yesterday in front of the Yakjin factory, off National Road 4 in the capital's Por Sen Chey district, said tensions between demonstrators and soldiers from a local military base guarding the factory boiled over at 9am when soldiers began unprovoked attacks on them.

The demonstration occurred amid a national garment worker strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour's Labour Advisory Committee set this year's minimum monthly wage for workers in the garment sector at $95 – $65 less than unions demanded. The ministry this week tacked another $5 onto the minimum wage, which will now rise to $100 next month.

As the groups stood face-to-face on the dirt road just off the main road, soldiers began throwing water bottles at demonstrators, who picked up the bottles and threw them back at soldiers, said Chean Kongkea, a 20-year-old employee at Korean-owned Yakjin.

The groups then exchanged volleys of projectiles, with soldiers using slingshots to fling rocks at demonstrators, said Sophorn, a witness who asked to be identified only by his first name.

During that first melee, soldiers also attacked people with batons, seemingly at random, Kongkea said. Soldiers grabbed two men off their motorbikes and three women from the crowd, heavily beat them and dragged them inside the grounds of the factory – which had dismissed workers for the day shortly before.

A second outburst came at about noon, when four monks who approached soldiers were allegedly severely beaten with batons and three also dragged inside, Sophorn said.

The fourth monk was beaten unconscious and taken by witnesses to the Choam Chao clinic and treated for his injuries.

Soon after the monks were beaten, which coincided with more throwing of projectiles from both sides, a group of about three soldiers surrounded Van Peuv, an employee with the NGO IDEA, unprovoked, and pummelled him severely, dragging him inside along with the others, said Uch Serey Juth, who was standing next to Peuv.

During Peuv's beating, Serey Juth pleaded with soldiers for them to stop to no avail, he said. "They said only, 'My boss ordered me to,'" Serey Juth said.

The scene remained tense for hours after the arrests, with Chab Sophorn, the soldier giving orders to the others, shouting for the demonstrators and onlookers to back up and initially refusing to allow UN peacekeepers inside the factory to see the injured arrestees.

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Authorities eventually allowed a group of people, including Cambodia National Rescue Party member David Sovann, inside the factory, but those arrested had already been taken to the nearby base of the Special Forces Airborne 911 Unit, where they were being held, Sovann said after emerging from the factory.

Bloodstains on the floor of the factory led Sovann to suspect the people taken inside were further battered after their arrests, he said.

A statement from rights group Licadho and the Community Legal Education Center described the incident as "unprecedented" and a "violent crackdown" by soldiers armed with a number of weapons.

"The conduct of the authorities is a flagrant attack on the freedom of association of Cambodian workers and a blatant and illegal attempt to break a legal strike," the statement says.

The two NGOs believed 10 people had been arrested, including at least four monks, Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association president Vorn Pao and Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community coordinator Theng Savoeun.

In all, 15 people, including five monks were arrested, according to the National Police's website.

"We are gravely concerned for the safety of those still held, especially in light of recent threats to leaders of unions and informal associations," Licadho director Naly Pilorge said.

At the scene, Chab Sophorn defended actions taken against demonstrators. They posed a threat to Yakjin's property, which they were charged with protecting, he said.

"I was ordered by my boss to protect the factory, so I have to protect the factory," Chab Sophorn said. "They threw a lot of stones at us."

Women from the Boeung Kak community, including Yorm Bopha, joined in, at times kneeling in prayer in front of soldiers standing in formation and at other times shouting at them. Monks standing in the front of a crowd of onlookers about 50 metres away from soldiers linked arms, refusing to leave as Sophorn ordered.

According to a press release issued by its partner firm last week, Yakjin Trading Corp, which also operates factories in Vietnam and Indonesia, makes clothes for Gap, Walmart and Old Navy, among other big brands.

The protesters strategy changed at 4:45pm, when about 400 people walked into National Road 4, blocking traffic on both sides with their bodies, tuk-tuks and motorbikes.

Just over an hour later, after several speeches made over loudspeakers attached to a tuk-tuk, the group mobilised, marching about a half-kilometre down National Road 4, and blocking it right in front of the street leading to the military base. Demonstrators soon blocked the base's road as well, demanding authorities release the people being held.

Traffic on the main road backed up with headlights going back far in the distance. Demonstrators blocked attempts by several people on motorbikes to get past the human barricade in front of the military base road.

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As he helped block the road, Sieng Sovannara, chief of the Khmer Krom monk community, said he did so because five of his monks were being held inside the base, accused of being "fake monks".

"I decided to block the road because I want authorities to release the monks," said Sovannara, who added that the monks there had been defrocked.

Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for rights group Adhoc, also decried the military response to an initially peaceful protest.

"It was very wrong, because they are soldiers," Soveth said. "They have to protect the nation, not the factory, but they protect the factory and beat monks."

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan defended soldiers' role in detaining the monks and union leaders, comparing their role to that of the National Guard in the US.

"They have a job to protect the nation," he said. "This is not a demonstration … this is a rebellion."

Asked whether monks involved could be said to be a threat to national security, Siphan claimed they were "fake monks" who had destroyed public and private property.

"They are abusing the law. If you have the uniform, you need to own the ethics … the monk should be in the pagoda."

At about 7pm, demonstrators left on their own accord.

Authorities later released the five monks at about 11:30pm.

Nearby, at the Canadia garment factory, authorities also carried out an unprovoked attack on peaceful demonstrators armed only with speakers, injuring 10 people, said Phoeun Chhorn, a 21-year-old worker at Canadia whose foot was injured during the crackdown.

A doctor at Ekreach Clinic said three people came in for treatment. Two were sent home and one was transferred to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital. In the wake of that incident, a group of protesters estimated at more than 200 strong blockaded the street and set large bonfires.

After midnight this morning, an estimated 500 police in riot gear moved in to remove hundreds of remaining protesters from outside the factory.

At the sign of movement, most of the crowd scattered, though a few remained, throwing rocks from a distance, as police fired warning shots into the air.

At least one man was seen being dragged from a nearby building after attempting to hide from the police.

Earlier yesterday, members of the six unions leading the strike announced they would suspend the strike if the government and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia begins negotiations with unions within three days.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL, MOM KUNTHEAR, DANIEL QUINLAN AND BENNETT MURRAY

Some 300 residents of Kampong Thom province will submit their thumbprints to the provincial governor calling for the ouster of the chief abbot of a Stung Sen town pagoda – a move opponents say is motivated by the abbot's perceived support of the opposition.

However, Khieu Khean, chief of Krochab village in Achar Leak commune, maintained yesterday that residents were upset with Krochab pagoda abbot Ann Mony because he had been uncooperative, and had had "scores of problems with people".

"He ignores people and was insincere about money with the pagoda committee by using pagoda money to buy a motorbike and a car," Khean said.

But some, like villager and Cambodia National Rescue Party supporter Kem Sosal, 31, accused Khean and others of seeking Mony's ouster in order to install a more pro-ruling party abbot.

"The village chief and his deputy have collected thumbprints, saying [the abbot] is involved in politics, so they want to drive him out, but when we ask why they say it is not political, and that [it's because] he is not honest with the pagoda instead," she said.

"As for the accusation of him buying moto or car, I can say that the mother of the chief abbot has money to buy one for him; [he was] not using pagoda's money."

Last month, Mony allowed the CNRP to hold a Buddhist ceremony to collect money to build improved toilets for the pagoda. He also took part in the opposition's mass demonstrations in the capital, one of the reasons authorities intend to expel him, Sosal added.

Stung Sen town Governor Hok Rin said yesterday that he was unaware of the campaign, but that only the provincial or district board of monks could remove an abbot.

Mony could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A reputed drug addict in Banteay Meanchey's Sisophon town with a host of alleged crimes to his name finally ran out of luck on Wednesday.

According to police, the man was known for snatching bags, grabbing phones and stealing in the early morning every time he and his wife ran out of money for drugs.

But the good times finally came to an end when police were issued an arrest warrant and raided his guesthouse, sending him and his wife to court. KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Go down to Phnom Penh's Central Market at 8am and you'll find that the food court on the west side is crowded with diners. Stalls offer the usual fare: pork and rice, borbor rice porridge, kuy taev or rice noodle soup. Market vendors fuel up for the day ahead.

Tucked in the middle of the stalls is a stand adorned with the usual unidentifiable meat products. In a glass case, enormous shrimp are for sale. But behind the display a harried young woman prepares a vibrantly yellow dish on a metal tray: cha knyay sach moan, or chicken with ginger. Every morning, she opens her stall at 6am.

On the Sunday I visited, the place was packed. Men sitting at our table were eating Khmer noodles, and a woman was eating pork and rice.

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Cha knyay sach moan isn't strictly for the morning: it can be eaten throughout the day, and comes in various styles. Cambodians often swap the chicken for pork or beef. The ginger can come either raw or cooked, and chili is sometimes added to provide an extra kick. The dish is made by frying chicken with salt and sugar, before adding the ginger. When the ginger is cooked, it's fried along with the other ingredients.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my helping of cha knyay sach moan was served atop a mound of white rice, and although I was given a generous portion it was the yellow zing that caught the eye, making for an attractive plate and a more exciting breakfast than murky grey borbor porridge. The ginger was grated in thin strips, adding some elegance to the lumps of on-the-bone chicken. Sprinkled on top were thinly-sliced green slivers of spring onion.

We ordered iced coffees, but there wasn't much need: like with many street food stalls, cold tea comes with every dish.

Although the raw ginger overpowered the subtle taste of the chicken, it wasn't such a bad thing given the dryness of the meat. Like many Cambodian dishes, there's a lot of bone. For people used to gnawing on close-cuts, this might suit. I prefer fleshier cuts of meat, and became self-conscious of constantly raising my hand to my mouth to take out bits of cartilage. Eventually I gave up on the meat altogether, but happily ate the rest of the ginger and rice.

If you're not averse to meat on the bone, cha knyay sach moan is an attractive dish. Even if it's not your thing, the taste is extremely pungent, and just the thing to wake you up in the morning. Just make sure you like ginger. ​​​

American author Peter Maguire is as comfortable in big waves as a surfer as Mike Ritter was when smuggling drugs across the Pacific Ocean. Together they have written a fantastic tale, Thai Stick – Surfers, Scammers and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade. Luke Hunt reports.

For some, it was the time of their lives. Chasing double overhead barrels along the exotic surf beaches of Bali, where a few dollars would buy an abundance of marijuana and a lifestyle that was the stuff of big wave legends.

'Young surfers from California, Hawaii, Australia and elsewhere toured the beaches and went searching for ways to underwrite their lifestyles. They dabbled in pot and soon discovered a lot of money could be made exporting the product into the United States. It was the 1960s, the Vietnam War was about to enter high gear and Southeast Asia had become a awash with hippies, ex-servicemen, draft dodgers and drifters, surfers and backpackers looking for an adventure and willing to risk what little they had on what was then an inoffensive drug industry.

Surfboards were hollowed out, suitcases with false bottoms were built, yachts were bought and all were initially stuffed with hash. That changed when Thai sticks, which consists of buds from high grade marijuana, rolled and tied into sticks, emerged and put the smugglers on Easy Street.

"Having worked Mexican marijuana before, I realised how much more Thai marijuana was worth," said Jim Conklin an agent with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Shipments of 10 tonnes worth $30 million each were not uncommon as the smugglers' work stretched from the 1960s through the 70s and 80s when the authorities finally gained the upper hand after the Reagan administration ordered a crackdown. For many, the wild parties and lavish lifestyles ended in lengthy prison terms.

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Throughout their book, authors Peter Maguire, an accomplished surfer, and Mike Ritter are sympathetic. After all, pot was considered a soft drug and those smuggling it would be likened to Robin Hood when compared with the.American mobs and Mexican drug cartels which would ruthlessly run the cocaine and heroin rackets that followed.

Among the wackier dealers was the Brotherhood of Eternal Love – a messianic Utopian movement that took massive amounts of LSD and used profits from the sale of Thai sticks to support their free distribution of acid across the United States.

Of the bigger fears faced by the smugglers were the Khmer Rouge, who had taken control of Cambodia and cut it off from the rest of world while carrying out what some have called an auto-genocide that would account for the deaths of about two million people.

Michael Deeds and Chris Delance were clean living friends from schooldays in Long Beach, California. Allured by promises of adventure in the Far East the pair attempted to smuggle a boat load of weed across the Gulf of Siam and the Pacific Ocean but their plans went wrong and their boat strayed off-course and into Cambodian waters where they were arrested and taken to the dreaded S-21 torture and extermination camp in Phnom Penh. They died just weeks before Pol Pot was ousted by an invading Vietnamese army. But for the most part the DEA, Interpol, Thai customs, local police and immigration were more nuisances to be skillfully avoided.

Maguire said his relationship with Ritter, who was jailed for drug smuggling, was always good but that friendship grew into one of absolute trust and enabled this book to be written. "After he went to prison and sent me all of his research, I found out just how amazing a researcher he was. We never differed on the book's content, we never wanted to pander to whims of Hollywood or commercial publishers," Maguire said.

"We both wanted to write a serious, scholarly history of the marijuana trade that would meet the same rigorous standards as my previous books and that is why we chose Columbia University Press, they did a great job."

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He said the smugglers that were interviewed were at first coy, however, many were also Ritter's former coconspirators so they had already established some kind of trust through him.

"The interview process was cathartic for men who had led secret lives and could finally talk," Maguire said. "By far the most amazing thing has been the number of aging surfer smugglers who have come out of the woodwork to embrace our book.

"One major smuggler showed up at a book signing in California. He spent 14 years in both Thai and American prisons and although he did not want to be interviewed, he came to shake our hands and tell us that he thought the book was fair and accurate," he said.

Maguire and Ritter also shared similar experiences with the men sent to capture and jail the smugglers.

"Although we respectfully disagree on the dangers of marijuana, the retired DEA agents we interviewed thought the book was fair and concede that compared to meth and cocaine, the Thai marijuana trade looks positively innocent."

What makes Thai Stick a great read is that the authors successfully capture the imagery of idyllic beaches and surfing which makes this all the more memorable for those who can remember the era. It also serves notice on the American war on drugs which would put thousands behind bars and cost billions of taxpayer's dollars without making a dent on pot sales in America.

"American law enforcement is basically in the same place the US military was in Vietnam during the early 1970s. They have conceded defeat in the war on pot and they are now looking for a face saving way out," Maguire said.

"However, there is none as it was a massive waste of time and resources. Today pot is basically legal in California and the marijuana industry is growing more quickly than even the tech sector," he said.

That might sound like cold comfort for the smugglers, like Ritter, who went to prison. But with Thai Stick they may also have had the final – and a scholarly – say in the whole affair.

SERGEI Polonsky is either freed or extradited
Once among Russia's richest businesspeople, ex-real estate billionaire Sergei Polonsky is now behind bars in Phnom Penh. He was first imprisoned in January after several Sihanoukville boatmen accused Polonsky of threatening them with a knife at sea. Although freed on bail in April, Russian courts then charged him with embezzling $176 million back home. He was re-arrested in November. The question now is whether Cambodia will send Polonsky back to Russia, keep him locked up here or allow him to live freely in the Kingdom as an international fugitive

Cambodian maids return to Malaysia
Ministry of Labor secretary of state Othsman Hassan announced last month that Cambodian maids may return to Malaysia as soon as 2014. A moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia was enacted in October 2011 after stories of violence and abuse emerged. But a memorandum of understanding is currently in the works that will allow the resumption of Malaysian domestic work recruitment in the Kingdom. Such an agreement, said Hassan, will include enhanced safeguards to hold recruitment agencies responsible for the workers' treatment.

Thailand complies with Preah Vihear ICJ ruling
The International Court of Justice ruled in November that the promontory on which Preah Vihear temple sits is Cambodian territory. Thailand, however, has yet to officially accept the ruling. Cambodia has been patient, with Information Minister Khieu Kanharith saying in November that the government would not "rush" Thailand's implementation of the ruling. But with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's future uncertain as the political situation in Bangkok continues to deteriorate, it is unknown if and when Thailand will accept the ICJ's decision.

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Construction on new airport begins in Siem Reap :
After much delay, ground is scheduled to be broken for Siem Reap's second airport in early 2014. Approved in late 2010, the new airport is expected to handle between 10 to15 million passengers per year. Siem Reap's current airport handles the majority of Cambodia's tourist air traffic, with 766,000 foreigners touching down in Siem Reap between January and August this year compared to Phnom Penh's 541,500. The airport's site, which will be owned by Korean companies Camco Airport Co Ltd and Lees A&A, is located 60 kilometres out of town.

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Genocide RESEARCH institute designed by Zaha Hadid breaks ground:
Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, whose buildings have graced major corners of the globe, will design the Documentation Centre of Cambodia's Sleuk Rith Institute. The institute envisioned by DC-Cam's executive director Youk Chhang as a leading genocide studies centre in Southeast Asia, has been years in the making, and is expected to break ground this year. Last year, she told 7Days that she and her team will take influence from Cambodian elements of style.

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The Last Reel is released:
There's been a lot of buzz about a new film set to come out of Cambodia – The Last Reel, starring sixties screen siren Dy Saveth. The film follows the story of a directionless daughter of a colonel who runs away from an arranged marriage and makes her home in an abandoned cinema. Inside, she finds an incomplete melodrama from the pre-Khmer Rouge 'golden era' of film and tries to remake the missing last reel. Filmmakers are in post-production, and aim to screen at major film festivals. Hanuman Productions, the largest locations services company in the country, is behind the film.

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Khmer Rouge Tribunal resumes:
The second Khmer Rouge Tribunal sub-trial for Khieu Samphan, former Head of State of Democratic Kampuchea, and Nuon Chea, former Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, is scheduled to begin this year – though exactly when is still unclear. Hearings in February will discuss the fitness of the defendants to stand trial and what charges will be tried in the new case, but issues to be resolved before evidentiary hearings can begin include whether to start Case 002/02 while drafting a verdict in Case 002/01. Following the death of co-defendant Ieng Sary, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as the ruling that Ieng Thirith, former Minister of Social Affairs, is unfit to stand trial, the prosecution is under pressure to wrap up the trials of the octogenarian defendants.

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January

Adaptation of Francois Bizot's The Gate starts filming in Siem Reap:
The filming of a joint Cambodian-French adaptation of Francois Bizot's memoir The Gate will begin in January. The book, which was published in 2003, tells the story of the French ethnologist's capture under the Khmer Rouge in 1971, four years before they came to power. The film will be directed by Rithy Panh and Regis Wargnier.
Siem Reap.

Director Rithy Panh is nominated for an Oscar?
On the 16th, the Academy Awards will announce the final shortlist of five nominees for the foreign language film category. Cambodian-French filmmaker Rithy Panh's The Missing Picture, which re-creates the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime using clay figures, has made it to the last nine, from the original list of more than 70 films submitted.
Los Angeles.

Our City festival begins:
The Our City festival will present a series of art, architecture and urban planning themed exhibitions, events, performances, screenings, educational talks and tours and workshops across Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang in an attempt to stimulate ideas and discussion about the development and future of Cambodia's urban environments. Runs from January 17 to 26 in Phnom Penh and the subsequent weekends in Siem Reap and then Battambang.
Various venues, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang.

PP Designers' Week:
After the success of the first event last year, a three-day long fashion week will be held at The Plantation Urban Resort. Each day will feature three designers, including Waterlily, CGBCN, A.N.D and Eric Raisina. The fun kicks off on the 13th.
The Plantation, Street 184, Phnom Penh.

Cambodia Living Arts celebrates 15 years:
Arts organisation Cambodian Living Arts, which aims to keep traditional music alive, will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary in January, and will commemorate with a photography exhibition on January 23. The display will document founder Arn Chorn-Pond's journey fifteen years ago to reunite Cambodia's artists who survived the Khmer Rouge era. It will also show photographs and testimonials of key points in the history of Cambodian Living Arts.
Cambodia Living Arts, #128G9 Sothearos Boulevard, Phnom Penh

Burger King opens a branch in Boeung Keng Kang One:
A sign has popped up announcing the arrival of Burger King at the old True Coffee shop at the corner of Streets 51 and 310 in BKK1. After almost a year of operations at Phnom Penh International Airport, the manager announced in December that the American fast food chain's first outlet in the city itself would open in January.
Corner Streets 51 & 310, Phnom Penh

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February & March

Friends International hold music festival:
Friends International will celebrate its 20-year anniversary on February 8 with a family friendly music festival. The boldly titled International Amazing Acoustic Picnic will feature a mix of local and international artists, food from the Friends restaurants, craft for children and pedicures and massages for adults.
Mith Samlanh Centre, Street 13, Phnom Penh, 2pm.

Rithy Panh wins an Oscar?
The Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2 could see Rithy Panh receive his, and Cambodia's first Oscar. He will learn whether The Missing Picture has secured a nomination in early January. The other films in contention for a nomination include Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's thriller Omar and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's ode to the Kung Fu martial arts genre, The Grandmaster.
Los Angeles.

CAMBODIA Fashion Illumination Spring/Summer:
Sovereign Retail Group, which specialises in importing and retailing luxury fashion items, will be holding the second Cambodia Fashion Illumination show at Diamond Island City Hall on February, 21 to 22. The event, which is to include six local designers and eight international brands, aims to bring Cambodian and foreign designers together to generate global buzz on the Kingdom's fashion scene. The Kingdom will be represented by six brands, including Soknan, Rong, Seam Fashion, Chin FDesign, CGBCN and Natacha Van. The eight international companies will include denim giant Levi's from the United States, Axara from France and Mango from Spain.
Diamond Island City Hall, Phnom Penh

Giant Puppet Parade:
The annual puppet show, featuring a parade of enormous illuminated puppets ranging in size from 10 to 33 metres, will be held in Siem Reap, on February 22. The event is a community-based arts project involving various organisations. Children carry the puppets, which are modeled after ancient Chinese dragon puppets, and address various community themes: road safety, endangered species, hygiene, local cultural appreciation, environmental awareness and more.
Starts at the Old Market, Siem Reap.

Chaktomuk Film Festival:
Cambodian film will continue to be celebrated in March with the third edition of the Chaktomouk Short Film Festival, organised by Kon Khmer Koun Khmer and the Bophana Centre. Held between March 26 and 29, it will take place in various locations around Phnom Penh. The Festival will promote filmmakers from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations. Running parallel will be FilmCampKH, a workshop for young filmmakers. Last year was a success for Cambodian short film, with young filmmaker Kavich Neang's Where I Go, following a young man trying to track down his African father, screening at several international film festivals. Deadline for submission is Wednesday, January 15 and the categories will be Southeast Asian Competition, Cambodian Competition and Short Films Showcase.
Various venues, Phnom Penh.

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April & May

Khmer New Year:
Falling over April 13 to 16 this year, Khmer New Year is the Kingdom's most important festival. Locals load up on incense and fruit to ring in the incoming year, as well as play traditional games like pole-climbing and dancing with pots. Battambang is well-known for New Year boxing matches while Kandal province's Mekong Beach, or Koh Dach, is a popular spot for lounging by waterfront cottages. The nearby Wat En Pise celebrates with 12 days of games. Revellers paint their faces with powder and throw water over each other. Prey Ta Ouk village in Kangpisey district, Kampong Speu province holds an annual traditional oxcart race on April 12, one day before Khmer New Year begins.
Various venues.

Vattanac Capital Tower opens
The 188-metre, 39-storey building is already a distinct feature of the Phnom Penh skyline. Shaped like a dragon's back, the tower is set to open in spring 2014. Inside, there will be 21 floors of office space. International luxury hotel and resort group Rosewood will operate the top 14 floors. There will also be a high-end retail zone and a 'lifestyle cube' with medical, education and entertainment facilities.
Monivong Boulevard, Phnom Penh.

Contemporary dance platform:
An evening of modern Cambodian dance will be held in May by Amrita Performing Arts after last year's November showcase sold-out. Dancers combine new skills, which were developed after working with international collaborators, with classical styles. November's event featured two new works: Bach Cello Suites by Chumvan Sodhachivy and Dream by Nan Narim, which were presented alongside Ferocious Compassion by Peter Chin, artistic director of Toronto based Tribal Crackling Wind. The public performance was followed the next day by two intensive sessions with international guests.
To be confirmed.

Memory International Film Heritage festival begins:
An international film festival will run May 31 to June 8, on the theme of 'Laughter'. Last year's nine-day event showcased local and foreign films by filmmakers ranging from Georges Méliès to late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. In the spirit of heritage, the films were mostly screened in the Chaktomuk Theatre on Sisowath Quay, which was designed by acclaimed Khmer architect Vann Molyvann and completed in 1961.
To be confirmed.

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June, July & August

World Cup 2014 is screened on CTN:
Broadcaster Cambodian Television Network (CTN) last year secured the exclusive free-to-air and pay-TV rights to screen the 2014 FIFA World Cup live from Brazil. The games kick off on June 12 with Brazil playing Croatia. (Sadly, Cambodia didn't make the cut this year. The last time Cambodia took part in a large international football tournament was ASEAN 2008, when they played three games, scored two goals and were knocked out.) CTN, owned by the Royal Group and operated by Cambodian Broadcast Service (CBS), outbid other TV stations to secure their second successive rights to the quadrennial tournament after South Africa's 2010 edition. World Cup coverage, set to be run on both CTN and its sister channel MyTV, should extend beyond the actual tournament, with official FIFA football events during the build-up to the summer being partially or fully covered by the station. Live matches from the World Cup are set to be broadcast between the hours of 11pm and 7am Cambodian time.
Various venues.

Luxury car dealerships open:
Those lucky enough to be in the market for a luxury drive should be able to get their paws on a Porsche or an Audi by mid-2014. Porsche announced plans to open a full sales, service and spare parts facility in Phnom Penh.
To be confirmed.

Cambodia's first full marathon:
Cambodia's most famous architectural and cultural icon already is home to an international half marathon. But, if everything goes to plan, the Angkor complex will host a traditional 42km marathon in September. A large number of foreign and local runners who regularly participate in the annual Angkor Wat International Half Marathon urged the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia to launch a conventional 42-km race.
Various venues, Siem Reap.

Aeon mall opens:
Japanese megamall operator Aeon Group is set to open a $205 million, 68,000 square metre mall with more than 100,000 square metres of floor space, about 150 shops and parking capacity for 1,400 cars and 1,800 motorbikes on Sothearos Boulevard, next to the Sofitel, in July.
Sothearos Boulevard, Phnom Penh.

Youth Arts Festival:
Currently slated for August 2014, the festival will be hosted by arts organisation Cambodia Living Arts in partnership with the Royal University of Fine Arts and the National Museum. The organisers plan to turn the entire area into a festival campus. Previous years have brought together live performances from both amateur and professional artists as well as demonstrations, jam sessions, visual arts and talks.
Street 278, Phnom Penh.

Youk Chhang is one of the country's foremost scholars on the Khmer Rouge regime. But when his deaf sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the pair spent more time together, he finally learned her story. Here, he reflects on their different lives as genocide survivors.

As a witness to the horrors of Democratic Kampuchea (DK) – commonly known as Khmer Rouge – and as a researcher who has worked for many years studying and documenting the stories of individuals who suffered and died under the Khmer Rouge regime, I felt like I understood most aspects of Khmer Rouge history.

Of course I learn some-thing about humanity in every single story, and there is never a moment that I am not awed by the incredible spirit of Cambodian people. But there are times when I come across stories that make me question everything I know.

In 1959, Keo Kolthida Ekkasakh was born deaf. She was the youngest of five sisters in my family and as a deaf child she was ostracised by most people. Lacking the ability to communicate with all but those trained in sign language, she learned to depend on herself and the few people who had the patience and love to know her. My mother had always paid special attention to her, and because she was only two years apart from I, we were like best friends. But when the Khmer Rouge came to power we were separated, and I didn't see her again until after 1979.

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While we re-connected after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, both of us had already forgotten much of our sign language, and over the years our ability to communicate decreased significantly. It is no surprise that over the years, she found alternative ways to express herself. After the Khmer Rouge regime, she taught herself how to draw and paint, and she turned to the canvas as her microphone to the world.

Recently she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we have been spending a great deal of time together, visiting our home town in Tuol Kork and discussing the death and disappearance of loved ones. At one point our conversations drifted to her experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime.

During the Khmer Rouge regime she worked on a cooperative planting potatoes and clearing forest under Ta Mok's Division (one of the military commanders during the DK regime). Like all victims, she learned to survive by sheer instinct. On the verge of starvation, she resorted to eating roots, leaves and insects in the field. One day, however, she was caught. Angkar (the DK's concept of the supreme organisation) owned everything – the crops, the dirt and even the insects. The Khmer Rouge saw her eating some roots and promptly arrested her. They bound her hands behind her back and out of sheer luck her captors decided to simply scold her and let her go.

We talked for hours about her experience. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, she remembered that I was alone at home and she told me how she often wondered what ever happened to me during the Khmer Rouge period. She recounted the tragic deaths of one of our sister's children, Tan Keoketana, who was born in 1975, the loss of our father, and the disappearance of other family members. As I came to learn more about her story, I felt a mixture of emotions. I felt so honoured to be one of the few people to have ever learned her story, and yet I felt so incredibly sad and guilty.

As a deaf person, no one bothered to ask her about her experience during the Khmer Rouge period. Over thirty four years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and I did not even know the true story of my sister's experience under the Khmer Rouge.

As I communicated with her about what she endured during the Khmer Rouge regime, it made me wonder how different her experience was as a deaf person and the indescribable spirit and resourcefulness she must have had to survive the Khmer Rouge period.

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I also wondered how many other people with mental or physical disabilities have had to suffer alone. How many other life stories are forgotten, overlooked or are simply never told?

The unavoidable tragedy of all mass atrocities is the loss of history, but having studied the history of Democratic Kampuchea for so many years, I realised that my sister's story was a testimony to just how much our effort in obtaining justice really falls short. My sister did not even know there was an international tribunal dedicated to bringing justice to Cambodia.

Her story made me re-evaluate what I thought I knew about Khmer Rouge history, and I believe the story of her life is a challenge to our current efforts at finding justice in Cambodia. In Cambodia you cannot have a conversation about justice, democracy or human rights without a discussion on history. To have a conversation about the former inevitably requires an interpretation of the latter and vice versa.

Keo Kolthida Ekkasakh's story may be only a small piece of Khmer Rouge history (and a personal one for me), but like others who do not have the capacity to speak, her story challenges us to really evaluate our definition of justice and whether we are really doing all that we can for those without a voice.

Youk Chhang is Director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia - a prominent non-governmental organisation in Phnom Penh dedicating to the study and prevention of genocide and related crimes and preserving the memory of the Cambodian genocide survivors.