Why enhance border security with Vietnam when VN can violate it at will?

The Moc Bai Border-gate.

Vietnam, Cambodia enhance border security

VietNamNet Bridge - Representatives of border districts in southern Tay Ninh and Long An provinces travelled to the Cambodian province of Svay Rieng to take part in a meeting on how to protect the Vietnamese and Cambodian border.

The two sides reviewed their border operations to contribute to ensuring peace, stability and development in the region.

Cambodia said that the two countries’ border guard forces have carried out their border security tasks well, which has helped to strengthen bilateral trade and tourism. They have also discovered and prevented crimes, including smuggling, and diseases from crossing the border.

In a separate meeting, a delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, came to an agreement on April 28.

Under it, Vietnam will provide money to help Cambodia construct an building to house archives and information and a human resources training centre.

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Rumors fly about Comrade Hor 5 Hong croaking (dead)

On 30 April 2009, rumors are flying all over Phnom Penh city and they even reached all the provinces in the country that Hor 5 Hong, the vice-PM and minister of Foreign Affairs, died in France. These rumors are circulating not just among the public, but they were also spread among high-ranking officials as well.

In the evening of 30 April 2008, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) forcefully declared that Hor 5 Hong is in good normal health. The declaration indicated that Hor 5 Hong traveled to France after completing his mission in the US to inaugurate the new Cambodian consulate in Lowell and to meet with Cambodians living in Massachusetts on 26 April 2009. During his mission, Hor 5 Hong had encountered some health problem when his blood pressure dropped and this situation led him to pass out for 2-3 minutes.

The declaration indicated also that, currently, Hor 5 Hong is completing his mission in France and he is making preparations for Hun Sen’s visit to France in the near future. Hor 5 Hong will return to Cambodia on 07 May 2009, and his health is normal now.

Furthermore, in the afternoon of 30 April 2009, the MFAIC also announced that Hor 5 Hong and the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, who is the current EU parliament president, will co-chair the 17th ASEM foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh on 27-29 May 2009. The meeting will gather delegations from 40 countries from ASEAN and the EU. The ASEAN secretary-general, the EU council, and EU committees will also participate in this meeting.

The 16th ASEM meeting was held in Nuremberg, Germany on 14-15 March 2007. This yearly meetings are held in Europe and in one of the ASEAN countries, alternatively.

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Marking World Labor Day in Phnom Penh

ldCambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold banners as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment workers hold their national flags as they march on the street to mark World Labor Day in Phnom Penh May 1, 2009. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian garment factory workers hold banners while attending May Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 1, 2009. Hundreds of Cambodian garment factory workers walk on the street in Phnom Penh to mark May Day celebrations, asking the government to enhance the minimum wage and their working condition. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian garment factory workers hold banners while attending May Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 1, 2009. Hundreds of Cambodian garment factory workers walk on the street in Phnom Penh to mark May Day celebrations, asking the government to enhance the minimum wage and their working condition. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian garment factory workers stand under banners while attending May Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 1, 2009. Hundreds of Cambodian garment factory workers walk on the street in Phnom Penh to mark May Day celebrations, asking the government to enhance the minimum wage and their working condition. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Cambodian garment factory workers march on the street to mark May Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 1, 2009. Hundreds of Cambodian garment factory workers walk on the street in Phnom Penh to mark May Day celebrations, asking the government to enhance the minimum wage and their working condition. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

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May Day celebration in Phnom Penh

Opposition MPs Kem Sokha, Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua speaking to the workers (All Photos: DAP-news)

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Piggy - Anti-Corruption Law

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Long Beach woman helped create library in Cambodia

Emi Caitlin enjoying a local snack in Cambodia while performing her Peace Corps Volunteer work

Children of all ages in rural Takeo Province, Cambodia now have a library and books to call their own. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Ishigooka)
Students at the school where Peace Corps volunteer Emi Caitlin Ishigooka raised funds for a new library decorated the space with a large mural of the world. (Photo courtesy of Caitlin Ishigooka)

LONG BEACH - One sign came when she couldn't enter the existing library because the floor was covered with six inches of rice that had been put there to dry during harvest season.

Another was the selection of volumes, such as the organic chemistry textbooks, in English, that a well-meaning but obviously clueless charity donated to the rural school in the poor farming community.

Still another was the abundance of books in French and English, but the paucity of books in Khmer.

So, Peace Corps volunteer Emi Caitlin Ishigooka from Long Beach jumped at the opportunity to create a new library when approached with the idea by the director of the Cambodian school where she was teaching high school English.

A 26-year-old UCLA and Poly High graduate who will attend USC graduate school in public administration in the fall, Ishigooka recently returned from a two-year stint as one of the inaugural group of Peace Corps volunteers assigned to Cambodia.

While she has come back to the U.S. with the usual bucketful of stories about life in a village with no running water, strange encounters with the local fauna and edible delicacies such as fried tarantulas, it is the library she built in her second year abroad that has the most meaning.

In the truest of the people, by the people and for the people tradition, Ishigooka says that from the outset she wanted the students to be the driving force.

"From the beginning they had a major say," Ishigooka said. "They gave me the titles and subjects that interested them. I did keep one Norton Anthology, though."

Ishigooka applied for a grant from the Peace Corps, eventually raising about $3,500, including $300 or $400 from the students and the families themselves.

Once a new non-produce storing building was found, students began cleaning and decorating the new facility, including painting a large mural of the world on the wall.

"With the grant money, we were able to get books for all grade levels," Ishigooka said. And they were able to get them in Khmer: novels, history, poetry, even an edition in translation of Harry Potter.

The library was also outfitted with a listening center to help students with languages and other learning areas.

For Ishigooka, as important as getting the actual volumes, was giving the students a sense of ownership and responsibility for the library.

This included students volunteering to staff the library, setting schedules and actually be there during operating hours, along with maintaining the facility.

"This was built by an incredible group," Ishigooka says.

The best part, was "to see students make it their own. Now the student librarians are leaders and role models. And in the process we were promoting volunteerism, which for a Peace Corps volunteer is pretty phenomenal."

As she sits at a Starbucks near the Traffic Circle and begins to renew her relationship with coffee, finds a job, visits with friends, checks text messages, prepares for graduate school and negotiates with her mom for use of the car, the 26-year-old is very much back into the hectic flow of life of an young American woman on the upward career and educational track.

But a part of Ishigooka will always be in Cambodia, beyond the retainer a rat absconded with.

When Ishigooka looks back, she hopes she left something lasting and tangible.

"The kids are are so proud and took such good care of (the library) that I'm confident years from now it will still be there and be a big part of the school and community," Ishigooka says.

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As Losses Mount, Plans To Help Economy Emerge [-Where's that loud mouth PM who said that Cambodia will not be affected by the economic crisis?

Kong Chandararoth, president of the Cambodian Institute of Economic Study and Development.

Cambodia’s four main economic drivers have sustained multi-million dollar losses so far this year, despite insulation from the financial markets, a leading economist said Monday.

A report released by the International Labor Organization released Monday shows losses of $280 million in garments, $260 million in tourism, $180 million in agriculture and $45 million in construction.

Despite those losses, Cambodia remains somewhat insulated from the global financial crisis, said Kong Chandararoth, president of the Cambodian Institute of Economic Study and Development.

“Our country is not close to the financial market, so that does not have an impact as serious as other countries,” he said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Cambodia’s agriculture has also made the global financial downturn easier that industrialized countries, he said.

Organizations like the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank have warned that Cambodia’s economy will shrink this year, thanks to the financial crisis.

However, Kong Chandararoth said such predictions were “too dark about Cambodia,” and he predicted economic growth around 5 percent for 2009.

Cambodia’s situation is further different from other countries, he said, because it does not have a stock exchange or other financial markets, which have been hard-hit by the collapse of the US financial market.

Meanwhile, the government has prepared a package to restore the economy, including tax exemptions, tourism promotion, and help for construction, agriculture, garment factories and other investments.

The government announced Tuesday it will release $25 million to the agriculture and garment sectors, in an effort to mitigate the effects of the global downturn.

The money—$18 million to agriculture and $7 million to garments—will be used to increase farm production and help train people who have lost their jobs thanks to the slowdown.

Government officials made the announcement during the semi-annual donors meeting on Tuesday.

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Thai Defence Minister leads military chiefs to Cambodian border session

BANGKOK, April 28 (TNA) - Defence Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan on Tuesday led Thailand’s military chiefs to participate the 6th Thai-Cambodian General Border Committee (GBC) in Siam Reap through Wednesday.

Supreme Commander Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara and the Royal Thai Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs accompanied the defence minister to also attend the meeting.

Gen. Prawit said before leaving for Cambodia that 17 general border issues relating to the two countries would be raised at the meeting including trade and public health.

Channels to lead to the peaceful everyday living on the part of the peoples of both countries will be discussed at the meeting, he said.

However, the defence minister said, the border disputes themselves are not be on the agenda of the bilateral talks on Tuesday and Wednesday as there is another Thai-Cambodian joint committee to tackle the problem.

"If there is any problem, I can make direct telephone call to Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh," he said.

He added that the talks on the two countries’ border disputes will continue as the two countries still have different maps on the disputed area.

Gen. Prawit also added that he is not assigned to discuss with the Cambodian delegation regarding the status of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who reportedly holds a Cambodian passport.

The issue was the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said, adding that, the defence ministry would find the ways for the two countries' people to live peacefully and support cross-border trade at the border checkpoints.

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Hun Sen trades barbs with SRP over length of tenure The eternal prime minister?

Hun Sen speaking at a new water supply station launch Tuesday in Chroy Changvar. (Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN)

Chides the opposition for its long support of their party leader and says a winning team does not change its roster.

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday chastised the opposition Sam Rainsy Party for its criticism of the ruling Cambodian People's Party for keeping the same man in power for 30 years.

The SRP was reacting to a Sunday announcement from Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith, who is also the CPP spokesman, that the party had again reaffirmed Hun Sen as its candidate for prime minister.

But Hun Sen on Tuesday pointed out that the Sam Rainsy Party leaders had also remained the same for many years.

"You guys [SRP] don't come harass me while you're also still with the same person." Hun Sen said.

One day after a closed-door annual congress of the CPP, Hun Sen reiterated his committment to holding the premier position for as long as his party kept winning general elections.

"The football team THAT wins competitions never changes their roster," Hun Sen told about 500 people at the launch of a new supply water station in Chroy Changvar district on Tuesday.

Koul Panha, executive director of the local election monitoring NGO Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL), said the attacks between the CPP and SRP were just business as usual and that it's unlikely new leaders will emerge soon.

"When the voters do not fully understand the political infrastructure and remain in love with personal leaders, the individual parties will not think about changing their leadership," Panha said.

Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, said the party believes that more than 8,000 commune councilors out of a total of 11,353 will support the CPP.

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Ministers' 'golf diplomacy'

Cambodian and Thai defence ministers on Tuesday teed off in a spot of golf diplomacy ahead of talks aimed at resolving a deadly territorial dispute. (PHOTO: AFP)

PHNOM PENH - CAMBODIAN and Thai defence ministers on Tuesday teed off in a spot of golf diplomacy ahead of talks aimed at resolving a deadly territorial dispute, officials said.

Cambodia's defence minister Tea Banh and his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwan played a round in the northwestern tourist hub of Siem Reap with other military officials ahead of their Wednesday border negotiations.

'We are playing golf with the Thai delegation now,' General Neang Phat told AFP by telephone, declining to give more details about the planned discussions.

Var Kimhong, the chairman of Cambodia's border committee, said the meeting would focus on general matters surrounding their long-running border feud.

'We will talk about the border issue,' said Var Kimhong, who will also attend the meeting.

Military officials from the two countries also golfed together in Siem Reap last October after four Thai and Cambodian soldiers were killed in fighting on disputed land around 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

However that did not defuse tensions enough to prevent further border gunbattles, which killed three Thai soldiers early this month.

Troops from the two countries have been in a border standoff since tensions flared last July, when the cliff-top temple was awarded United Nations World Heritage status.

Ownership of the temple was awarded to Cambodia in 1962 but the two countries are in dispute over five square kilometres of land around the temple which has yet to be officially demarcated.

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The Immortal Seeds: Life goes on for a Khmer family - A book by Sambath Meas

Dear Readers,

Please check out my book called The Immortal Seeds: Life goes on for a Khmer family. The book is about my family’s journey - a peasant family - to find peace, freedom, and happiness after having lived under the Khmer Rouge regime for four years, which the Khmer population had experienced. It follows my family from the Issarak movement to the Vietnamese invasion.

I was born during a civil war between the American-backed Khmer Republic and China-backed Democratic Kampuchea that ravaged Cambodia. Tragically, the latter emerged victoriously and ruled the country with communism’s iron hand.

Since I became aware of my surrounding, which randomly started at the age of five, I noticed that my family was always on the move and we lived in constant fear and hunger. I never understood why and my parents did not explain why. They didn't think I needed to know as a young child. Our last move brought us to the United States of America.

Growing up as a Khmer-American, I was constantly bombarded by sad and tragic news about Khmer people and country, whether overhearing adults’ discussions or listening to radio and television news. It is also tremendously discouraging to hear people say Khmers are not good at anything but killing each other. I believe the reds had permanently stigmatized us.

In the end, almost two million lives were destroyed. Just like you, my family was among these millions. Nearly all of our immediate family members and relatives were either executed or starved to death. All Khmers suffered the same tragedy; but my father’s hope, faith, and courage saved us from the unimaginable. As the survivors of the darkest period in human history, we stood out as the immortal seeds..

This is not just another Khmer Rouge and killing field story, it is about us, Khmer people, our culture, religion, and the way we once were before the world refers to our motherland as the "Killing Fields." It has a brief story about my father's famous cousin, lok oam Has Salorn, and my granduncle's experience as a soldier of the military governor of Siem Reap, Dap Chhuon. He was one of the soldiers who was with the governor during the flee to Thailand. The story is way different from what Samdech Ta Sihanouk had revealed. Please check it out and leave your review at Amazon.com.

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Power abuse in Cambodia: Like prime minister, like general

Justice-à-la-Hun-Sen: The gun-toting bodyguard of the 2-star general is seen threatening the truck driver and demanding that the truck company pay for the damage to the general's Land Cruiser which rear-ended the truck.

General’s Land Cruiser read ended a truck and the general’s bodyguard pulled out his gun to threaten the other vehicle

Phnom Penh – A traffic accident took place along National Road 1, near Preah Monivong bridge when a Land Cruiser SUV belonging to a 2-star general rear-ended a Hyundai truck [in fact it was a Daihatsu truck] belonging to the Vattanak Co. Following the incident, the general’s side pulled out a gun to threaten the truck and demanded it to pay for the damage [KI-Media analogy note: In the case between Mrs. Mu Sochua and Hun Sen, Hun Sen insulted her and now he is suing her as well]. The incident took place at about noon time on 27 April 2009.

Witnesses said that they saw the general’s green Land Cruiser SUV driving out a street near the Chhbar Ampov 1 theater and turning into National Road 1. Witnesses also said that the general’s was wearing a name tag saying: Sam Dy. The SUV was moving toward the Monivong bridge in the direction of Phnom Penh. At the location of the accident, there was a Hyundai truck traveling from Kien Svay to Phnom Penh also. Witnesses saw the SUV swerving and rear ended the Hyundai truck on the right hand side. The accident damaged the Land Cruiser turning light and it was also dented on the front.

Witnesses added that after the SUV hit the truck, the truck driver did not stop to look at the damage because he believed that the Land Cruiser was at fault and he did not sustain too much damage, therefore, he thought he was freed to continue on his trip and he moved along on the Monivong bridge. At that time, the general’s bodyguard who was riding a motorcycle behind the Land Cruiser followed the truck and the bodyguard pulled his handgun and pointed it at the truck driver along Preah Sisovath Boulevard. It was not until the truck reached the level of Street 466 that it stopped. Then, the general’s bodyguard pulled his gun and pointed at the truck driver, wildly threatening the truck driver (see photo above).

When he got off the truck, the truck driver said that he did not understand because the general’s car hit him, and then the general’s bodyguard used his gun to threaten him on top of that.

However, the general’s bodyguard said that the problem was not the accident, but the fact that the truck driver fled the scene made him very angry. At the end, the Vattanak Co. which owned the truck decided to pay the cost to fix the general’s SUV, because the company believes that it is merely a small fry and it cannot afford to get into a loggerhead with a powerful general.

For those who saw the accident, they said that it is unreasonable for the side of the 2-star general to threaten the Vattanak Co. and forcing it to pay the damage when in fact the general’s SUV was the one that rear-ended the truck. So this is the situation in Cambodia nowadays: the rightful person becomes the victim because he wants to live in safety in the future.

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Crackdown in Siem Reap

The rule of law goes by the board for Cambodia's land sharks

Victims of police shooting: A legacy of 30 years of CPP rule?

Video footage of an allegedly unprovoked attack by police on unarmed farmers in Siem Reap last month has sparked outrage in Cambodia because of what it showed and because the reaction from the national government sent another strong signal that state officials and those connected to them can violate laws with impunity, human rights groups say.

"Unless action is taken to defuse the tense land situation in the country, sadly there will likely be more shootings such as occurred in Chi Kreng [district, Siem Reap]," said Kek Galabru, president of to the Cambodian League for the Promotion of Human Rights (Licadho).

"Real action must be taken to address Cambodia's land crisis and to ensure that authorities do use violence against innocent villagers who are merely trying hold on their land," she said.

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Khmer Women Need Your Help!

Click on the flyer to zoom in

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“My life was for Angkar, so everything I did was to obey Angkar’s orders”: Nhem En

A visitor walks past the alleged Khmer Rouge list of rules at the prison that became known as the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh. Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP

Cashing in on the killing fields

ANLONG VENG, CAMBODIA - As his former boss faces war crimes charges for running a Khmer Rouge torture centre, the prison’s chief photographer plans to capitalise on his country’s dark legacy.Nhem En hopes to raise at least US$500,000 (Dh1.8million) by selling two cameras he used to photograph many of the estimated 17,000 prisoners before they were tortured and executed.

“All Khmer Rouge leaders and prisoners at S21 were photographed with these cameras, so the buyers can take them to exhibits around the world,” said Mr Nhem, who said he had “met everyone” in the Khmer Rouge leadership while taking their portraits.

Mr Nhem said he has other items, including the alleged footwear of the regime’s leader, Pol Pot, which he also plans to auction off.

He said he would use the profits to build a museum in Anlong Veng, the former Khmer Rouge stronghold where he is now district vice governor. Many of the regime’s former figures hold positions of power in the area, which fell to the government in April 1998, ending two decades of civil war.

Mr Nhem is banking on curiosity about the regime that plunged Cambodia into “year zero” in an attempt to create an agrarian utopia by executing intellectuals and eradicating traditional family structures, among other disastrous policies.

Two similar museums in the capital, Phnom Penh, are popular with tourists. One of them is the former S21 prison, where many of Mr Nhem’s chilling black and white images are displayed, the prisoners staring wide-eyed with terror into the camera.

The most significant site in Anlong Veng is the grave of Pol Pot, who died, reportedly of a heart attack, as government forces were closing in. His remains were hurriedly cremated and they now lie buried beneath a rusting sheet of corrugated metal.

Although he is widely reviled as the mastermind of a movement that killed as many as two million Cambodians, his final resting place regularly receives visitors who sometimes leave offerings and pray.

One of them, Phan Phary, laid a bunch of bananas at the grave and lit a few sticks of incense before making a short prayer.

“I know Pol Pot killed a lot of people and he was a bad man, but he was the leader here and people living here respect him,” she said. “They need to respect him to bring luck and happiness for their families.”

Him Chhay, who lives in a small wooden house adjacent to the site, said Pol Pot was cruel during the Khmer Rouge’s reign from 1975 to 1979, but by the time he took refuge in Anlong Veng as an ageing guerrilla fighter he had softened.

“It’s better to have a big museum for Pol Pot’s grave because at least he is a former leader of Cambodia,” he added.

Youk Chhang, who heads the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge history, said it was not surprising that residents retain a conflicted affinity for Pol Pot.

He explained most were members of the Khmer Rouge who took refuge in the area, which was jungle at the time, where they continued to fight against the government.

“Pol Pot was the only person who took care of them, who gave them food to eat,” Mr Chhang said. “He’s a father, he’s an uncle. But he was the architect of the genocide of Cambodia.”

Mr Chhang said the brutal legacy of the Khmer Rouge has had a psychological effect on many who fought with the movement and have not yet been reintegrated into Cambodian society.

“They are in search of an identity. They are in search of themselves,” he said.

Mention of the UN-backed war crimes tribunal, which recently began trying the first of five former leaders of the regime, prompted ambivalent responses from some residents.

“I don’t listen to the radio; I don’t care about this. I’m very busy with no time to think about it,” said Chan Lay, a former Khmer Rouge fighter who lost his leg during the war and uses a prosthetic limb.

Another resident, Khieu Dum, said the tribunal “is no use for Cambodian people”. He is the son of Khieu Samphan, one of the regime’s top leaders, who is in prison awaiting trial.

“My father is innocent,” Mr Khieu said in an interview at the busy gas station he owns in the centre of town.

Mr Chhang, of the Documentation Centre, said he supports the idea of creating a museum in Anlong Veng because it would help people in the area understand and come to terms with their history. He was, however, sceptical of how Mr Nhem acquired the items, and he suggested the sandals in particular might be impossible to verify as authentic.

Mr Nhem insisted the items were real. He said he was given the cameras in 1976 to work as an official photographer at S21, the prison run by Kaing Guek Eav, who is now on trial and has confessed to ordering torture and executions.

As for his own role in the regime, Mr Nhem was unapologetic.

He said he realised later that the party’s leadership, known as Angkor, led the country into disaster. But he photographed the prisoners at S21 because it was his job and he was fully committed to the party.

“My life was for Angkar, so everything I did was to obey Angkar’s orders,” Mr Nhem said. “You can judge me as guilty or innocent.”

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Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Prime Minister Candidate

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

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Capturing a changing environment

British photographer Paul Stewart showcases images of protected Cambodian wetlands in his exhibition ‘The Flooded Forests of Northern Cambodia’ to raise the profile of the area

©PAUL STEWART

One of the images of the show.

Phnom Penh-based British photographer Paul Stewart is to launch an exhibition of his panoramas from the flooded forests of Northern Cambodia at the FCC tonight.

The images were taken in early 2009 in protected wetlands between Stung Treng town and the Lao border as part of an ongoing project to photograph the Mekong River from its outlet in the South China Sea to its source in the Tibetan plateau.
Stewart said he had decided to exhibit the images from the site to raise the profile of the area among tourists.

He hopes his images encourage travellers to go out of their way to visit the 14,600-hectare wetland site, which is protected under the Convention on Wetlands that Cambodia signed in 1999.

"It's a good pinpoint example to give people an idea of this part of the river," Stewart said. "It is only 50 to 60 kilometres, but it is gorgeous."

The images were taken during the dry season when the trees were largely exposed, but in the wet season they become almost totally submerged as the river rises by up to 8 metres.

"Imagine you are a dolphin swimming through the area and suddenly the water level changes by 8 metres," Stewart said. "That's a profound amount of change in the environment. As a human navigating the river by boat, all you have in the rainy season is the swaying tops of trees in the water. It's incredible."

There are presently three wetland areas in Cambodia. The subject of Paul Stewart's exhibition is known as Ramsar Site 999, or by its formal name, "Middle Stretches of the Mekong River north of Stung Treng".

Each image in the exhibition is composed of 24 exposures.

Using a special panoramic head, Stewart rotated the camera lens around a focal point and captured six frames around a full 360 degrees. Each frame is taken three times: the first using the correct exposure, the second underexposing the image by one stop and the third overexposing it to enhance the contrast in the image. The camera is then pointed straight up, and three more exposures are taken before being swivelled downwards to repeat the process.

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The government of Cambodia has drafted new legislation that could pave the way for foreigners to own property in Cambodia.

Overseas nationals are currently not permitted to own Cambodian land or homes, in order to avoid speculation and price volatility.

However, the proposed alterations would permit foreigners to own houses, apartments and condominiums from the second floor up for resale. Foreigners would also be able to inherit property.

Im Chhun Lim, the Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, in Cambodia, told the Phnom Penh Post that the proposed legislation has already been submitted to the private sector for feedback.

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Buddhist novice numbers fall in Cambodia

PHOTO

Buddhist leaders hope to teach young people about family duties, religious history, culture and morals. [ABC]

Nearly 300 young Cambodian men and women have travelled to Muk Kampul district in Kandal province to be ordained as monks and nuns at a 10-day course on Buddhist teachings.

However, organisers say the numbers are far fewer than expected.

Kandal province surrounds, but does not include, the national capital of Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian Student Association says the novices will be taught how to be grateful to their parents, about the history of the Buddha, the value of Cambodian culture and social morals.

The Phnom Penh Post quotes the association as saying only about 40 women are attending.

Chhunn Noem, chief of the Cambodian Student Association based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said the total number who made the trip, around 270, was far lower than the 500 he had anticipated.

"We only had a short time to promote this ceremony," he said.

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Hun Sen, Opposition Lawmaker in Court Battle

Mu Sochua (R) and Hun Sen (L)

Prime Minister Hun Sen and an opposition lawmaker exchanged defamation lawsuits in Phnom Penh court Monday, each side claiming damaged reputations from the other.

National Assembly lawmaker Mu Sochua, a representative of the opposition Sam Rainy Party in Kampot province, claims Hun Sen defamed her during a speech in the 2008 national election campaign.

Hun Sen claims a press conference held by Mu Sochua last week, accusing him of defamation, was also defaming.

“This morning I filed a lawsuit at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for defamation, following Article 63, based on what Prime Minister Hun Sen said in public on April 4, 2008, in Kampot,” Kong Som An, lawyer for Mu Sochua, said Monday.

The lawsuit alleges that Hun Sen’s remarks about a “strong-lady” in Kampot province, “making trouble,” were directed at Mu Sochua, and subsequent remarks about a conflict between the lady and an unnamed official, which led to a torn blouse, were defamation.

Ky Tech, a lawyer for the government, said he too had filed a complaint in the municipal court. He declined to give detailed information from the complaint. “We’ll let the court process the case,” he told VOA Khmer.

As a member of the National Assembly, Mu Sochua enjoys parliamentary immunity, but officials say it can be suspended if she is called to court. Hun Sen, as a representative of Kandal province, also has immunity that could potentially be stripped.

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Mu Sochua was spreading misinformation that had led to criticism from the international community, which the countersuit seeks to mitigate.

Phnom Penh court officials could not be reached for comment.

Seng Theary, executive director of the Center for Social Development, appealed to both side to drop the lawsuits.

“Both sides suing each other gains nothing,” she said.

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