Film Competition-The Southeast Asian Student Documentary Award

Competition Outline:

SEADocs – The Southeast Asian Student Documentary Award is a competition to encourage the art of documentary filmmaking in the region as a platform to engage with pressing social and environmental issues.

The 2011 competition invites students aged 18 – 28 in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to submit a portfolio of their work and a motivational essay on making a film under the theme “Tree{s} of Life: Seeds of Change” by September 2, 2011.

A jury of film, television and forestry experts in each country will make a selection of three students based on a portfolio of their work and a motivational essay. The national shortlisted students will then receive expert guidance during the 8 week production period of their competition film.

During the production period, the film ideas of the students will be explored and developed under guidance of a consultant and the students will receive a budget grant of US$ 300 to produce a short documentary film (maximum 10 min. in length) in relation to the theme, which must be submitted by November 11, 2011.

The three regional winners are selected by an international jury and receive a cash prize of US$ 500 each. Furthermore, the first place winner receives a grant of up to US$ 5,000 to produce a feature length documentary.

Theme Outline:

Forests are home to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity with the livelihood of over 1.6 billion people dependent on forests. It is more than simply a rich ecological system, it is integral to life on this planet and to human survival. Our connection with the forests of this world is profound and multifaceted – covering cultural, medicinal, economic and ecological relationships. This essential bond is why the United Nations designated 2011 as the International Year of Forests and why it is the focus subject of SEADocs 2011.

It is a widely known fact that forest habitats are under threat in Southeast Asia and around the world as a result of human activity, whether through deforestation, industrialization or the ecological effects of accelerated climate change. However, individuals and communities are finding innovative ways to meet this challenge. They are not satisfied with merely identifying the problem, but pursue creative solutions – often on their own terms. SEADocs 2011 is not about forests purely as isolated biospheres, but as a precarious meeting point where the natural world and the modern world collide. The news usually speak of the negative consequences of this encounter, but dedicated individuals and groups of people around the world and in Southeast Asia are also becoming active to do their part in healing the relationship between forests and people, they are sowing seeds of change.

We are asking students in Southeast Asia to view the diverse and complex relationships between individuals and communities and the forest habitats of this region through their unique filmmaker’s eyes. The competition challenges aspiring documentary directors to look beyond the obvious and to seek captivating stories under the motto of “Tree{s} of Life: Seeds of Change”.

Schedule:

September 2, 2011  Deadline for Submissions
September 9, 2011  Announcement of Shortlisted Candidates
November 11, 2011  Submission of Competition Films by Shortlisted Candidates
November 27, 2011  Announcement of Winners

AIDING AND EDUCATING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

FRIDAY, 30 APRIL 2010

THA PISETH AND ELLIE DYER

Koh Kong

The Thai/Cambodia border crossing near Koh Kong city. Many Cambodians choose to enter Thailand illegally to seek work and often become victims of human trafficking. Above Prom Norada, 52, is a motobike taxi driver who has been trained to identify potential victims of human trafficking.

SITTING near a pond behind his house in Pearaing district, Prey Veng province, Ngin Veasna is lucky to have avoided a spell in Thai prison.

Like many other vulnerable Cambodians desperately seeking work, the 21-year-old took a chance and headed for Thailand in search of a job.

With no passport and crammed into a small car with 16 other illegal economic migrants, he was smuggled across the Cambodian border through a forest in Battambang.

But unlike thousands of others, the youngster was caught soon after crossing the border.

Thai authorities chased after his car, which crashed into an electricity marker during the chase.

“I was rendered unconscious and woke up sleeping in hospital in Thailand,” said Ngin Veasna, adding that he would have been detained in prison for months if he had not had a serious accident.

After a few days in hospital, he came back across the border, where Cambodian authorities arrested him. They gave him 80,000 riels to go back to his homeland in Prey Veng.

Ngin Veasna declined to tell the Post who brought him to Thailand, stating that he went with a friend.

Reticence on behalf of the victims of human trafficking is common, according to non-governmental organisaton Adhoc, which works across Cambodia including in the border town of Koh Kong.

The organisation sees men, women and children coming back to the Kingdom after being trafficked into the Thai sex, fishery and construction industries.

Victims, according to Adhoc, have returned to Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kratie, Svay Rieng and, most commonly, Prey Veng provinces.

“Some of them come back, but they don’t really tell us who sent them to the area,” said Ouk Vantha, head of Adhoc’s women investigation department in Koh Kong province.

According to Ouk Vantha, many of those entering into Thailand are initially treated well, but over time wages are withheld. Conditions for some illegal workers working in fisheries, she said, are so dire that for those who have done wrong or ask for trouble, they will sometimes be thrown into the sea.

Looking morose on a ladder in front of his house in Prey Veng province, former Thai fishery worker Uy Lin, 22, has had first-hand experience of the trouble faced by many economic migrants, some of whom are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

He went to work in Thailand in 2007 with his brother, but the two became separated. His brother has not yet returned since his arrest under drug trafficking charges in 2008. He is now in prison somewhere in Thailand.

“I don’t know when he will be released,” he said, adding that many of his friends who went to work in Thailand have been cheated by their bosses.

While Adhoc, faced with a wall of silence, plans to concentrate on helping those vulnerable to exploitation from traffickers, it is just one of a number of NGOs that work in border towns to cope with the ramifications of human trafficking.

Other NGOs help rehabilitate former illegal workers, who often pass through border points penniless, alone and in a fragile emotional state.

Created in 2002, Health Care for Children (HCC) is another non-government organisation working in Koh Kong city. It has set up a support network in the community to help the influx of people who enter at the checkpoint each day.

Huor Ngy, provincial coordinator of HCC in Koh Kong, told the Post that the organisation has branched out from its initial area of expertise, sex trafficking, to also working since 2007 with men who have fallen victim to labour exploitation.

The organisation now provides two shelters for trafficking victims in Koh Kong, one for women and one for men. Residents are provided with money and advice to bring them back to their home provinces, along with being provided healthcare services.

“We also find victims lawyers as well,”said Huor Ngy.

HCC has also employed a new tactic in order to bring the vulnerable under their care.

The organisation has trained a group of 20 motorbike taxi drivers, who meet with HCC every two or three months to discuss labour exploitation, on how to spot victims at the border point – where many wait for new arrivals.

Prom Norada, 52, has been working as a motorbike taxi driver on the Thail-Cambodian border for two years.

“When I meet people I suspect to have been trafficked, I can ask them questions about their experiences. Then I can bring them to the HCC centre.

I look out for miserable people, and sometimes we see three trucks of them each day,” he said.

“They are often men and women who have been working in fisheries – sometimes they go with no passports. Sometimes the Thai authorities bring them over, after holding them in detention. These kinds of people are very happy we are here.”

HUNTING THE POACHER WHO EMPERIL CAMBODIA’S ENDANGERED WILDLIFE

ELLIE DYER AND THA PISETH

Koh Kong Province

STRIDING through the remote jungle of the Cardamom Mountains, surrounded by gun-toting Cambodian military policemen, former paratrooper and professional kickboxer Franck Morin stops dead.

The 40-year-old French wildlife ranger has spotted what he came to seek out and destroy: 21 illegal hunting snares intended to entrap rare pangolins, monkeys and boar for sale on the domestic and foreign food and medicine markets.

The poachers’ carefully constructed makeshift walls of stick and mud are often found on the edge of rivers, channelling animals through small openings in the wall to set off string snares.

The more a creature struggles in the loop, the tighter it becomes.

With pangolins fetching up to US$300 on the black market, the hunters operating in the government-protected forests can reap large rewards for impoverished communities. The price is the destruction of protected and rare wildlife.

As Morin stomps and crushes the traps, the frustration is clear on his face.

“These traps don’t differentiate between species,” he said.

Determined to halt the killing, NGOs such as Wildlife Alliance (WA) are using new initiatives to halt the hunt.

Nestled on the banks of a meandering river, the sleepy village of Chi Pat seems a rural idyll. But the gentle pace of its high street masks a chequered and often disturbing history.

Since the Khmer Rouge came to the town in the 1970s, transporting many residents from neighbouring villages with them for labour, the forests have been logged, slashed and burned without let-up.

International logging has destroyed large swathes of greenery, leaving giant balding vistas without a tree in sight. Poaching became a way of life for villagers living in the remote area with little alternative for work and low rice yields.

Ecotourism alternative

Since 2006, WA has been trying to convert the 555-family community of Chi Pat into an ecotourism site capable of providing an alternative earning base to poaching.

The group hopes that the construction of a visitors’ centre and support given to the local community to organise treks through the jungle for adventure tourists, the wildlife of the forest can be protected.

According to the community, rising visitor numbers – from 447 visitors in 2007-08 to 900 in 2008-09 and 230 in January and February 2010 alone – have had an effect.

“I have been hunting as well as farming since I was young. That is typical of this community. But when the visitors come, people get good alternative money,” said 37-year-old former poacher and head of the Community Based Eco-Tourism (CBET) committee Prum Hum

“There are still people who are hunting, but they are mostly outside people.”

A quick stroll down the main road emphasises the changes made in Chi Pat. The air rings with the sounds of saws and the construction of new houses, while on each corner of the main drag lies a shiny new guesthouse.

The grandfather of 12, Neat Sok, 78, who believes the influx of tourism can help the environment, has seen the changes that have ravaged the jungle over the years. Sitting under the shade of his wooden home, he said: “Before the Khmer Rouge regime, we saw tigers in the village. I also heard the sounds of elephants nearby my house. But a lot of animals were destroyed during the Khmer Rouge regime because a lot of people had weapons in their hand.”

Ban Som, 66 and the grandmother of nine, also noted that after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, fewer trees were cut down, and now foreigners are walking the streets of the town for the first time.

While the town is changing, it is yet to be seen whether Chi Pat can become a successful model for the development of tourism. Much, it is clear, has still to be done.

While the CBET committee says that hunting by Chi Pat locals has been almost eliminated since the project was launched, Morin’s experiences tell otherwise. There is no doubt that traps in the jungle are still laid, and a few months before the Post visited, one man was found carrying 14 monkeys captured in the woods.

Tensions between the Western workers who are trying to enforce poaching laws and locals in the village are rumoured to be high, and questions are being asked whether the number of guesthouses being built in the community is sustainable.

WA officials also admit that wildlife brokers still operate in the community, capitalising on the villagers’ frequent trips into the jungle.

“It is very difficult to arrest the brokers, as they don’t do anything – just give orders. And most of the time they are very, very, very rich,” said Morin.

And so, while NGO workers say they believe that time will tell whether Chi Pat will become a sustainable project, workers continues to do what they can to stop the wildlife trade.

Day and night, Morin and his team patrol jungle to stop illegal poachers, changing the trails they monitor each day to catch their targets.

The CBET committee has also vowed to preach the message of change, for both illegal logging and poaching.

“I tell people that when you cut down trees, you are killing yourself,” said its chairman. “If people still continue this activity, there will be nothing.”

TRADING HER NOTEPAD FOR A CAMERA

BY THA PISETH and KEO KOUNILA (The Phnom Penh Post: Wednesday, 11 November)

Paon Phuong Bopha explains how she became Cambodia’s most recognised female director

Paon Phuong Bopha is passionate about developing Cambodian cinema and to educate youths on social and political issues. If asked to name the most famous filmmaker in Cambodia today, many would say Paon Phuong Bopha. She is undoubtedly one of the nation’s most respected and acclaimed filmmakers. Her films have been shown in theatres and TV stations, including the Cambodian Television Network (CTN). She began her directorial career as producer at the Cambodia Women’s Media Centre (WMC), which works with members of the media to produce content that ensures women’s stories are told and their voices heard.

How was your family life during the Khmer Rouge regime?

I lost three people in the family: my father, my husband and a younger brother in 1976 to the Khmer Rouge regime. So I was a 19-year-old widow left with two children after the regime. After the regime collapsed, I had to take more responsibility for supporting my mum, my siblings and the two children. My life changed after one event during the regime. I was in real trouble because the Khmer Rouge soldiers of Angkar noticed me that I always wrote something in the dirt at the meeting; it was my luck that I was not killed at that time. Those who were known as teachers were all killed by Angkar.

When did you start your career as a film writer? How many stories have you written?
First, I was a journalist, writing for the Art, Culture, Education and Sport section of Rasmey Kampuchea daily newspaper between 1993 and 1998.
After five years working for the newspaper, I was hired by Cambodia Women’s Media Centre because the centre needed only women to work and I started to write films since that time.

After working there for a short period of time, I was assigned to be a co-director and produced films there.

I produced a lot of films that were about education, health, disaster, sex trafficking. After six-and-a-half years at WMC, I decided to work for another institution, Cambodian Television Network (CTN). During the past six years at CTN, I have produced 20 films.

How did your love for writing begin?
I love reading novels and newspapers. When I was young, my father was not very happy about my literacy because he was scared that I read some articles about love or sex. I also enjoyed foreign cinema from a young age.

Which of your films do you regard as the most popular and well-received?
All of the 20 films are popular among Cambodian people. The most popular film is Mother’s Heart, Good Husband, Snam Sne Samot Ream (Love Memory at Ream Sea). As I have noticed, those films that I have produced made some change to our society, and I am very pleased that I can be a person who can educate many people in society. I think I am playing a very important role in society and also for my family.

What are the difficulties when writing and producing?
It is a very difficult task, but what I have done is from the experience I have had. I’ve got to concentrate and try harder. If I don’t, what will happen? There are a lot of words I have to write and a lot of things I have to do. I, on the other hand, have to struggle to find something new from reading novels.

Now, I rarely read because I find it difficult to see small capital letters, so I stop to watch films to get inspired to write.
But that does not mean I copy ideas from those films I watched. Now, I like watching Korean films because the Korean film industry is hitting the world marketplace.

What kind of stories do you write most?
We have an exact purpose before writing. With all films I have written, I have my own message to the public and the government. All of the topics of each film are always concerned about today’s social issues. I normally include family problems in each film. I never wrote and produced any stories which are about our nation’s history. For instance, if we run a theme that is about the Royal Palace, how much money do we have to pay? It costs a lot of money, for there are many people whom we need to pay.

What is your perception of Cambodian films today?
Through my observation, Cambodian films today are very popular with Cambodians. Although Khmer films do not have a market place, we have broadcast our films through television. Now there are not many investing in our film industry. Today we don’t have much money to produce films as other developed countries. Cambodia’s film industry will be better if we have more marketplaces. Ideas to produce any film are appreciated, but it is still difficult since nobody invests in Cambodia’s film industry.

What are your plans or projects in the future?
I have my own project; I will continue to produce more films. But I will have stopped producing by 2012 because I will have retired by 2012. But I don’t know if I can continue till 2012, for it depends on my health. I am now editing Udom Phakriyear (Excellent Wife), which will be screened soon. I am going to run other stories called Women’s Trick, Ku Preng Chamlek (Strange Couple), and Older Sister’s heart, which is the story idea of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

What is the message of The Living Way of Stars, widely regarded as your masterpiece?
This film is about lifestyles of the stars. It is about where they come from, how they become celebrities, what difficulties they face and how they handle the problems of their future life. So the film is to inform stars to know who they really are.

Have you faced criticism after your story was published?
People normally receive criticism when they do something. There are two types of criticism I have encountered. First, I met some people who criticise me to improve or develop my film. The other kind of criticism is to break me down, which usually comes from magazines.

I would like people who criticise me to watch the film first, because they don’t really know what my film is about. I will be happy to see their criticism afterwards.

 

LAKESIDE CORRUPTION CLAIM

THE PHNOM PENH POST FRIDAY, 18 JUNE 2010 15:03 MAY TITTHARA

A man removes planks from his home on Boeung Kak in September 2008, after authorities started filling in the lake with sand. Photo: Vandy Rattana

COMMUNE officials in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake area are intentionally inflating the number of families affected by a massive development project in order to pocket compensation payments, Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema alleged Thursday.

In a meeting with provincial governors addressing controversial guidelines on so-called temporary settlements, Kep Chuktema claimed corrupt commune officials are hindering efforts to relocate residents living on disputed land by adding non-existent “ghost families” to the actual number of those affected.

“They add in ghost families,” the governor said.

“If there are only 100 families living in their commune, they report to us that there are 140 families.”

Kep Chuktema cited the Boeung Kak lake real estate development as an example, charging that some commune officials in the area are eager to claim promised compensation funds.

“When we started to develop Boeung Kak, the number of families increased because of our policy to provide US$8,000 and 2 million riels (about US$476) in compensation,” he said.

With this money, he added, “It’s not hard for a commune chief to get a Land Cruiser.”

Kep Chuktema said he had already sacked one commune official for listing “ghost families”, though he did not give a name.
“I am so hurt,” he said. “I did not fire my commune chief. But I fired my commune councillor. This is the experience I have.”

Many of the villages affected by the lake development are in Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune, which forms a crescent around the lake from the southwest to the north.

The commune’s deputy chief, In Saphan, who is in charge of Boeung Kak lake issues for the commune, declined to comment about the governor’s “ghost families” claim.

“I don’t know about what the Phnom Penh governor said because I did not attend the meeting,” she said.

Housing rights advocates, as well as villagers who stand to be affected by the 133-hectare development say they have heard similar allegations before.

Be Pharom, who lives in the commune’s Village 22, said she had heard of officials trying to inflate the number of families living near her, though she did not name anyone in particular.

“If we have one family, they increase it to two or three families,” she said.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said he, too, has heard villagers report claims of inflated numbers. But he said it is unclear how often this is done.

Rights workers say roughly 4,200 Boeung Kak families are facing eviction. But Sia Phearum said that is the government’s statistic, and that rights workers have not taken their own tally.

Also during Thursday’s meeting, provincial governors and land-management officials discussed the implementation of guidelines for removing “temporary settlements” that have been “illegally occupied” in urban areas.

The Council of Ministers approved the guidelines last month. Officials say they were drafted to assist in dealing with communities settled after the Khmer Rouge fell from power.

The guidelines cover how population data must be collected by local officials; how sites must be mapped and classified; and how authorities must install basic infrastructure and ensure access to education, healthcare and employment opportunities.

Rights groups have expressed concern that the guidelines could be used as a legal justification for evictions.

“Villagers who live illegally on state land have been living there for a long time,” said Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for the rights group Adhoc. “The government should be responsible for them.”

Officials at Thursday’s meeting, however, defended the government’s eviction policies, and took issue with the use of the word itself.

“Our government cannot accept the word ‘eviction’. Only during the Pol Pot regime did they evict,” said Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Im Chhun Lim.

She added that she believes the practice could make it harder for families actually living on the land to reach an agreement with City Hall because it drags out the process of securing compensation.

Am Sam Ath, technical supervisor for the rights group Licadho, said villagers frequently report claims of “ghost families” appearing on official tallies.

“We always urge authorities to get clear statistics first before relocating people to new relocation sites,” he said. “We don’t want authorities to profit while people suffer.”

THE COURT IS FINDING OTHER FIVE ROUGE LEADERS

BY THA PISETH

Former International Co-prosecutor Robert Petit wanted to do investigation finding six other Khmer Rouge leaders for the process of the trial, but the process has been done unsuccessfully. There are several interferences that the purpose of the international Co-prosecutor to investigate was done unsuccessfully.

Political Interference?

Cambodian leader expressed his disagreement of investigating and finding other Khmer Rouge Leaders because it can be an issue happening to Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen, 58, warned on Tuesday, December 31, 2009 that he would prefer to see the fail of the Court instead of seeing war return to Cambodia. The Prime Minister also added, “Who is taking responsibility if the war returns to Cambodia?”

Statement from Cambodia Council Watchdog International (CWCI)

While Prime Minister Hun Sen said to stop the Khmer Rouge Trial to called on other five high ranking people and concerns over the civil war which could be happened, the Cambodia Council Watchdog International release a statement on Saturday, December 5, 2009 saying that the civil war will not happen in Cambodia because Cambodia and arm force are under the umbrella of the government. The statement also expresses that if the Extraordinary of Chamber in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC) could invite those high ranking people and sentences those officer, It is shown that high ranking officer of the Cambodian People Party are Khmer Rouge Leaders during the Khmer Rouge Regime.

Independent Side: It Won’t Have any Impact on Society Because It is just 5 People only

Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of Cambodia Defender Project (CDP) said that it is not a big issue to Cambodia because the court just finds only other five Khmer Rouge leaders. He also added “if the court issues citation to find and arrest all Khmer Rouge leaders, it can be a problem because there are a lot of Khmer Rouge Leaders who still alive. “The court needs witness to work effectively. How the trials can works with no witnesses?” he claimed.

We are Now Working on Case 002, not others

Reach Sambath, spokesman of Extraordinary of Chamber in the court of Cambodia said that while the court is still working on case 002, “we don’t talk about other thing beside that.” He also added that there is a conflict idea between national and international co-prosecutor while there was a purpose of investigating other five suspects. National co-prosecutor did not agree with the purpose of the new investigation purpose.

Amnaty International Called for more Investigation

Amnesty International has called for the new Co-prosecutor, Andrew Caley to expand their strategy and reveal their decision publicly. The information has been release after Prime Minister Hun Sen showed his concerned that prosecute more Khmer Rouge Leaders will lead to civil war happening to Cambodia a gain. The release also mentioned that ECCC is supposed to do no more than 10 suspects, yet the tribunal has just found and detained only five.

Robert Petit ’s Resignation is not Relate to his Profession 

Rober Petit, international Co-prosecutor at Extraordinary of Chamber in the Court of Cambodia resigned from his profession shortly after his calling on six more suspects was unsuccessfully due to the disagreement of his colleague Chea Leang, national Co-prosecutor at the extraordinary of Chamber in the court of Cambodia; the national co prosecutor provide reasons that the trial could not called on other suspects because the court has limited fund.

During his press conference in June 2009 at the Khmer Rouge Trial, Petit said, “It is totally unrelated my profession.” Petit also added that his resignation was related to his family only. “It is fully about private matter,” he said at the conference.

The International co-prosecutor declared to resign his position as International Co-prosecutor by Tuesday, September 1, 2009.

Case 002 Progress as Government Officials are Summoned as Witness

In the ongoing judicial investigations, International Co-investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde has requested six high ranking government officers to appear at the tribunal. On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, six summons letters dated Friday, September 25, 2009, were sent requesting that Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and two Cambodian People Party senators appear to provide testimony “in the framework of the investigation under way against Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and other leaders.”

Cambodian Prime Minster Hun Sen has already spoken out, saying that the testimony of senior government officials could prejudice Case 002.  “These officials made the Pol Pot regime collapse, and they adopted the law on the Khmer Rouge tribunal, so if they go as witnesses, it would make the accused persons guilty,” In a speech given on the 8th October, he asked, “How is justice to be done? My main problem is that turning the plaintiffs into witnesses would doom the accused.”

Agreement between the government of Cambodia and the United Nation

According to the agreement between Cambodia government and the United Nation (UN) before setting up the court, the tribunal cannot work on more than 10 suspects.

About Khmer Rouge Leaders of Case: 001 and 002

Duch is a former chief of S-21 during the Khmer Rouge Regime. He is also a former Mathematics teacher. Duch was sent to ECCC in July 2007. He was accused of crime against humanity war and torture.

After Duch, other awaiting trials are Noun Chea (Brother Number 2). Nuon Chea is a former head of assembly during the Khmer Rouge regime. He was sent to ECCC in Setember 2007. Currently, he was accused of crime against humanity, war and genocide. Nuon Chea is now having problem with his joint bone and high blood pressure.

Khieu Samphan, former chief of state during the Khmer Rouge Regime, was arrested in November 2007 and was accused of crime against humanity. Currently, he was accused of genocide. He regularly got high blood pressure.

Ieng Sary, former deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affair during the Khmer Rouge regime, was arrested in November 2007 in Phnom Penh and accused of crime against humanity and genocide. He is having problem with his heart, joint bone and urine way.

Ieng Thearith, former minister of Social Affair ministry during the Khmer Rouge Regime, was arrested in November 2007. Her lawyer says that she has problem with mental illness.

(Note: The Story is for study purpose only)

The Future of Khmer Language

BY LACH VANNAK AND THA PISETH

A Khmer proverb – “If the culture dies out, so does the nation and if the culture spreads out, the nation also grows ” is often used to teach all Cambodian people to love, maintain and spread their culture so that their nation will be heard and seen by the world.

To achieve this goal, a nation needs letters and language, one of the most important parts of a culture, to represent the identity of the nation, said Soeung Phos, a member of Khmer Language Committee and a former Khmer language lecturer of Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP).

“We use letters to make a record of everything like history, speaking, religion, and to leave them for younger generations to learn and practice.”

Cambodia has had its own letters and language since 611 AD, as was evidenced by the discovery of a Khmer inscription found in Prey Kabas district in Takeo province. For the past 14 centuries, the Khmer language has been passed from one generation to the next, facilitating the cultural, social and financial exchanges that define Cambodia today.

While Cambodia’s history has been written and spoken in Khmer, foreign languages have an expanding presence in the Kingdom. Today’s labour market requires that applicants be literate in foreign languages and this has attracted many foreign language institutes to open in Cambodia.

Some parents send their children to study foreign language beginning in kindergarten so that their children will be able to meet the requirements of future jobs, Soeung Phos said.

“They are forgetting and killing their own language.”

Sok Chan, a former Khmer literature student at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, says that he loves Khmer language, but that he gave up his studies in the field because he did not see any future opportunities in it.

“I changed to media because it is taught in English and there are more opportunities for me to find job in the future.” Sok Chan explained.

“I see most job advertisements require candidates to be able to write and speak in English.”

Many Khmer people, particularly those involved in development, are using foreign language to communicate, and they seem to ignore Khmer language, Soeung Phos said.

“This is really shameful to our ancestors who worked very hard to create letters and language for us and we do not give the value to them.”

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport plays a crucial role in encouraging the use of the Khmer language. So far, the Royal Academy of Cambodia created the National Commission of Khmer Language to maintain, develop and update Khmer language.

However, this committee alone cannot preserve a language that seems to be in decline, Soeung Phos said.

“All Cambodians have to wake up and work together to promote our language, our culture and our nation.”

He suggests that parents send their children to Khmer school and all Cambodians use Khmer language at the workplace, especially when speaking with other Khmer people.

Tea Phuoyngim, a Khmer literature student at RUPP, said that every Cambodian can help preserve Khmer language by valuing its remnants – for example, by not selling or destroying antiquities such as inscriptions and templates, which are the first representations of Khmer language and letters.

“If we lose them, we are losing our culture as well,” she added.

When parents send their children to foreign language school, lessons on Khmer culture will be replaced by lessons on foreign cultures, explained Tea Phuoyngim

“This makes them forget the identity of their nation. And this is how we will lose Khmer culture.”

The Evolution of the Internet

BY THA PISETH

In the early 1990s, Norbert Klein was the Internet in Cambodia.

The Development of internet in Cambodia (LIFT)

“To send e-mails, users had to call my phone and connect to modem,” he explained to Lift. Despite the relatively high price for these transactions – US$5 a minute – Klein says that his phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to send messages abroad.

Fifteen years later the Internet has evolved into a central source for entertainment and information for much of Cambodia’s upper and middle classes. These changes began with the entrance of the first Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Big Pond and CamNet, into Cambodia, allowing a small group of people to access the Internet at a few cafés around the city.

The turn of the millennium gave further rise to Internet use and the number of Internet cafés and private users continued to expand during the decade that followed.

Now, after more than a decade of widespread reliance on third-party locations for Internet use, there is a growing number of people who have direct access to the Web through home connections or mobile phones and PDAs.

“There will be more wireless Internet connection.… It will be growing,” predicted Klein. Not only does this shift spell disaster for the owners of increasingly obsolete Internet café’s, according to Klein, it also means that the number of Internet users, and the amount of time they spend on the net will rise faster than ever.

Besides making the Internet more accessible to people in Phnom Penh, this shift to wireless service might also be the answer to connecting the countryside to the Web.

Despite the existence of more than 30 Internet Service Providers in Cambodia today, Internet in the provinces is still limited, which in turn slows the progress of education and communication for the people living there.

Klein said that Internet service in Cambodia is quite expensive compared with other countries, which has slowed its growth. In some developed countries users can get unlimited speed and broadband for $20 a month, however, “in Cambodia the cheapest is about US$30, but limited volume and limited speed”, he told Lift.

According to Sok Channda, chief executive officer of AngkorNet, pricey technology is also preventing companies from extending Internet service to the provinces.

“We have to use Card Optic to reach the provinces, which is expensive, so many people do not have the opportunity to use the Internet,” Sok Channda said.

She predicted that with the rapid expansion of ISPs, there will be a drop in the price of high-speed Internet access. Wireless Internet also avoids much of the infrastructure required to connect people through.

A reduction in prices will make the Internet affordable to a larger population within Cambodia, which will in turn encourage companies to drop the price even lower.

Sok Channda estimates that there are 100,000 Internet users in Cambodia today, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the population. However, that number will expand exponentially in the coming years.

While the Internet may be a relatively new technology, it is an essential step in integrating Cambodia into global marketplaces for both goods and ideas.

Without it Cambodians will surely be left behind.

Hoping for Number One in India

BY THA PISETH

By CNVLD

Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disable) (CNVLD) is preparing for a competition that will hold on December 24, 2009 in India in order to achieve fame for Cambodia.
CNVLD hold a national competition on 24 to 25 July, 2009 to seek for outstanding volleyball team players who are good enough to be the representatives for the league as well as Cambodia Society.
Christopher Minko, the secretary general of CNVLD said we hold competition every year to choose outstanding group to be the representative of the league. “We know that we can be number one in the world,” Chris added.
In the national competition there are ten groups from nine different provinces such as Kampongspeu, Kampongchnang, Battambong, SeamReip, Kratie, Kompongcham, Pailin, Takeo and Preyveng province. Christopher, the secretary general of CNVLD told the Student Magazine that we have a coach, full of experiences, coming from Germany to choose and train those outstanding players one month before the competition in December.
“I strongly hope that our group will get good achievement in the competition in India because we have a national competition to choose outstanding volleyball players,” Chuoy Kimhorn, 42, a Cambodian coach in Phnom Penh said, adding that we are going to train those volleyball players who are chosen after the national volleyball competition to be more professional.
Ni Lida, 21, one of the players of the National volleyball League said that he will do his best to play if he is chosen. He added that he is a disable person, yet he can also bring Cambodia good reputation through his effort. “Please, do not discriminate against disable people group,” said Lida.
About Cambodian National Volleyball League (Disable) (CNVLD)
With advertising agency, Brand solutions having designed CNVLD’s new logo and tops or the teams, Chris feels the sport has most definitely gone mainstream. He’s very confident about the professional future of disable sport within the country. “We aim to establish Cambodia as the ASEAN centre for disability sports,” said Chris, adding that he is very proud of Cambodia Organizations support the League.
CNVLD is a Cambodia Non- Government Organization with non-profit charter registered in accordance with the rules of the Royal Government of Cambodia. The organization was registered with the Cambodian Ministry of Interior on March 11th, 2004. On the other hand, The CNVLD recognizes the unique ability and power of team sport programs to assist the physical, physiological and socio-economic well-being of Persons with a Disability resulting from conflict and civil disorder. The organization is focused on the landmine survivors of Cambodia, and uses a contemporary holistic approach to impact within a cross-section of Aid and development areas including Health+ Physical rehabilitation, Civil Society, Human Rights, Women’s Rights, and Environment.
The CNVLD manages and implements annual sports programs for Cambodian athletes with a disability including national wheelchair racing program, focusing on women with a disability; national Volleyball League competition, with 12 clubs nationwide in 2009; national volleyball team, participating in World Cups (team currently ranked Number 3 in the World); Children’s Sports and Recreational Programs; Promotional programs to raise national and international awareness of Landmine and Disability Issues.

Van Nath: Khmer Rouge Tribunal is Important for Me

Phnom Penh, 23 May- Despite apparently slow progress in the trial of Kaing Guech Eav, survivors of S-21 prison say the proceeding remain important to them and the participation of foreigners helps make fair trial standards.
“Only the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) can seek for fairness for me as well as other survivors,” said Van Nath, a famous Toulsleng prison survivor. He also appreciates the KRT that he is happy and it is good that we have both Khmer and foreigners are working together at the trial.”We have both foreigners and Cambodian. I think that they will effectively work to seek for fairness for me as well as other survivors, “he said.
Norl Chanphal, 41, also said “Khmer Rouge Tribunal is important to my life”. Norl Chanphal, a survivors whose parents were killed in Toul Sleng prison when he was only nine years old, he added “I am happy that the court is now trying to find fairness for survivors like me as well as other people.”
The Extraordinary Chambers in the courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is supported by donors. Norl Chanphal also expresses his deep thanks to donors that support the KRT. “If there are not donors supporting KRT, we won’t have today,” he said.
ECCC spokesman said “the important thing is that now we have five suspects in the Tribunal. We are now the progress of working on Duch trial. Until now, there are more than 30,000 visitors who visit the trial at the court and there are 3,500 lawsuits have been submitted to the court. We will have finished the trial of the Khmer Rouge Leader by the beginning of next year.”