Phnom Penh Post 20130530

all you need to know about property in cambodia

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Issue NUMBER 1636

16 pages

Successful People Read The Post

THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2013

The gloves come off in scandal

NagaCorp rolls dice on $15 million VIP terminal

Meas Sokchea

BOU Meng wants out.

Wary of becoming a pawn in an increasingly ugly political mudfight, the septuagenarian S-21 survivor said yesterday he didn’t care if acting opposition leader Kem Sokha apologised or not for allegedly denying the existence of the notorious Khmer Rouge prison.

Flanked by supporters, the Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy president yesterday held his first press conference since the scandal broke over the weekend.

During the press conference, Sokha reiterated his defence that the short audio recording circulated by the government, in which he is heard suggesting that the crimes at S-21 had been “staged”, had been edited to twist his words, and that even the timeline presented for the speech was preposterous.

“I am being falsely accused of making the alleged S-21 comments on May 18 in Prey Veng province.

But in fact, on May 18, I was speaking to thousands of people in Kampong Cham, with no mention of S-21,” Sokha said, adding that he has photographs and voice recordings

Low Wei Xiang and Sarah Thust

A PRIVATE VIP terminal costing $15 million is being planned at Phnom Penh International Airport by NagaCorp, which hopes that once it is ready – likely by early next year – high-rollers would flock to its casino and double their spending to $8 billion.

The new terminal “will be located at a different location from the existing passenger terminal”, and “would house its own immigration facility, VIP lounge, food and beverage outlets and other services”, the company said in a release two months ago on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where it is listed.

NagaWorld, the casino arm of NagaCorp, had “entered into an agreement” with the Cambodian government on January 11 this year for NagaWorld to construct “the Naga Terminal”, the release said.

No other details were given. NagaCorp’s chief financial officer, Philip Lee, in March reportedly said the terminal would be completed by the end of this year or early next year, according to a third-party report by financial analysis firm Citi.

The terminal “will not only afford a unique VIP arrival and departure experience but also position the junket segment of the company’s business in a more competitive manner,” NagaCorp’s release added.

In a junket, the casino pays for some or all of the travel and hotel costs of the gambler, who in turn must play until a minimum sum or length of time is reached. For NagaCorp’s junket VIP floors, the average buy-in is $150,000, with a maximum bet size of $24,000 per hand.

The terminal is part of $156 million NagaCorp is pumping into the VIP segment to reverse its lack of luck in this area. While its revenue from junkets has increased steadily, their contribution to the overall revenue has dropped every year. In 2009, the segment contributed 45.3 per cent, plunging to 34 per cent by Continues on page 7

4000 RIEL

A Boeung Kak protester lies on the street after being water-cannoned by police in Phnom Penh yesterday. khaouth sophak chakrya

Continues on page 2

City turns up pressure Khouth Sophak Chakrya

A

WOMAN was knocked unconscious and many more fell to the ground when municipal authorities unleashed a water cannon on Boeung Kak lake, Borei Keila and Thmor Kol protesters, who were blocking the capital’s Monivong Boulevard yesterday.

Protesters sitting on the road were met with the storm-like onslaught after more than 100 had gathered outside City Hall to demand new Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong de-

liver on his pledge to resolve their land disputes.

The spray’s force, from three fire trucks, left Khek Chan Raksmey, 33, unconscious on the ground, while others – soaked – ran or were pulled to safety.

Boeung Kak land activist Sen Touch said protesters from the three communities had wanted to know when the governor would act on his promise to end their disputes but felt yesterday’s incident showed municipal authorities didn’t really want to find solutions.

“If you want to kill people, just use

the real bullets, not fire engines,” she said.

After an ambulance was refused because villagers said they could not afford to pay for it, Chan Raksmey was taken in a tuk-tuk to the clinic of rights group Licadho for treatment.

Phnom Penh municipal police chief Choun Sovann said yesterday that authorities had no choice but to spray the protesters, who blocked or slowed traffic for more than two hours.

“I had already told them not to block the road because there are many people who travel along this boulevard,” he said. “We should re-

spect all people’s rights, not just a few.”

Phnom Penh Municipal Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said the villagers’ efforts to block the road were akin to “kidnapping” road users and holding them hostage.

“Because of this, we’re obliged to crack down on [protesters],” he said.

The congestion caused by the incident frustrated motorist San Chamreung.

“I cannot accept this roadblock because it affects my career. I know they have been treated unfairly, but this is Continues on page 4

2

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

National

Rain, hail kill one, destroy 200 homes Sen David

S

Opposition leader Kem Sokha (left ) responds to allegations made by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party at a press conference at CNRP headquarters in Phnom Penh yesterday. Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay was also present. heng chivoan

Gloves come off in scandal Continued from page 1

as well as thousands of witnesses.

For Meng, a man who lived through the horrors of S-21, where more than 12,000 people were tortured and sent to their deaths, the argument has become pointless.

“If [Kem Sokha] said it, he should apologise. But if he didn’t say it, it’s OK.” His fellow survivor, Chum Mey, chairman of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims, has earlier threatened to sue Sokha if he didn’t apologise in 10 days, a threat Meng is no longer interested in.

“I am determined that I am neutral. I do not side with any party. [On] political issues I do not interfere – let them do it.

Politicians have always competed,” he said.

And compete Sokha did yesterday, turning Prime Minister Hun Sen’s proposal to introduce a law criminalising genocide denial back on him, by first agreeing to it, then suggesting further legislative restrictions.

“We should make a law to convict anyone who says if they lose the election there would be

a war,” he said, referring to a recent speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen. “We should make a law to ban whoever used to have a position in the Khmer Rouge regime from holding the position of parliament president, senate president and prime minister.”

National Assembly spokesman Chheang Vun rejected Sokha’s proposed laws but said CPP lawmakers were going to unusual lengths to rapidly push the prime minister’s own suggested bill through the house.

“Now, we members of the Cambodian People’s Party, especially senior members, are signing to make a proposal to the parliament president to urge an extraordinary session to pass this law drafted by Samdech Techo Hun Sen,” he said.

Flanking Sokha yesterday were opposition lawmakers Son Chhay and Kong Korn, both on hand to rebut similar attacks that have been made on their alleged passed activities this week.

On Monday, the website of the Commissariat of National Police – acting at the behest of Prime Minister Hun Sen – posted pictures of Chhay at a

Kantha Bopha Children s Hospital Siem Reap Angkor ( Jayavarman VII )

function in Toronto with members of the Khmer People’s Power Movement, which the premier has labelled a terrorist organisation.

Chhay, who said he was at the function for a completely different reason and left after the ultranationalist KPPM attacked his party, later vented his frustration at the personal attacks’ aim: to distract from the policy debate.

“They display that picture, there are so many pictures all over the place, and that was a cheap trick, a really cheap trick.

I know Hun Sen is disgusting, a really dirty man, but I didn’t know he was so cheap,” he said yesterday.

“The Ministry of Interior is supposed to be a national institution that professionally conducts their work, not to put the picture up. It’s shameful, it’s shameful. It’s shameful for [Minister of Interior] Sar Kheng to [do this]. I will see if I can invite him for questioning for that.”

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak referred questions to National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith, who said he was busy. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY DAVID BOYLE

EVERE rain and hail storms hit several provinces on Tuesday leaving one person dead, more than 10 injured and nearly 200 houses destroyed or damaged, the National Committee for Disaster Management reported yesterday.

A 27-year-old woman died when storms caused her house to collapse in Kratie province’s Kanhchor commune, where seven others were injured, NCDM cabinet chief Keo Ny said.

Storms also affected Stung Treng, Svay Rieng and Kampong Thom provinces, surprising some residents, who witnessed hail for the first time.

“It was unbelievable,” said Oun Bot, governor of Kampong Thom’s Sandan district. “The rainstorm brought down pieces of ice, which we had never seen before in Cambodia. They fell with the rain, and when they hit our bodies, it hurt, so we realised there were pieces of ice.”

The storm completely destroyed seven houses in the district and damaged the roofs of 72 others houses and three school buildings, injuring six

BEATOCELLO in CONCERT Cello Music and information about the five Kantha Bopha Children s Hospitals by Dr. Beat Richner

Vong Sokheng and Justine Drennan

PRIME Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on Cambodian television stations to create programming for the deaf so that they could follow the latest news.

Speaking to about 800 disabled persons, government officials and civil society representatives at Phnom Penh’s Peace Palace yesterday, Hun Sen committed the government to implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of

Duties will include:  Providing face-to-face, telephone and counter client services support  Interpreting and translating assistance by phone and in face to face interviews  Providing administrative assistance and preparing routine correspondence  Conducting interviews and making assessments, in order to verify claims Requirements:  Excellent written and spoken skills in English and Khmer  Excellent client service skills  Ability to use computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel & email  Demonstration of the highest levels of integrity in all aspects of work Further information:  A full duty statement and the selection criteria are available from the Australian Embassy website (www.cambodia.embassy.gov.au) by clicking on the About Us tab.  Commencing base salary will be USD718 per month  Hours of work are: Monday to Friday, 8.00 - 12.00, 1.30 – 5.00pm (4.15pm on Fridays) Applications must include:  a statement addressing the selection criteria - maximum two (2) pages; and  a CV - maximum two (2) pages; and  the names and contact details of two referees, including current employer and must be submitted in hard copy to:

No applications will be received by email

www.beatocello.com

A

YING Dong Shoes representative yesterday denied claims his factory employs workers as young as 13 and shares an owner with Wing Star Shoes, where two died in a ceiling collapse on May 16.

Chan Kosal, a representative of Ying Dong, a supplier to Asics, said the factory employed only workers 18 or over.

“They must have a citizen ID and a family book, as well as a clarification letter from commune authorities,” he said.

The Post reported this week that workers at the factory in Phnom Penh had claimed it employed girls as young as 13.

Workers must be at least 15 and those under 18 given modified tasks. Kosal, a representative of Ying Dong, Wing Star in Kampong Speu and New Star in Preah Sihanouk, said the factories were not owned by the same person.

One owner had “shares big and small” in the three factories, he said. “So we can’t say they have the same owner.”

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia has said the factories share an owner.

Chhay Channyda and Shane Worrell

PORTING BY JUSTINE DRENNAN

Persons With Disabilities and related reforms.

“We have developed Braille and sign language and included those in the education curriculums, IT and media so that the blind and visually impaired and the deaf can keep themselves updated with latest news,” he said.

“Despite the great achievements in terms of the welfare of persons with disabilities, there remain obstacles for them that must be addressed,” he said, appealing for more media outlets to join in the cause.

Ngin Saorath, executive director of Cambodian Disabled People’s Organisation, said Hun Sen had also called for TV stations to employ sign language for the deaf last year, but so far only two stations – TVK and Bayon – had complied.

“The media have to employ the interpreter for sign language to make sure that the deaf persons have the right to information based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, articles 21 and 29,” he said.

JOB VACANCY Client Service Officer – Immigration AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY Phnom Penh

DIAC Office Manager Australian Embassy No. 16B National Assembly Street Sangkat Tonlebassac, Khan Chamkarmon Phnom Penh

Free admission

Workers not underage, factory says

PM calls for disability reforms

The Immigration section of the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh is seeking applications from suitably skilled and motivated people for the position of Client Service Officer. The position is available on a 12 month contract for immediate start. A competitive salary package is offered including participation in a performance management and bonus scheme.

Every Saturday, 7.15 pm

people, he said. As of yesterday evening, local authorities and experts were conducting an urgent meeting about the storm, he added.

“Experts are studying this natural disaster to find out why it’s raining with pieces of ice,” he said.

Say Kosal, deputy governor of Stung Treng town, said grape-sized “pieces of ice” had damaged 90 houses in Stung Treng town.

Dr Uy Sam Ath, former director of the Cambodian Red Cross’s Disaster Management Department, said hailstorms were quite rare in Cambodia but had been seen before in several provinces, including Mondulkiri, Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey and Pailin.

He added that a cluster of hailstorms had hit Cambodia several years ago and that the country had not seen as many in the past two or three years.

“I think it’s because of climate change,” he added.

According to a recent report from the NCDM, storms so far this year have destroyed a total of 1,191 houses and damaged 5,025 more, killing 16 people and injuring 68. ADDITIONAL RE-

18 and over

 Late applications or applications that do not address the selection criteria may not be considered  Only those applicants short listed for interview will be contacted ***Applications close 5pm Friday 14 June 2013*** The Australian Embassy is an equal opportunity employer and the successful candidate will be selected on merit.

URGENT JOB POSTING The American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP), a newly created American-style university located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is seeking a highly qualified applicant for the following position: Position title: Executive Administrative Assistant Minimum Requirements:  Bachelors Degree  International or multicultural experience  Native U.S. English speaker  Excellent communication skills  Exceptional organizational abilities  Competent in all Microsoft Office suite products Responsibilities:  Assists the University President  Serves as the front desk manager  Performs student intake and orientation  Other professional duties as required Compensation:  $1500-2000 per month, depending on experience If interested, please send a cover letter and current CV to: No. 50, St. 315, Boeung Kok II, Tuol Kork Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel: 023 990 023 or 097 3258 254/097 3258 223/097 3258 295 Email: info@aupp.edu.kh Website: www.aupp.edu.kh Deadline: June 3, 2013

3

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

National

Family out as general KR atrocities recounted changes torture tale Joe Freeman

Kim Sarom

T

HE wife and three sons of an RCAF general sentenced to jail last year for illegally detaining and torturing him were released yesterday after the man claimed he inflicted the brutal wounds he suffered upon himself.

Although he initially sought a criminal case against his family at their sentencing in March last year, brigadier general Nuon Pak begged for leniency and threatened to kill himself by jumping off the court building as they received seven- and eight-year sentences.

He then unsuccessfully tried to withdraw criminal charges in June, saying he was “lonely” without his beloved wife and children.

His wife, 41-year-old Ngin Chantrea Devi, and three sons Panh An An, 20, Panh Dararith, 23, and Panh Sakhana, 25, were convicted of tying the general up in his Phnom Penh home and beating him with a variety of implements, including sticks and a meat cleaver, in a bid to force him to sell

Ngin Chantrea Devi (left), and her three sons, convicted of torturing their husband and father, embrace family members after being released from prison in Phnom Penh yesterday. hong menea

family property worth $80,000 and turn over the proceeds.

At the Supreme Court yesterday, judge counsel Kim Sathavy read a letter from Pak in which he “confessed” to fabricating the domestic violence story.

“I hurt myself and caused all the wounds on my head and body. I forced my sons to drop out of school and forced my wife to be a prostitute. All these things are my mistakes,” the counsel

said, reading out his statement. Statements from Devi were also read, in which she denied abusing her husband, saying only that she may have at times left scratches on his body after a heated argument.

The counsel, reading out the verdict, said that, in light of the new testimony, there was not enough clear evidence remaining in the case and hence the original verdict would be overruled and the suspects freed.

WITH each hour at court, the atrocities piled up. Listeners heard about soldiers who, while burying a woman alive, shouted taunts of reuniting her with relatives. There was the image drawn up from the faroff past of a distraught baby, bawling over a dead mother, and the story of a boy who died after eating the dirty biscuit from a dog’s mouth.

The second full session of victim impact hearings yesterday told of horror after horror experienced by the four civil parties, all women, who testified. After reading out statements and dabbing away tears, they collected themselves for a rare opportunity to question the two remaining defendants, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea.

In their responses, Samphan and Chea expressed sympathy for survivors while stopping short of accepting a shred of responsibility.

Samphan hewed closely to the familiar line that he saw no evil, heard no evil, knew no evil, despite characterising himself as an educated man.

He was head of state during the Khmer Rouge regime, a

position he labeled nominal yesterday.

“I am an intellectual.

I was not an ideologist of the Communist Party of Kampuchea,” he said, speaking to Thouch Phandara, 67, who lives in Paris and had just described the shame she felt by failing to save her parents after their bodies were thrown naked into a ditch.

“And I would also like to inform you,” Samphan continued, “that the leaders, some leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea government . . . considered me a

but to get rid of the bad elements within us, but we should not get confused between the two points,” he said, speaking from his holding cell. “Early on, even I was confused.”

Chea said his family also suffered loss, so “why should I kill my own people and my relatives and my nation? I myself could not defend my own family members. After the liberation my mother said she was pushed to the ground during the evacuation.”

He seemed to grow impatient after taking questions following the testimony of civil party

. . . why should I kill my own people and my relatives and my nation? I myself could not defend my own family highly educated intellectual, they considered my feet not attached to the ground, and I was considered useless.”

Answering a question about the purpose of self-criticism sessions during the Khmer Rouge regime, Pol Pot’s Brother No 2 Nuon Chea said the goal was to “eradicate the bad elements, the non-compatriot element within ourselves. It is not to get rid of any individuals,

Chan Socheat, the second appearance of the day.

“I have clarified time and again that Democratic Kampuchea did not have have any policy to kill its own people, it did not have any policy whatsoever to deprive people of food,” he said.

Socheat lost more than a dozen members of her family, mostly through starvation.

The impact hearings continue today.

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4

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

National

Critical biomass: ranking near top Kevin Ponniah

C

A peaceful protest comes to a halt yesterday as police use a water cannon on members of Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake, Borei Keila and Thmor Kol communities. photo sUPPLIED

Water cannon used on protesters Continued from page 1

treating us unfairly,” he said.

But Nay Vanda, from rights group Adhoc, said firing water at the protesters was an extreme method that served only to flare tempers.

“The municipal governor should solve these [protesters’] problems,” he said.

During his swearing in early this month, Socheatvong promised quick solutions to the disputes. He followed this pledge up days later in meetings with

community representatives.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said the incident turned the clock back two or three years to more violent protests, just when it appeared the governor was close to taking action.

“We’re really disappointed with the authorities for using violence to stop a peaceful protest,” he said. “They are women trying to find a solution.”

Phearum said the disputes needed to be resolved before the beginning of election cam-

paigning in about four weeks.

“When the election campaigns begin, they know they will have no chance. They were cheated before the 2008 [election] – the previous governor promised not to evict them.”

Dimanche said yesterday that municipal authorities had created a committee to review villagers’ documents in order to resolve the disputes.

“We are asking for time to solve these problems for villagers,” he said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL

ambodia was one of the world’s fastest growing users of renewable energy between 1990 and 2010, largely thanks to farmers using cleaner methods to produce fuel from agricultural waste, a report released by the International Energy Agency and the World Bank on Tuesday found.

The report also found that Cambodia’s share of “modern biomass” in its total energy consumption is one of the highest in the world, more than four times the global average and almost triple the regional figure.

Modern biomass uses many of the same materials farmers have burned for years to create energy but converts them to fuels using clean technology, instead of burning them on traditional stoves, energy researcher San Vibol from the Royal University of Phnom Penh said.

Biodigesters, cistern-like struc­tures that can be installed behind a farmer’s house to produce clean methane biogas by breaking down organic waste, are one example.

With 20,000 subsidised biodigesters built around the country by the government since 2006, it’s no surprise Cambodia’s clean renewable energy use has increased significantly, he added.

Cambodia’s renewable energy share of total energy consumption was 73.3 per cent in 2010, the report says, with 57.6 per cent coming from traditional biomass, 15.6 per cent from modern biomass and a mere 0.1 per cent from hydropower.

Its renewable energy growth rate between 1990-2010 – excluding hydropower and traditional biomass – was matched only by Myanmar and China worldwide.

Although traditional biomass, such as wood, charcoal and animal waste are widely used in the developing world, toxic smoke from burning these fuels on traditional stoves kill nearly two million people a year, according to the UN. The National Biodigester Programme plans to build an additional 25,000 biodigesters by the end of 2016, bringing coverage to almost 10 per cent of eligible households.

Tribunal snub

KR expert declines to take stand

S

tephen Heder, who once worked for the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal, has declined a court request to testify as an expert, a letter from Heder released yesterday on the court’s website shows.

Heder, considered a leading scholar of Khmer Rouge history, declined to comment on his decision yesterday. Heder left the court in 2011, writing in an email that he had disagreed with the judges’ decision to close Case 003 “effectively without investigating it, which I, like others, believe was unreasonable”.

Panhavuth Long, a program officer at the Cambodia Justice Initiative, said Heder’s decision left him “very surprised because of his long career and interest in pursuing the historical study of the Khmer Rouge.”

As to the possibility that Heder might appear before the court in another capacity or for any potential future trials beyond the current Case 002, court spokesman Lars Olsen said he “couldn’t predict the future” but thought it unlikely.

JUSTINE DRENNAN

5

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

National

CONGRATULATIONS

kariyal&yemFavI G eGn FI sux eGn ehg R&T SOK & HENG LAW OFFICE

CAMBODIA

ON THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF YOUR CAMBODIAN OFFICE ON 30TH MAY 2013 WITH COMPLIMENTS FROM

6

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

National

In brief UXOs turn up in land used to burn rubbish

TWO metal cases containing unused grenades, artillery shells and bullets were found on Tuesday in Kampong Chhnang buried beneath an area used by villagers to burn their rubbish. The cases – which contained eight grenades, 10 artillery shells and 150 rifle bullets – were found by Sao Sarun, 44, from Kampong Chhnang commune’s Srepring village, town police chief Chea Vannak said. Sarun was clearing grass in the area when she hit the metal cases, Vannak said, adding that the area was a staging ground for troops during the Khmer Rouge era.

Officials from mine-clearing agency Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) told Vannak that the UXOs were 50 per cent functional and could explode if heated to a high enough temperature. KIM SAROM

Illegal wildlife dealer caught in rescue raid

A 34-YEAR-OLD Vietnamese man was arrested and put into pre-trial detention on Monday in Ratanakkiri province for allegedly putting a veritable menagerie on the black market. Prom Nol, Forestry Administration chief officer with Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, said yesterday that the raid on the man’s Banlung district home uncovered 87 hill myna birds, 30 rat snakes, six monitor lizards, four tortoises and a rare king cobra. Because the cobra is a rare species, the man could be fined more than 20 million riel [over $5,000],” Nol said, adding that the suspect had been running illegal trades for more than a year. According to Wildlife Alliance, the rescued animals that were in good health were released in Mondulkiri, while those in poor health were transported to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center in Takeo province. PHAK SEANGLY

Inmate transport ‘one way’ Danson Cheong and May Titthara

santepheap

Drug dealer over-thinks things, ends up cuffed

Inmates from the Kampong Chhnang provincial prison await appeal hearings at the country’s only Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh. photo supplied

them back to their provincial prisons,” said Naly Pilorge, Licadho’s director.

Instead, Licadho investigators found that inmates either remained in Phnom Penh or were transferred to CC3 in Kampong Cham province – one of the most overcrowded

Nget Sokun, Licadho’s prison project supervisor.

The report cites a former Battambang prison director who said increasingly most are choosing not to attend hearings or foregoing the chance to appeal altogether as they would remain in Phnom Penh or CC3

It is up to them whether they want to go to Phnom Penh to hear their case prisons in the country at 191 per cent capacity.

A senior prison official cited in the report claimed there were more than 100 inmates stranded in CC1 alone as the GDP did not have the money to send them back.

“As word gets around that the appeal transport system is a one-way ticket to Phnom Penh, we are hearing that more prisoners are refusing to go,” said

if they cannot afford to pay bribes to return.

Last year, Battambang prison transported a total of 80 inmates to Phnom Penh – the highest in the country. Licadho investigators spoke to numerous detainees stuck in Phnom Penh who told them return tickets would cost anywhere from $150 to $300.

Despite the reports, prison officials were adamant that in-

mates were not denied return transport. GDP director-general Koy Boun Sorn refused to entertain allegations that prison officials took bribes.

Hy Chamroeun, deputy director of Battambang prison, said nobody forces inmates to stay in Phnom Penh.

“It is up to them whether they want to go to Phnom Penh to hear their case,” he added.

But their claims ring hollow – the Licadho report warns that if the GDP does not provide return transportation, it would “defeat the very objective of enabling and encouraging inmates to attend their appeals”.

Ou Virak, Cambodian Center for Human Rights president, said the GDP would be able to find the resources to help these inmates if there was political will to do so.

“There is basically no incentive for prisons to help (these stranded inmates),” he said.

Drug traffickers face court Villagers say company

deceived them in deal

Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

FOUR people were tried at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday for allegedly smuggling more than 10,000 tablets of ecstasy and methamphetamine in Prampi Makara district in Phnom Penh last year.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Kim Rath Narin said Leap Reaksmey, 34, Meng Ratana, 25, Taing Hakly, 34, and Un Saman, 19, were charged with drug trafficking within article 40 of Cambodia’s Anti-Drug Law. Reaksmey and Ratana were arrested in September 2012, attempting to sell drugs concealed in a potato can to an undercover police officer. After the arrest, police seized 190 methamphetamine tablets and more than 10,000 ecstasy tablets.

At trial, all four of the accused denied charges of drug trafficking, confessing only to illegal drug use. They claim the drugs belonged to an unidentified man and woman.

May Titthara

Meng Ratata (left) and Leap Reaksmey were accused of smuggling more than 12,000 tablets of methamphetamines and ecstasy at Phnom Penh’s Municipal Court yesterday. hong menea

Vice prosecutor Kong Sam Sareth concluded the trial, saying, “based on the hearing, real proof and their confessions, I would like to maintain the

Groom gets grumpy when guest gets cozy

IT SHOULD have been the best day of his life – his wedding day.

But the groom spoiled it by attacking a guest for getting a little too cozy with the bride.

Police in the capital’s Toul Kork district said that when a guest and former acquaintance of the bride hugged and kissed her, the groom, his jealousy ignited, shocked all the guests by pouncing on the man to defend his honour. Police intervened, and the wedding continued as normal after the victim declined to file a complaint. koh

P

RISONERS transported to the capital from provincial prisons for appeal hearings are being left stranded in prisons around Phnom Penh, according to a report by rights group Licadho.

The prisoners are shuttled by the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Prisons (GDP) to facilities in the city, including Correctional Centres 1 and 2 (CC1 and CC2) and PJ prison, so they can stand trial at the country’s only Court of Appeal.

The problem is, few prisoners are being transported back to the provincial prisons where they originally came from, exacerbating overcrowding in prisons around Phnom Penh and cutting them off from family support available closer to home, the report says.

The prisoner transport program is a nascent project that began over the past year to address in absentia appeal hearings. Before this, inmates in the provinces reportedly had to pay bribes in order to come to Phnom Penh to stand trial.

Last year, 619 inmates were transported to the capital to attend appeal hearings – of which 475 were from the provinces – according to the GDP’s annual report released in March. But Licadho claims “very few” of those have been returned.

As of March this year, there were 583 prisoners awaiting appeal in the nine prisons cited in the report.

Under the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure, detainees with pending appeals have to be “transferred without delay . . . to the nearest prison or detention centre to the seat of the Court of Appeal”.

“But unless there has been a decision by the court to give bail or release the prisoner, the authorities must also bring

police blotter

charges against them, and askthe judges to decide their cases within the laws”.

Their verdicts will be announced on June 7.

FIVE Koh Kong families embroiled in an ongoing land dispute with Heng Huy Agriculture Company were accompanied by more than 50 villagers yesterday as they went to court to clarify why they are asking for contracts signed with the company to be annulled.

Although only five representatives were due to speak in court on behalf of the families from Botum Sakor and Sre Ambel districts, many others turned up because they all felt victimised by the company, community representative Phay Nheung said yesterday.

“The reason we filed to void the contract is because Huy Heng and the authorities cheated and threatened us, promising to measure our land if we agreed to give some land over. But they did not follow the contract,” she said.

Representatives told the

court they wished to settle the case peacefully and requested 10 days to come to a compromise, she added.

“We need time to discuss, because in total 12 families have a land dispute with the company over 58.90 hectares of land, so if we compromise [on this], we compromise both cases,” Nheung said, adding the other seven families had not signed contracts.

Pok Yon, a community representative, said the villagers had lived on the land since 1979 and have had a dispute with the company since 2009, with the five families signing contracts late last year to subdivide their land for company use.

“We completely deny the contract, because he threatened and cheated us out of our land,” she said, referring to company owner, Heng Huy. Heng Huy Agriculture Company could not be reached yesterday.

PANIC struck an alleged drug dealer on Tuesday when he spied police strolling towards him in a packed Prey Veng town market. Dropping two packages of what police said were narcotics, the 25-year-old pushed and shoved his way out of the crowd, alerting the men to something fishy, and it wasn’t the smell of prahok. The police may simply have been looking for an icecold coconut drink or a fresh batch of juicy cucumbers, but the suspect led them on a short chase. He was arrested and admitted to selling drugs in the market. rasmey kampuchea

Sneaky schoolmate seizes steering wheel

A 23-YEAR-OLD student was arrested in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district on Tuesday after allegedly botching a car-jacking job. Police say the man tricked a fellow student into giving him a lift. Once inside, he wrested the steering wheel away from his astounded friend and pushed her out of the car, injuring her.

The cops caught up with him, taking the car back and sending the accused to court. Koh santepheap

Pilfering nearby vehicle ends badly for motodop

A 37-year-old motodop allegedly fell victim to vehicle temptation in Sen Sok district parking lot on Tuesday. The motodop was waiting for customers when the gleam of a bike parked next to his caught his eye. Who would even notice? The owner did. Soon the shouts for help reached residents, who helped the owner beat the daylights out of the man, leaving him unconscious for the police. He was sent to the hospital to recover in time for court. deum ampil

Labourers celebrate end of workday with a brawl POLICE say that Cambodian and Vietnamese construction workers used their time off to brawl with each other on Tuesday in Kandal province’s Lerk Dek district. After quitting time, the men apparently went off to have dinner and beer together.

Fully wasted, the men got into an argument and settled it with fisticuffs. Rocks and punches flew until police arrived and scattered the fighters, who all escaped except for one badly injured man. Police sent him to the hospital. rasmey Kampuchea Translated by Sen David

7

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Business Indicative Exchange Rates as of 29/05/2013. Please contact ANZ Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.

USD / KHR

EUR / USD

AUD / USD

NZD / USD

GBP / USD

USD /CNY

4,090

1.2853

0.9555

0.8058

1.5025

6.1322

USD / JPY

102.12

USD / HKD

7.7641

USD / SGD

USD / THB

1.2689

30.14

Naga plans $15 million VIP terminal Continued from page 1

last year. According to a report last month by EBS International, NagaCorp aims to more than double the spending by VIP players, from $3.8 billion last year to $8 billion in about three years.

NagaCorp currently has at least one private jet that is used to fly VIP customers into the Kingdom.

It is rare, though not impossible, for a company that does not deal with aviation or transport to have its own planes and terminal simultaneously, said Thomas Jaeger, managing director of ch-aviation, a company that analyses aviation issues.

“I am also not aware of casinos running their own private terminals,” he added.

But procedures related to immigration and customs would still be conducted by the government, he added. If everything is done right, the security “will be no different than going through normal immigration checks at the main terminal building”.

The State Secretariat of Civil Aviation’s undersecretary of state, Soy Sokhan, said he was not aware of NagaCorp’s plan.

However, he believes it is not necessary for a new terminal, because Phnom Penh’s existing terminal has VIP facilities, and “not enough people use them”.

In 2011, Cambodia’s then 27 casinos generated about $20 million in tax revenue for the government, a quarter more than the previous year.

The opposition has previously criticised the Kingdom’s casinos for not paying enough taxes to the government, as well as for their lax security that allows locals to slip in and gamble, which is illegal.

Women rest in front of NagaWorld in Phnom Penh. Its developers plan to invest in the luxury market this year, with the planning of a new VIP airport terminal under way.

heng chivoan

Workers seek cash advance May Kunmakara

A

N employee representative of bankrupt Cambodian telecommunications operator Mfone told the Post on Wednesday that he is seeking a cash advance of $4.4 million from Singaporebased Shenington Investment Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Thaicom, to compensate more than 1,000 unpaid employees with their salaries and sincerity fees.

Nearly 100 former employees gathered for the third

day yesterday morning to protest outside the former company’s headquarters to claim compensation for what they are still owed by the company.

Pang Vuthy, one of the workers’ representatives, told the Post on Wednesday after the demonstration that he emailed Shenington on May 22 to ask them to pay the amount of money in advance for employees, and said they will get paid back when Mfone’s asset here are sold.

“We requested them to give

the money to us first so that when Mr Ork Ry, Mfone’s nominated creditor, sells the assets, we will give them back the money,” he said.

We have to make sure all the other creditors will not come to demand it “We got a reply from the manager of the company on the 27th suggesting to us to be careful with the money that they give, by asking someone to recognise and guarantee it for paying back.”

“They requested of us that, if they money is given, we have to make sure that all the other creditors will not come to demand it because it is for employees,” he added.

“They will hold a board meeting about the money on the 31st so they will let us know,” he said.

Ork Ry, court-appointed liquidator for Mfone, confirmed to the Post on Wednesday that he is aware of the loan issue and he will be responsible for it.

“Now, we are waiting for their response. I am sure I

will guarantee it for them,” he said.

Mfone’s estimated $105 million value was just the book value of the initial assets list.

However, the Post reported in April that the telco’s actual market value would be more likely to be in the range of $30 million to $40 million.

At the beginning of this year the bankrupt telco had reached a deal with locally based Mobitel by transferring all its subscribers to Mobitel, the leading mobile operator in Cambodia.

8

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Business

CEDAC introduces guidlines Rann Reuy

The Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) yesterday introduced techniques to prepare a good rice harvest for farmers ahead of the rainy season, CEDAC announced.

Yang Saing Koma, president of CEDAC, said farmers could improve their harvests if they follow the seven steps. “[They] can select any step, but they will have the best results, if they follow all steps,” he said.

Khieu Sam, a farmer in Trapaing Trach village in Leaybo commune in Tramkak district of Takeo province, who owns half a hectare of land for rice farming, said he never used CEDAC’s techniques before.

However, he said that he prefered old techniques, because he did not have enough organic fertilizer to use on the field.

“There are a few farmers in the village who already work with CEDAC’s suggestions, because most of the farmers are not able to produce organic fertilizers,” he said.

Thailand cuts interest rate Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Yumi Teso

T

hailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time this year as slowing economic growth bolstered government calls for easing. The baht fell.

The Bank of Thailand lowered its oneday bond repurchase rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent, it said in Bangkok yesterday. The first reduction since October was a unanimous decision, it said. The outcome was predicted by 15 of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, with one expecting a half-point reduction and eight forecasting no change.

The Southeast Asian nation’s growth slowed more than estimated to 5.3 per cent last quarter from 19 per cent the previous three months, increasing scope for officials to join a global wave of monetary easing from Australia to South Korea. Yesterday’s move didn’t reduce government pressure on Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, who had earlier resisted repeated calls from Finance Minister Kittiratt NaRanong for rate cuts to tame a currency that reached a 16-year high in April.

“The 25-basis-point reduction would mean government pressure for a further cut would continue,” said Tohru Nishihama, an economist covering emerging markets at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc in Tokyo. “Without a drastic improvement in the economic outlook, the central bank will have more reason to cut further than to hold the rate.”

Kittiratt said yesterday’s rate cut was

A salesman counts Thai baht banknotes in a gold shop in Bangkok’s Chinatown last month. Yesterday Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time this year. reuters

“too little, too slow”, though it was better than not doing it at all. He had earlier called for a reduction of more than a quarter point to weaken the baht and help exporters. Assistant Governor Paiboon Kittisrikangwan declined to comment yesterday when asked whether the central bank felt political pressure to lower the rate.

The baht fell 0.7 per cent to 30.22 per dollar as of 3:02pm in Bangkok after

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touching 30.23 earlier, the weakest level since January 15. It has retreated more than 5 per cent from a level of 28.56 per dollar in April, the strongest since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and is Asia’s best-performing currency this year after the Chinese yuan, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Central banks are under renewed pressure to cut rates to support expansion. bloomberg

Universal, Robinsons deal fails Philippine property firm Robinsons Land Corp and Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp have ended talks over a planned joint development of a $2 billion casinoresort complex in Manila without concluding a deal, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

Universal, controlled by billionaire founder Kazuo Okada, had been in negotiations with Robinsons Land since late last year over what would be the Philippines’ biggest casinoresort development. Those talks were extended indefinitely after the failure to close a deal by an initial target of end-January.

Robinsons Land had been in talks to acquire a majority stake in unlisted Eagle I Landholdings Inc, which owns the site for Universal’s casino project, with the aim of developing the commercial, hotel and residential parts of the complex.

Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Robinsons told Reuters it was reviewing its options related to the planned tie-up with Universal. reuters

9

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Markets Business

bourse plans Loans and deposits up 30% Thai to eclipse Singapore Hor Kimsay

O

utstanding loans and deposits made at Cambodian banks grew by 32 per cent and 28 per cent respectively at the end of March this year from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC).

The data from the NBC that the Post obtained yesterday revealed that outstanding loans provided by all Cambodian banks reached about $6.14 billion at the end of March this year, and deposits made at all commercial banks reached about $6.39 billion.

Speaking to the Post yesterday, Nguon Sokha, director general of the NBC, said the banking sector is the oil to support the economic growth, so the current growth rates on loan disbursement is a reflection of the growth of Cambodia’s economy.

“There is still a large demand for financing to boost investment activities in Cambodia,” she said. “As our country still maintains a GDP growth rate at seven to eight per cent annually, loan

A money changer fans newly printed riel notes in Phnom Penh earlier this month. vireak mai

disbursements and deposit amounts are still growing as we see at this time.”

While all sectors are important to increase financing in the banking industry, Sokha said loans for agricultural activities contributed much to the growth, which is up about 40 per cent from the year earlier.

Major financial institutions currently show more trust in providing loans to the agricultural sector, thanks to Cambo-

dian government policies to boost the agricultural sector.

Acleda Bank, Cambodia’s largest domestically owned bank, has been increasing its percentage share of its loan portfolio into agriculture from 15 per cent two years ago to 19 per cent at the end of March.

While the bank’s total loan portfolio reached about $1.35 billion at the end of March this year, In Channy, the bank’s president and chief executive, said $254 million was

given to agricultural loans, which represents about 19 per cent of total lending.

“It [agricultural loans] is growing quite well,” said In Channy. “We are more confident to provide loans in the agricultural sector because the government policy has encouraged us to do so.”

He added that another $16 million went to rice millers, but are considered separate from agricultural loans at Acleda.

Acleda is not alone, but the increase of loans to the agricultural sector has also happened with ANZ Royal bank, a major commercial bank in the Kingdom.

Grant Knuckey, chief executive officer of ANZ Royal, said he has seen consistent growth in loans to the agricultural sector, particularly in the past 12 months, with a growth rate of around 35 per cent.

“Agriculture is a very promising sector for banking from a growth perspective, but issues hampering the provision of increased finance also need to be acknowledged,” he said, “These include poor financial information and inadequate documentation.”

Nuntawun Polkuamdee

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) seeks to increase market capitalisation to $700 billion in the next three years from $500 billion now to overtake the Singaporean bourse as Southeast Asia’s largest market, says SET president Charamporn Jotikasthira.

The SET’s market capitalisation is similar to the Malaysian stock exchange but smaller than Singapore and Taiwan’s, each of which is closer to $700 billion. Despite the smaller market capitalisation, the SET has passed its Singaporean counterpart for highest average trading volume in Asean at 50 billion baht ($1.66 billion) to 60 billion baht, about 35 per cent more than Singapore.

Charamporn said the local stock market has an edge over its regional peers in terms of listed companies’ earnings growth, geographical location and political stability, which have attracted investment in recent years.

To achieve its ambitious target, the SET must raise its supply side to keep up with the

fast-growing demand side.

“Increasing the supply side is not easy as the SET cannot convince large state enterprises to list on the market.

But there is a chance some of the two trillion baht’s worth of infrastructure projects may raise funds through the stock market,” he said.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are also lining up to list as a favourable market offers premium prices, which could boost the local bourse’s capitalisation.

Prapas Tonpibulsak, the chief investment officer of Krungsri Asset Management, predicts the Monetary Policy Committee will cut the policy interest rate by 25 basis points but warned that a rate reduction alone is not enough to curb the baht’s gains.

“Any rate cut will not be that big, as it will affect financial stability. Other Finance Ministry measures should be implemented to manage the baht efficiently and tame capital inflows,” he said. The measures comprise banning foreigners from buying the central bank’s bonds. bangkok post

EU China-bike duty hits Indonesia and Malaysia Jonathan Stearns

The European Union extended 20-year-old trade protection against bicycles from China to Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia, saying Chinese manufacturers used the four countries to evade the levy.

The EU said Chinese exporters of bikes to Europe shipped them via Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka and arranged assembly operations via Malaysia and Tunisia to dodge the 48.5 per cent duty. Separately, the EU lowered the levy to 19.2 per cent for one Chinese exporter and to zero for two others including Ideal (Dongguan) Bike Co while prolonging the

anti-dumping protection until mid2018 from October 2016.

The levy is meant to punish Chinese exporters for selling bicycles in Europe below cost, a practice known as dumping. In October 2011, the EU renewed the anti-dumping duty for five years to help European producers including Accell Group NV compete with cheaper imports.

The import tax “was circumvented by transshipment via Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and assembly operations via Malaysia and Tunisia,” the 27-nation bloc said in a decision yesterday in Brussels. The extension, which exempts some Indonesian, Sri Lankan and Tunisian bike manufac-

turers, results from a probe opened last September and will take effect after being published in the EU’s Official Journal in coming days or weeks.

Bicycle trade is a microcosm of EUChina commercial frictions that are growing as European policymakers threaten a broader crackdown on perceived unfair low pricing by Chinese exporters. The two-decade-long punitive duties on bikes continue to preoccupy the EU and China while the bloc warns of possible new levies on Chinese solar panels and mobile-telecommunications equipment to counter alleged dumping and subsidies.

China, the world’s biggest bicycle market with production of 83 million

in 2011, threatens European producers because the country exports almost 70 per cent of its output and has spare capacity of more than 25 million, the EU said. The EU is also attractive to Chinese exporters because it is the number two bicycle market, according to the bloc, which said China’s share of the European market is about 10 per cent when the circumvented imports are included.

European trade protection against Chinese bicycles dates to 1993, when the EU introduced a 30.6 per cent antidumping duty on imports from China.

The bloc renewed that levy in 2000 before raising it to the current 48.5 per cent in 2005 at the same time as intro-

New bids for SingTel’s Australia unit Stephen Aldred and Saeed Azhar

Private equity firms KKR and Carlyle Group are among the suitors lining up bids for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd’s Australian unit, Optus Satellite, people familiar with the matter said, a business valued at more than A$2 billion ($1.9 billion).

SingTel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecoms operator, is battling tepid growth in its key markets of Singapore and Australia, and the funds raised from the sale would help it plough cash into faster-growing businesses.

France’s Eutelsat Communications SA, Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners are also expected to bid, the people said. SingTel is inviting first round offers by June 14, one of the people said.

Eutelsat has lined up a corporate adviser, while KKR & Co and Carlyle are discussing deal financing with banks, the people added.

SingTel, controlled by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, sent out financial information to bidders on Monday, the people said, after announcing a strategic review of the business in March. SingTel’s Optus business sells TV,

telephony and broadband services to more than two million subscribers in Australia and New Zealand.

The suitors are attracted to the steady cashflow generated by the business as well as the low capital expenditure

David Rubenstein, co-CEO and co-founder of the Carlyle Group, speaks at the Partner Connect conference in Boston in April. reuters

required, the people added.

SingTel is hoping the auction will receive a boost from debt funding from the US made available by its advisers Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. The two banks are providing a loan of around A$1.7 billion that buyers can use for the acquisition, said two of the people.

Eutelsat was not immediately available for comment.

Blackstone, Carlyle, KKR and Providence declined to comment. The people declined to be identified because the sale process is confidential.

Optus Satellite operates a fleet of five satellites, with another, Optus 10, scheduled for launch in 2013. SingTel, which acquired the satellite arm when it bought Optus in 2001 for $14 billion, has been struggling to increase its earnings because of slowing growth in Singaporean and Australian mobile phone subscriptions and problems at Indian associate Bharti Airtel. reuters

ducing anti-dumping duties at 34.5 per cent on imports from Vietnam.

The EU let the levies against Vietnam expire in July 2010 while opening an investigation into whether to renew the 48.5 duty against China, a step that automatically kept the measure in place at least for the duration of the probe. The five-year prolonging in October 2011 was the outcome of that inquiry.

Yesterday’s EU decision to ease the 48.5 per cent duty for three Chinese bike exporters is the result of a review begun in March 2012 and re-imposes the trade protection for five years from the upcoming date of publication in the Official Journal. bloomberg

10

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Business

Costa Rican company accused of money-laundering; 5 arrested Dominic Rushe

F

ederal prosecutors in New York have accused a Costa Ricabased company and its founder of running a $6 billion money-laundering scheme that became a “bank of choice for the criminal underworld”.

Digital currency company Liberty Reserve was involved in one of the biggest moneylaundering operations ever uncovered, according to an indictment on Tuesday by Preet Bharara, the US attorney for the southern district of New York.

Liberty was the “financial hub of the cyber-crime world”, according to the indictment.

It facilitated “a broad range of online criminal activity, including credit card fraud, identity theft, investment fraud, computer hacking, child pornography, and narcotics trafficking”.

The indictment follows law enforcement actions in 17 countries. Five men, including founder Arthur Budovsky, have been arrested and charged with money-laundering and with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

Two other people are mentioned in the indictment and are believed to be at large.

Liberty Reserve was incorporated in Costa Rica in 2006 and was one of the world’s most widely used digital currencies.

The service allowed account

Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, describes charges against Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve who allegedly ran a $6 billion money laundering scheme. reuters

holders to send a receive payments from anywhere in the world. Liberty described itself as the internet’s “largest payment processor and money transfer system”, serving “millions” around the world.

According to the indictment Liberty Reserve processed more than 12 million financial transactions annually with a value of more than $1.4 billion. The US authorities claim “virtually all” of the activity related to suspected criminal activity. From 2006 to May 2013 Liberty “laundered more than $6 billion

in criminal proceeds,” the indictment states.

A spokesman for Liberty Reserve could not immediately be reached for comment.

Account holders were not required to prove their identity.

They converted local currency into Liberty Reserve dollars using third-party “exchangers” who charged a fee then forward the money to Liberty Reserve, according to the indictment.

Deposits were similarly done through exchangers in order to add another layer of anonymity.

Prosecutors have seized 45 bank accounts and five domain

names allegedly used for the operation, including the domain name of Liberty Reserve.

Budovsky, also known as Arthur Belanchuk, and Eric Paltz, a naturalised Costa Rican citizen, was detained Friday in Spain. Budovsky was sentenced to five years’ probation in 2007 after pleading guilty in a New York court to running E-Gold, another digital money-transmitting business, prosecutors said.

After his conviction Budovsky gave up his US citizenship, citing concerns to immigration officials that software

he was developing “might open him up to liability in the US”, prosecutors said. He then moved to Costa Rica, where he set up Liberty Reserve.

The company ran into trouble with Costa Rican authorities in 2011 over its moneylaundering controls. Budovsky “went underground”, the indictment says, and continued to operate in Costa Rica using a “stripped-down staff working out of an office space held in the name of shell companies”.

Brian Krebs, cybercrime expert and author of the Krebs on Security blog, said the indictment was a significant move by the US authorities. “The Justice Department has been very frustrated with these guys for some time,” he said. He said the timing was particularly interesting given the US authorities growing interest in digital currencies like WebMoney and Bitcoin.

Krebs said the chat boards used by many of Liberty’s customers had been very active over the weekend with users worried about the fate of their accounts.

“The cybercrime community is quite angry about what’s going on. Many folk are very concerned and have a lot to lose. They are saying the imperialist US government is once again showing its true colors,” he said.

Liberty’s closure brought criticism from some who claimed their legitimate businesses were being ruined. the guardian

China growth outlook cut as reforms urged Kevin Hamlin

The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecasts for China’s growth and said making “decisive” policy changes would put the economy on a more sustainable path.

Expansion will be about 7.75 per cent this year and next, David Lipton, first deputy managing director of the IMF, said yesterday at a press briefing in Beijing after concluding an annual review of China. In April, the IMF forecast growth of 8 per cent this year and 8.2 per cent expansion in 2014.

Lipton warned of risks from a record

expansion of credit, with the revised outlook following an unexpected slowdown in the first quarter. Premier Li Keqiang, who took office in March, is planning policy changes that would open up more of the economy to private investment and alter a household-registration system that impedes urbanisation.

“While China still has significant policy space and financial capacity to maintain stability in the face of adverse shocks, the margins of safety are narrowing and a decisive impetus to reforms is needed to contain vulnerabilities and move the economy to a more sustainable growth path,” Lipton said.

Lipton repeated the IMF’s view from last year that the yuan is “moderately” undervalued against a basket of currencies and said a stronger yuan over time is needed to redress the issue. Further progress is needed on relaxing controls on interest rates and the exchange rate, he said.

China disputed the assessment last year and said the yuan was “now close to equilibrium or, at most, slightly undervalued,” according to the 2012 annual report.

The currency has gained about 3.6 per cent against the dollar in the past year and yesterday weakened 0.1 per cent to 6.1267 per dollar.

China has assured the IMF that reining in credit expansion is a priority, said Lipton. Rapid growth in financing raises questions over the quality of investment and the repayment ability of companies and local governments, Lipton said.

Curbing credit expansion may slow growth in the short term while putting the economy on a more sustainable path, he added.

Lipton called for a bigger role for market forces in the economy, after Li said in March that cutting the government’s power was a “self-imposed revolution,” with changes that would “be very painful.” bloomberg

In brief Sciaroni & Associates opens office in Laos

PHNOM Penh-based legal and professional services firm Sciaroni & Associates yesterday announced the opening of their office in Laos.

Following strong economic development and high GDP growth forecasts for this year, Laos economy “offers unique business opportunities for investors, ”the company said.

Sciaroni & Associates has been providing advice and business insight since 1993 and already has a presence in Myanmar. Post Staff

Former KPMG partner pleads guilty to fraud

Scott London, a former senior partner with accounting firm KPMG, agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud for his involvement in insider trading, according to an announcement from the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. London, 50, supervised more than 500 accounting professionals at KPMG and oversaw audits of Herbalife Ltd and Skechers USA Inc, according to prosecutors. He faces a maximum term of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $5 million or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from his offence, according to the plea agreement. reuters

Suntory food unit gets the nod to list in Japan

Suntory Holdings Ltd received approval to list its core food and non-alcoholic beverage unit in Tokyo, paving the way for Asia’s largest initial public offering this year, worth $4.4 billion. Suntory is raising funds in part for foreign acquisitions, undeterred by a weakening yen as it competes with rivals Kirin Holdings Co Ltd and Asahi Group Holdings Ltd on deals abroad while consumer demand stagnates in Japan. A rally in domestic shares has boosted the attraction of share issues but the offer’s success will also depend on Suntory’s expansion plan overseas, where it has said it will focus on Southeast Asia. London’s plea agreement comes about a week after his one-time golfing buddy Bryan Shaw pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his role in the scheme. reuters

11

the phnom penh post MAY 30, 2013

Markets Business SoftBank, Sprint get green light SoftBank and SprintNextel have reached an agreement with the US government aimed at protecting national security as part of the Japanese firm’s $20 billion takeover bid, reports said Tuesday.

The agreement in principle “likely to be finalised in coming days, would clear the biggest regulatory hurdle facing the Japanese telecom company’s proposed acquisition of the third-largest US wireless carrier”, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Now “SoftBank faces only two major remaining hurdles.

The Federal Communications Commission will soon resume reviewing the Sprint deal, a process that is expected to finish in a week or so,” the Journal said, citing unnamed people.

Sprint shareholders also need to approve the SoftBank bid, with a vote set for June 12.

A Tokyo-based spokesman for SoftBank, Japan’s third largest mobile carrier, declined to comment on the reports.

SoftBank has previously pledged to US lawmakers it would avoid using network equipment from Chinesebased Huawei, which has come under scrutiny in Congress, with one report calling the firm a security threat. afp

Tiffany’s top-end jewellery sells briskly; lower end lags

Markets Thailand

Vietnam

Thai Set 50 Index, May 28 1100

Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, May 28 550

1025

500

950

450

875

400

800

350

1,059.31

Phil Wahba

South Korea

T

iffany & Co’s firstquarter sales topped expectations, boosted by improved demand for upscale jewellery, especially in the United States and Japan.

Comparable-store sales, which exclude stores that had opened in the past year, rose eight per cent, a marked improvement over the holiday-season quarter, when results were flat, it said on Tuesday.

Tiffany executives, however, warned investors not to read too much into the good start to the year, pointing to lingering weakness in the Americas, a drop in the yen, which is hurting its profit, and ongoing poor results with less expensive jewellery, including silver.

Tiffany gets more than 30 per cent of sales from jewellery costing less than $500, such as sterling silver heart pendants.

In the first quarter, Tiffany sold fewer silver items.

In the Americas, sales advanced six per cent, helped in part by much brisker business at its flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, where sales fell last year. The store generates

KOSPI Index, May 28 2100

515.09

Philippines

PSEI- Philippine Se Idx, May 28 7500

1975

7125

1850

6750

1725

6375

1600

6000

2,001.20

7,228.57

Singapore

Malaysia

FTSE Straits Times Index, May 28 4000

FTSEBursa Malaysia KLCI, May 28 1800

3500

1700

3000

1600

2500

1500

2000

1400

3,372.11

Hong Kong

China

Hang Seng Index, May 28 25000

The Tiffany Blue Box, an iconic symbol of the jewellery company Tiffany & Co, sits in front of Rockefeller Center in New York City. afp

about one-twelfth of companywide revenue.

In China, where Tiffany is opening four new stores this year and will have 26 by year end, sales growth contributed to a 14 per cent gain for the Asia business.

In Japan, its second biggest market, sales were up two per cent, and would have jumped 20 per cent, if not for the impact of the yen’s depreciation. Demand for expensive jewellery was

a standout and the company credited government efforts to spur consumption.

Tiffany’s quarterly results echoed recent reports by Saks Inc and Coach Inc in the United States, and Burberry Group and Italian fashion house Giorgio Armani, indicating luxury sales were regaining momentum.

For the quarter ended April 30, Tiffany reported that overall revenue rose 9.3 per cent to $895.4 million, well

above Wall Street expectations of $855.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters IBES. Shares were up 4.1 per cent to $79.34 in afternoon trading after earlier hitting their highest levels in nearly two years.

Last year, Tiffany set up a separate unit to cater to wealthy clients with special events, hoping to shore up sales in the high-end jewellery market. reuters

1,783.47 CSI 300 Index, May 28 3000

23250

2750

21500

2500

19750

2250

18000

2000

22,554.93

Japan

Nikkei 225, May 28 16000

2,642.56

Taiwan

Taiwan Taiex Index, May 28 8500

15250

8000

14500

7500

13750

7000

13000

6500

14,326.46

8,337.90

Laos Composite Index, May 28 1500

Jakarta Composite Index, May 28 6000

Laos

Indonesia

1350

5500

1200

5000

1050

4500

900

4000

1,366.28

International commodities

Cambodian commodities

Energy Units

Price

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

94.45

USD/bbl.

NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu

103.98

Change % Change Time(ET)

-0.56 -0.25

-0.59% -0.24%

5:12:43 5:13:00

4.17

-0.01

-0.19% 21:28:46

RBOB Gasoline

USD/gal.

284.8

-0.48

-0.17% 21:36:46

NYMEX Heating Oil

USD/gal.

290.66

0

0.00% 20:14:00

ICE Gasoil

USD/MT

872.5

-4.25

-0.48%

5:11:26

Agriculture Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Time(ET)

CBOT Rough Rice

USD/cwt

15.16

-0.16

-1.04%

5:00:47

CME Lumber

USD/tbf

283.3

-4.1

-1.43%

4:48:22

Construction equipment

Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits Item Rice 1 Rice 2 Paddy Peanuts Maize 2 Cashew nut Pepper Beef Pork Mud Fish Chicken Duck

Unit

Base

R/Kg

2800

R/Kg

2200

R/Kg

1800

R/Kg

8000

R/Kg

2000

R/Kg

4000

R/Kg

40000

R/Kg

33000

R/Kg

17000

R/Kg

12000

R/Kg

18000

R/Kg

13000

Average 2780 2400 1860 8100 2000 4220 29400 33600 18000 12200 20400 13000

(%) -0.71 % 9.09 % 3.33 % 1.25 % 0.00 % 5.50 % -26.50 % 1.82 % 5.88 % 1.67 % 13.33 % 0.00 %

Item

Unit

Base

Average

(%)

Steel 12

R/Kg

3000

3000

0.00 %

Cement

R/Sac

19000

19000

0.00 %

Energy Item

Unit

Base

Average

(%)

Gasoline

R

5250

5300

0.95 %

Diesel

R

5100

5050

-0.98 %

Petroleum

R

5500

5500

0.00 %

Chi

86000

77000

-10.47 %

Baht

1200

1300

8.33 %

Gas Charcoal

5,200.69

Pakistan

BSE Sensex 30 Index, May 28 21000

(Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)

Commodity

Crude Oil (Brent)

India

Karachi 100 Index, May 28 22000

20000

21250

19000

20500

18000

19750

17000

19000

20,087.52

Australia

21,537.71

New Zealand

S&P/ASX 200 Index, May 28 5500

NZX 50 Index, May 28 5000

5250

4750

5000

4500

4750

4250

4500

4,964.80

4000

4,497.54

12

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

World Suspect admits to stabbing of soldier

Firemen battle a fire in Lashio , Northern Shan state of Myanmar yesterday.

A SUSPECT arrested yesterday has admitted to the weekend stabbing of a French soldier in Paris and was probably acting based on his “religious ideology”, Paris prosecutor Xavier Molins said.

Molins said the man, named as Alexandre D and who turns 22 today, had converted to Islam and was known to police after undergoing an identity check in 2009 for praying on the street.

He added the suspect had “admitted to the act” during his arrest early yesterday in the Yvelines region just west of Paris, following the attack on Saturday in which Private First Class Cedric Cordiez was stabbed in the neck.

The prosecutor said the suspect had “a fairly clear intent to kill” during the attack, which took place in a busy underground shopping and transport hub while Cordiez was on patrol with two colleagues.

Cordiez was injured but was released from hospital on Monday.

AFP

Mob fear grows in Myanmar R

ELIGIOUS violence shook eastern Myanmar for a second day yesterday as terrified residents called for security reinforcements after an orphanage, mosque and shops were burned down.

The government appealed for calm after the unrest – the latest in a series of outbreaks of sectarian strife that pose a major challenge to the country's reformist leaders following the end of decades of military rule.

Residents said mobs armed with sticks were roaming the streets of Lashio town in Shan State looking for Muslims on Wednesday, while a reporter saw two houses ablaze.

A local hospital said it had received four people with slash wounds but their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Police had

earlier claimed the situation was “under control” after an overnight curfew was imposed on Tuesday after the initial unrest, which the authorities said was triggered by an attack on a local Buddhist woman.

A 48-year-old Muslim man was arrested over that incident, in which the 24-yearold woman suffered burns but was not in a serious condition, according to state-run broadcaster MRTV. A Muslim orphanage, a mosque and several shops were destroyed by rioters, a government official said, requesting anonymity.

Tension remained high as dusk approached yesterday with Muslim residents fearing another night of violence and describing a 30-strong group of armed men on motorcycles cruising around Lashio shout-

ing anti-Muslim slogans.

“Almost all Muslim people are trying to stay in safe places . . . we don’t know how we are going to get through the night,” one resident asked not to be named said.

Another Muslim local called for more soldiers to enforce the curfew, saying the mob of bikers was threatening to “kill any Muslims they see on”.

“The security is not enough . . . we are now running for our lives,” the resident added. “I have no idea what the township authorities are doing. I'm really scared.”

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut appealed for an end to the violence, saying in a posting on his Facebook page it had “no place in the democratic society we are trying to establish”.

Religious unrest in the former army-controlled na-

tion has caused global alarm.

US President Barack Obama last week voiced “deep concern” about anti-Muslim attacks, during a landmark visit to Washington by President Thein Sein.

The violence has exposed deep rifts in the Buddhistmajority country and cast a shadow over widely praised political reforms.

Nyan Win, a spokesman for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the party believed outsiders were whipping up the violence in Lashio.

“The people they know that this violence [does] not happen automatically. They know that there's a third person there,” he said, without elaborating.

In March at least 44 people were killed in sectar-

ian strife in central Myanmar with thousands of homes set ablaze.

Some monks – who were among the most vocal prodemocracy supporters during Myanmar's repressive junta era – have been involved in the violence, while others are spearheading a move to boycott shops owned by Muslims.

Wirathu, a monk from Mandalay responsible for some of the most vitriolic anti-Muslim rhetoric, yesterday posted several graphic pictures apparently of the injured Buddhist woman on his Facebook page.

Communal unrest last year – mainly targeted at Rohingya Muslims – left about 200 people dead and displaced up to 140,000 people, mainly Rohingya, in the western state of Rakhine. AFP

Femen protesters bare their breasts in Tunisia THREE young European women with topless protest group Femen were arrested yesterday after baring their breasts in central Tunis, a first in the Arab world, a journalist reported.

Standing outside the main courthouse yesterday, the women, two French and a German, shouted “Free Amina,” in support of a Tunisian woman detained while protesting against hardline Islamists and awaiting trial.

The police swiftly arrested them and took them inside the building, before a crowd of journalists.

“It is the first action that we have taken in the Arab world . . . I prepared this international team in Paris and they were sent yesterday [Tuesday] to Tunis,” Femen’s leader in Paris, Inna Shevchenko, said by telephone.

Indecency in Tunisia is punishable by six months in jail.

“We don’t take any notice of this kind of thing. In these countries the law is applied as it suits [those in power]. In Tunisia, we see that people run the risk of two years in prison just for simple graffiti,” she added.

The 18-year-old Tunisian known by her pseudonym Amina Tyler was arrested in the city of Kairouan on May 19, the day that Salafist movement Ansar al-Sharia planned to hold

an illegal congress there, after painting the word “Femen” on a wall near a cemetery.

She faces a pepper spray charge which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

An investigating magistrate is also considering pressing a charge of desecrating a cemetery, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

AFP

[Nothing] could have indicated he was dangerous The stabbing echoed the grisly killing of another soldier in London last week and authorities are seeking to determine if the Paris incident was a copycat.

Head of investigative police Christian Flaesch said there had been no previous indications of the suspect’s involvement in violent extremism.

“Other than the praying in the street, there were no other elements that could have indicated he was dangerous,” Flaesch said, adding that the man was from a “family that seems completely honourable”.

Molins said the suspect had shown an “impressive determination” to carry out the attack, stabbing the soldier “several times” with a fold-out knife.

He said video footage showed the suspect buying two knives an hour before the attack and praying eight minutes before the stabbing.

Molins added the suspect was known to police for various misdemeanours but did not have a criminal record.

He was arrested at the home of a friend, who Molins said was not connected with the crime and did not know that the suspect was being sought.

France’s Muslim population is estimated at five-six million and is the biggest in Europe, the legacy of the French colonisation of North and West Africa and subsequent waves of immigration into the suburbs of cities such as Paris, Marseille and Lyon. AFP

13

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

World

CAMBODIA

14

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

World

Finger on Thai troops in shooting THAI soldiers are believed to have shot an Italian photographer who was killed during mass opposition street protests in Bangkok in 2010, an official inquest found yesterday.

The probe by a criminal court in the Thai capital, however, was unable to identify the individual who fired the bullet that struck Fabio Polenghi, a freelance photographer who was covering the two-monthlong demonstrations.

“During the inquest, experts testified that the victim died of a wound from a high velocity bullet like those used by security forces and there was no evidence of any other group in the area,” according to a criminal court judge.

“The court ruled that Fabio Polenghi died from a wound from a gunshot which came from the direction where security forces were working to regain control of the area but could not identify the shooter,” she added.

Polenghi was killed on May 19, 2010, the day when soldiers firing live ammunition stormed the Red Shirt protest movement’s sprawling rally base in the centre of Bangkok. AFP

Five charged with sedition

A

MALAYSIAN court charged five more people with sedition yesterday as part of what critics have called a crackdown aimed at silencing allegations the ruling coalition cheated to win recent elections.

The accusations, repeated in a series of opposition-organised rallies drawing tens of thousands of people around the country, have added pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak who was already smarting from a disappointing polls win.

The five men charged yesterday – opposition politicians Tian Chua and Tamrin Ghafar, and three activists – pleaded not guilty in a Kuala Lumpur district court. Sedition carries a prison term of up to three years.

They were charged over statements calling for protests against the results of the May 5 elections, Chua’s lawyer, N Surendran, said.

“It’s a completely groundless charge. It seems to be punishing free speech,” said Surendran, who is also vice-president of the People’s Justice Party headed by Anwar Ibrahim.

Yesterday’s court action brought the number charged with sedition since the polls to six. Last week charges were brought against a student activist whose arrest had provoked candlelight vigils by hundreds of people.

Amnesty International and other international groups have condemned the police actions as a crackdown on peaceful expression.

“This is part of a wider campaign by

In brief Singapore gives stern warning to foreigners

SINGAPORE yesterday issued a stern warning to foreigners to abide by its laws, after Malaysians arrested for staging an illegal protest had appealed for leniency.

“Foreigners who break the law in Singapore should be prepared to face the consequences, including having their visas or work passes revoked,” the foreign and interior ministries said in a joint statement. afp

Tourists rescued from ferry off Phuket island Human rights activist Hishamuddin Rais (centre) arrives with student activist Adam Adli (left) at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. AFP

the prime minister and the home minister to silence opposition to election fraud,” Surendran said.

Anwar had led a three-party opposition against the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, and which was returned to power once again.

The opposition has accused Barisan of illegally enlisting foreign immigrant workers as voters and introducing supposedly indelible ink – meant to prevent multiple voting – that washed off easily, among other allegations.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing.

The opposition has since launched a broad campaign to portray Najib as an illegitimate ruler and force substantive electoral reforms, including an over-

haul of an Election Commission it says is biased.

The opposition intends to file election petitions to contest the outcome in 27 parliamentary seats, which it says would have given them control of the government if those constituencies went its way.

Such petitions rarely succeed. The opposition says courts and the Election Commission are under Barisan’s thumb.

Barisan won parliament with a minority of the popular vote – a contradiction blamed on the coalition creating more parliamentary districts in its rural strongholds over the years.

The result has sparked speculation over whether Najib could face a coalition leadership challenge. AFP

MORE than 100 people were rescued from a tourist ferry which began to sink in rough seas near the popular Thai resort island of Phuket, police said yesterday. The 114 passengers were picked up by a passing boat after the Phuket-bound ferry from Phi Phi island began to take on water on Tuesday and sent out a distress signal, according to the authorities.

“The ship was struck by waves and cracked. It wasn’t overloaded because its maximum capacity is 150 passengers,” said Lieutenant Colonel Chatchai Sakdee, chief inspector of Phuket marine police. AFP

In two special editions on Friday, June 14, and Friday, June 28, The Phnom Penh Post will proudly present special reports called:

World Heritage Cambodia A proud moment in Cambodian history

Starting on June 16 and running through to June 27, for the first time, Cambodia will host more than 800 delegates of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. In Cambodia's role as chairman of the 37 session of the World Heritage Committee, The Phnom Penh Post will publish messages of welcome from the Royal Government as well as a schedule of events and highlights of what's on the agenda.

In the June 28 report two weeks later, we will publish what happened during this important series of meetings, including the Siem Reap closing ceremony on June 27.

This is a chance for travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants, banks, telecoms and all kinds of providers, especially in the tourism industry, to highlight their companies in these special reports.

We will be highlighting all the important antiquities of Cambodia and listing all the World Heritage sites such as Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear and gaining insights into how Cambodia's chairmanship of this important group creates the conditions for a robust future of the tourism industry through the preservation of antiquities and the gracious hosting of the World Heritage Committee.

Advertisers will be offered special discount rates for inclusion in both publications on June 14 and 28.

To advertise, contact borom.chea@phnompenhpost.com - call 012 76 34 81 or Siem Reap: Sophearith Blondeel - call 092 752 801 | 063 964 151 | Email: Sophearith.Blondeel@phnompenhpost.com United Nations

Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

World Heritage Convention

This is a chance to show how much your company cares about the preservation of Cambodia's antiquities.

Booking deadline: Friday, June 7. Artwork deadline: Wednesday, June 12.

Friday, June 14 and Friday, June 28.

15

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

World

Everest memories, fears for future N Deepak Adhikari

Four days of ceremonies dubbed the “Everest Diamond Jubilee” concluded yesterday with family members of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first summiteers, laying garlands on statues of the now legendary pair.

Hillary’s granddaughter and niece joined Italian climbing

EPAL has marked 60 years since the first ascent of Everest, celebrating the pioneering climbers whose bravery spawned an industry that many mountaineers fear is now ruining the world’s highest peak.

celebrity Reinhold Messner, Norgay’s grandson Tashi Tenzing and the last remaining member of the 1953 expedition, Kancha Sherpa, in a horse-drawn chariot procession through Kathmandu.

The British-funded trip to the highest point on earth – 8,848 metres above sea level

Everest conquered New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the summit of the world’s tallest mountain 60 years ago Lhotse Face

May 21 Camp VIII 7,894 m

May 3 Camp V 6,706 m

South Col

May 26 Camp IX 8,504 m

May 29, 1953 Mount Everest summit 8,848 m

May 13 Camp VI 7,010 m

May 18 Camp VII 7,315 m

N

Tenzing Norgay

1953 expedition British expedition led

by John Hunt aimed to get two men to the summit

Khumbu Icefall April 18 Camp II 5,913 m

Includes 14 climbers, 22 Sherpa guides, 350 porters at Base Camp Teammates Charles Evans and Tom Bourdillon made a first but unsuccessful attempt

Departure April 13 Base Camp 5,364 m

CHINA

Kathmandu

Edmund Hillary

April 22 Camp III 6,157 m

NEPAL

60 km

People didn’t know what was up there. They didn’t know whether or not you could remain conscious

May 2 Camp IV 6,462 m Western Cwm

Hunt, Hillary and Tenzing have apparently agreed not to reveal who first set foot on the summit but Tenzing later revealed in his autobiography that Hillary preceded him*

Mount Everest

INDIA

Total ascents, yearly 600 500 400

People who reached the summit 1953-2010 more than 4,400

300 200

Total number of people who died in the attempt

206

100 1953

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

2000

05

2010

Total deaths 2

2 6

2

2

3

3

44

6 8

8 13 others who attempted to reach Everest summit died from 1922-1952

4

7

11

8

2

3 5

44

5

3 5

3

4 7

8

5

6

7

9

10

11 15

Climbers by country of origin Top 10, 2011 Nepal US

536 2,264

– changed mountaineering forKancha Sherpa, now 81, Hillary’s son Peter, and Norever and turned New Zealander worked as a porter on the gay’s son Jamling, both now Hillary and Nepalese guide maiden expedition, which he mountaineers, were to join Norgay into household names remembers as an arduous but Queen Elizabeth II at a diain many parts of the world. ultimately joyous affair – al- mond jubilee event at the Royal “Hillary and Tenzing were though he regrets that the glory Geographical Society in Lonrock stars of the 1950s and into is not more equally shared don late yesterday. the 1960s,” Hillary’s son Peter among the team.

In New Zealand, Auckland said. “The biggest thing about “Everyone knew Tenzing and Museum staged an exhibition 1953 is that they were going into Hillary climbed Everest but to mark the anniversary, featurthe unknown. nobody knows how hard we ing photos, medals and equip“People didn’t know what worked along the way,” Kancha ment used during the expediwas up there. They didn’t know said in an interview. tion and highlighting Hillary’s whether or not you could re“One thousand two hundred charity work in Nepal after the main conscious. They didn’t coolies [porters] were gath- historic ascent. know whether they could climb that final summit knife-edged ridge and get up what is now called the Hillary Step,” he added.

A host of famous mountaineering figures were set to attend a gala last night at the palace of Nepal’s former royal family in ered together at Bhaktapur Norgay’s grandson Tenzing the capital. near Kathmandu ... Everyone called on the Nepalese governBut while the Nepalese gov- walked from there because ment to protect the unique ernment is keen to promote the there weren’t any roads, no mo- qualities of the mythical peak. anniversary – Everest is a key tor vehicles, no planes. It took “Our leaders should underrevenue-earner for the impov- us 16 days to reach Namche,” stand the value of the mounerished country – many in the which is today the start of the tains,” he said. “We should not climbing community reflected Everest route, he added. sell Nepal as a cheap destinaon the dangers of over-comKancha said that he and fellow tion,” he said. mercialisation. porters cut down 20 trees and Everest was named in 1852 Recent photographs show- carried logs up the mountain, by a colonial-era survey of Ining queues of climbers waiting which were then used as make- dia which singled out the until their turn to reach the summit, shift ladders to pass the treach- then unremarkable peak in the as well as gathering mounds erous Khumbu Icefall, just above eastern Himalayas as the tallest of rubbish and even a brawl the Everest base camp. mountain in the world. AFP between climbers and portersលក�ណ this year, have highlighted problems on the “roof of the world”.

“Everest has turned into a ដំណឹង��ើស��សបុគ�លិក playground for people with all sorts of interests,” veteran climber Temba Tsheri Sherpa, ��ឹះ��នមី��ហិរ��វត�� ���ក់ គឺ���ប � ន ័ មី�ហ � រិ ��វត�� � ល � កំពង ុ ��� ើ ត � ប ិ ត�� ិ រហិរ��វត�� who now runs an expedition company, lamented. ដូច� ផ�ល�� ់ ក � ក ់ ម�ី ទទួល��ក � ប ់ ��រើ សន��ន ំ ង ិ ��រ� ��ក � ់ ទូ�ង ំ ២៤��ត� និង�ជ�នី�វ� �រ “All they want is to set new re��ស ើ ��សបុគល � ក ិ តួ�ទី� ម���ីឥណ�ន (Credit Of�icer) ៥០រូប សំ�ប់ប� ំ ញ � ទី�ង ំ cords and they seem to be will�រ�រ��រ��ល័យ��ទូ�ង ំ ២៤��ត-� �ជ�នី របស់�ះឹ � ��ន � មី�ហ � រិ ��វត�� � � � ក់។ ing to pay thousands of dollars in order to fulfil their dreams,” លក�ណៈសម��ត�ិ�ំ�ច់��វ�ន៖ �រៈកិច� និង �រទទួលខុស���វ�ន៖ he added.  �នប��ប់បរ���ប័����ក ធ��រ/  ��ើ��ន�រ និង��ើយុទ����� More than 3,500 people have (ផ�ល់កម�ីផ�ល់������ក់ប��ើរ និង so far reached the peak, accordហរ���វត��/ គណ��យ��/ ��ដ�កិច�/ ��ើ��ន�រហិរ��វត�� រយៈ��លខ�ី ing to government figures. ��ប់��ង/�ណិជ�កម�។ និង��ង)។ This season alone 540 people  �នបទពិ�ធន៏�ម���ីឥណន�ន  ��ើ��តិបត�ិ�រផ�ល់កម�ីនិង��� made it to the summit, includ���ងតិច១���ំ ��ក � ប ់ ��រើ �រព�ម �ល�រណ៍ ing an octogenarian, the first fe �នចំ��ះដឹងខ�ស់�ក់ទង�នឹង�� នីតិវ�ធី បទ���នកំណត់ និងអនុវត� male amputee, the first women �ម�រ ���ំ����ងៗរបស់ from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, �ហិរ��វត�� និង �នបទពិ�ធន៍�រ ���នអនុ�� �យក�� និង and the first armless man. �រ��រល����ើរ។

100 (rounded off) China

Britain

Japan

India

S. Korea

Russia

France

Spain

299

264

169

152

118

118

95

91

Source: Royal Geographical Society/8000ers.com/NatGeo*

�រ��ល័យក���ល ។

Another round of democracy in Bhutan VOTERS in the isolated Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will begin electing their second ever government this week, five years after the country’s Buddhist “dragon kings” gave way to democracy.

The electorate of less than 400,000 people will choose from four parties tomorrow when the primary round of voting for the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, commences.

The two most popular parties will then contest a run-off round on July 13 to form the next government.

Bhutan, which is landlocked

by Asian giants India to the south and China to the north, held its first election in 2008 after the monarchy ceded power and actively led the move to a parliamentary democracy.

In the 2008 vote, the centreright Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), drawn from the country’s traditional elite, won a huge landslide and secured 45 of 47

seats available against the People’s Democratic Party.

This time two new centreleft parties, both led by women, are running, but the wellestablished DPT is generally expected to win by a small margin – although opinion polls are banned.

A rule that allows only graduates to stand for office has created difficulties for the new parties in their search for recruits, with a fifth party disqualified over its lack of candidates.

“I think the DPT will get through because of the incumbency factor,” a political analyst in the capital Thimphu told AFP, declining to be named.

He said Bhutan’s huge development under the DPT, especially the building of roads and provision of electricity to rural areas, made the party popular in a nation where more than 40 percent of people depend on agriculture and forestry.

Jigmi Y Thinley, the incumbent prime minister, is also the

only leading candidate who can speak in Bhutan’s many local dialects, which could help him win more support in remote corners of the country.

The DPT is unlikely to repeat its 2008 landslide win, analysts say, as it faces more competition amid concerns over corruption, youth unemployment and a

rupee liquidity crunch under the party’s watch.

Bhutan is heavily dependent on India for aid, investment and the majority of its imports, leading supplies of the Indian rupee to run out last year due to too much demand. Bhutan’s ngultrum currency is also pegged to the rupee. AFP

 ��ង � យល់ពប ី រ���សគូ�ក � ត ួ ���ង � និង��ើ�រផ��ព�ផ��យ ផលិតផល និង���កម�របស់��ប័ន។

 ��ប់��ង�ច់��ក់ក�ង�រដឹកជ���ន

���ក់ �រ�ើក���ក់ និង ��មូល���ក់ ពីអតិថិជន �យ��ប�ម

�ល�រណ៍របស់���ប័ន។

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សម��ត�រិ បស់�ប � ន ័ �យ�នគង់វង��។

 �រ�ះ���យកម�ី�នប��� និង

ស��បស��ល � �ល់�រត��� ឬ�ម�រ ����ងៗរបស់អតិថិជន និងបុគ�លិក។

 ��ើរ�យ�រណ៍បូកសរុប�រអនុវត���ន �រ&លទ�ផល�រ�រ

 អនុវត��រ�រ����ងៗ�ៀត��លត���វ �យអ�ក��ប់��ង។

 �នជំ�ញក��ង�រផ�ល់���កម�ល� �រទំ�ក់ទំនងល�និង �រ�ះ���យប���។  �នចំ��ះដឹង�ច�ន និងសរ��រ ��អង់��ស �ន��ើនគួរសម។ �នចំ��ះដឹង�ច��ើ��ស់កម�វ�ធី Ms. Office។  �នសីលធម៌ល� �នឥរ��បថល� �ន�ព��ះ� ��ង់ �ន�រ��� � ច � ត ិ ខ � ស � ់ �ន�រ�រពវ�ន័យ និង�ន គំនិត�សហ��ិន ។  ផ�ល់�ទិ�ព��ក�ជន ��លរស់ �ក��ងតំបន់��តិបត��រ ិ ��ើស��សបុគ� លិក�ង�ើរបស់���ក់។

��ក��រ� និង��ក�ជន��ល�នចំ�ប់�រម�ណ៍ ���វ�ក់�ក��សុំ�មួយ និងឯក�រ �ក់ព័ន� �នដូច���វត�ិរូប���ប់�មួយរូបថត ៤x៦ (០១សន�ឹក) ប័ណ����រ សំបុ��កំ�ើត អត�ស���ណប័ណ� ឬ ស���ប័��� � ��ងៗ(ថតចំលង��ប៉ុ��ះ) មក�ន់ទ� ី �ក់�រក���លភ�ំ��ញ ��ល�ន�សយ���ន���រ��ខ២១២ ផ��វ២៧១ ស���ត់ទួលទំពួង២ ខ័ណ�ចំ�រមន��ុងភ�ំ��ញ ឬ�������ក់�មួយ ��ល�ជិត�កអ�ក ���ងយឺត បំផុត��ឹម���ទ១២ ី �� មិថុ� ���ំ២០១៣

(សំ�ប់ព័ត៌�នប���ម សូម�ក់ទងមក �រ��ល័យក���ល ទូរសព�័��ខ ៖

០២៣ ២២០ ១០២ )។�ល់�ក����ើសុំ�ំងអស់��វប��ក់ពីទី�ំង�រ�រ�យ�នច��ស់�ស់ �ើយ�ន����ក��រ� និង��ក�ជន��ល���វអ��ើញ��ើ�រ��ឡងឬបទស���សន៍នឹង���វ

�នទំ�ក់ទំនង�មទូរស័ព៕ �

Bhutanease residents queue as they wait to cast their votes at a polling station in Thimphu on April 23. AFP

16

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

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Lessons to learn in Syria Comment

A

Anne-Marie Slaughter

S the United States and Russia try to broker a conference that can bring the various sides in the Syrian conflict to the negotiating table, potential Western participants, at least, should be thinking about the larger implications of the Syrian conflict for dictators and democracies around the world.

Here are the lessons thus far: Bad guys help their friends. The Russians and Iranians are willing to do whatever it takes to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power. Hezbollah, supplied by Iran, has now moved openly onto the battlefield in support of the Assad regime.

Russia and Iran have kept the Syrian government supplied with heavy weapons and other military assistance, including a Russian shipment of sophisticated anti-ship missiles with advanced radar systems.

These will help Assad hunker down and fend off all comers in an Alawite mini-state that will include the Russian-leased port facility at Tartus.

Diplomacy without a credible threat of force is empty talk. “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” Theodore Roosevelt counseled. President Barack Obama rightly wants to lead in global affairs through civilian more than military power; he understands that military solutions to foreign-policy problems are hugely expensive and often counter-productive in terms of advancing US security and prosperity over the long term.

But Obama’s strategy in Syria seems to be “speak loudly and throw away your stick”. Obama has made it clear over and over (as has NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen) that he has no interest in intervening militarily in Syria.

And the US response to the latest Russian missile shipment? Secretary of State John Kerry said: “I think we’ve made it crystal clear we would prefer that Russia was not supplying assistance.”

The US has cast aside one of its most important foreign policy tools, creating an incentive for the Syrian government and its supporters to keep fighting until they are in the most advantageous position possible to negotiate a settlement – that is, if they have any incentive to negotiate at all.

If you are a dictator facing sus-

A rebel fighter loads his machinegun during fighting with regime forces in Aleppo last month.

afp

tained political protests, be as brutal as possible and incite sectarian killing. Part of Syria’s agony is the selffulfilling nature of the conflict.

From March to December 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians marched every Friday, seeking the same political liberalisation that Tunisians, Egyptians, Yemenis, Bahrainis, Jordanians and others across the Middle East and North Africa sought in what was optimistically called “the Arab Spring.”

Unarmed, they were shot in the streets by riot police and government snipers, until they finally started forming small local militias for self-protection – militias that gradually grew into the loose federation of forces now known as the Free Syrian Army.

All the while, Assad was describing the violence as the product of terrorists and Sunni extremists seeking dominion over minority Alawites, Druze, Kurds, Christians and other groups.

Regional organisations are still unable to solve regional problems without great-power leadership. Turkey has been threatening and calling for military action for 18 months, but US officials say that the Turks are not

“Humanitarian” intervention – action that is motivated by our concern for the fate of fellow human beings – is often described as reflecting “moral concern”.

But how many wars does it take for us to understand that killing always begets more killing? People who watch the butchering of their children and parents, the rape of their wives, daughters and sisters and the wanton destruction of their homes and livelihoods do not forget.

When no side in a war has a reason to stop fighting, a peace conference cannot succeed. In Syria, the moral, strategic and political arguments all converge in favour of decisive action to stop the killing, if not forever, at least for now, to create a space for peace.

But if the lessons of the past two years are any guide, the wheels of violence will keep on turning. PROJECT

in fact ready to do anything beyond providing support for refugees and opposition fighters.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also sending arms to Syrian opposition groups, but the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council are paralyzed. Without a great power that is willing both to share the lead and to push from behind, regional organisations cannot take charge in their own neighbourhood.

Human suffering, even on a massive and destabilising scale, will not move the world to action. In a recent conversation about Syria with a couple of well-known foreign policy experts, one participant suggested that the Middle East’s current borders, drawn in colonial times, cannot last and must be redrawn.

For all the world’s pious proclamations about “never again”, a mantra arising from the Holocaust, mass murder almost never motivates foreign intervention.

It is astounding to think that the world mobilised immediately to push Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991, but has dithered for more than two years as tens of thousands of Syrians have been killed, and their country, a cradle of civilisation, laid waste.

© Post Media Co, Ltd The Phnom Penh Post is wholly owned and printed by Post Media Co Ltd. The title The Phnom Penh Post in either English or Khmer languages, its associated logos or devices and the contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of Post Media Co Ltd.

www.phnompenhpost.com

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former director of policy planning in the US State Department (2009-2011), is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University.

She is the author of The Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World.

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17

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Lifestyle Memory! festival aims to foster a love of cinema in Cambodia

In brief World’s oldest Torah scroll found in Italy

Bennett Murray

C

HARLIE Chaplin will share the limelight with His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk during tnext week’s Memory! International Heritage Film Festival.

Organised by Bophana Audiovisual Centre in conjunction with Technicolor Foundation, a Paris-based organisation that preserves and restores old films, the festival aims to promote cinematic awareness in Cambodia.

“We want to educate young Cambodians, young and old, to see the importance of the successful films in the past and to keep it as heritage, just like in many developed countries,” said Rithy Panh, co-founder of Bophana and winner at the 2013 Cannes Films Festival for his film The Missing Picture.

Panh also said the festival hopes to promote watching movies on the big screen.

“We hope that this will give the experience to young Cambodians to feel the excitement of being in a real theater. It’s different from watching it on a laptop.”

The theme for this year’s festival, which the organisers plan to repeat next year, is dance.

Consequently, musicals such as Robert Wise’s West Side Story, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain and Jean Renoir’s French Cancan dominate the festival.

Panh said that although it is hard to predict how Western classics will be received locally, he hopes that they inspire Cambodians to experiment with cinema.

THE world’s oldest complete Torah scroll has been found in a university archive in Bologna, according to an Italian professor who said the text could be from the 12th century. The precious lambskin scroll had been classified by the university library as being from the 17th century and was named simply “Scroll Number Two”. But Hebrew studies professor Mauro Perani said he noticed that the text did not conform to key changes in Torah writing brought about starting from the 12th century. the guardian

Zach Braff Kickstarter campaign wins $3.1m

Award-winning director and co-founder of Bophana Audiovisual Centre Rithy Panh (left) and Technicolor Foundation head Séverine Wemaere.

“Of course, we are afraid how they will like West Side Story,” said Panh. “But maybe someone will make the Cambodian West Side Story.”

In order to garner enthusiasm, the festival organisers have chosen to fuse some of the movies with modern pop culture with Khmer-American rock band Dengue Fever performing at the festival along with French video jockey Al-

exandre Elkouby at Koh Pich on June 5.

“It’s not a concert, it’s a cineconcert.” said Séverine Wemaere, head of the Technicolor Foundation. “We want to find an entry point for people who would not see the movies, who think they are boring.”

However, it is not just Western films that will be shown at the festival. Films by Ly Bun Yim, one of Cambodia’s most

important pre-Khmer Rouge filmmakers, and King Father Sihanouk, who dabbled extensively in filmmaking, will also be screened.

Wemaere said that the festival also highlights the worldwide need to properly protect old films from deterioration.

“Films are physically endangered all over the world,” said Wemaere, who added that 90 per cent of silent movies are

KOAM CHANRASMEY

considered lost. “It’s the case in France, the United States, Romania, Cambodia, Thailand, and so on.”

Memory! International Heritage Film Festival runs from June 1-9, with screenings taking place at Chaktomuk Conference Hall and at the Bophana Audiovisual Centre. Workshops and lectures will also be held at Institut Français from 10am on June 3-5. Admission is free.

Brown curly locks and a heart of gold

Julian Gargiulo (right) and friend Yumi Anna Ono enjoy a tuk-tuk ride. Gargiulo received a standing ovation at the latest Catch A Cambodian Star. Soma Norodom

WHEN you first meet Julian Lawrence Gargi-ulo, renowned classical pianist and composer, his big, brown, curly locks are the first thing to catch the eye. But having spent this past weekend listening to scores by Bach, Beethoven and Puccini, it was his performance that really shone.

He was one of the acts, alongside Staomi Ogawa, soprano and once a Miss Universe Japan, the spectacular gala concert, Catch A Cambodian Star, presented by Chiara Angkor Music Production, drew standing ovations by members of the royal family, the Japa-

nese ambassador to Cambodia, and more than 500 guests.

Julian Gargiulo has filled concert halls such as the Seymour Theatre Centre, Moscow Conservatory Hall, The Esplanade in Singapore, Carnegie Hall and the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjöld. His charismatic and comedic sense of humour, in addition to his talent as a pianist, kept the audience awake and entertained. This was Gargiulo’s second time in Cambodia, and he has played to a packed house, not once, but twice. With the love for Sovanna barbecues, and recently the popular dish beef lok lak, Gargiulo enjoys visiting the Kingdom of Wonder.

“I don’t want to leave Cambodia, and it’s always better the second time around,” said Gargiulo. “I will bring my wife and baby and visit the Angkor Wat

temples on my third trip back to Cambodia.”

Besides travelling and performing around the world, Gargiulo is committed to charity work. His non-profit organisation, 16000children.org, established in 2008, brings together musicians, visual artists and filmmakers in creating events to raise awareness for the 16,000 children that die of hunger in the world every day.

The statistic has sadly increased.

Catch A Cambodian Star was endorsed as The Commemorative event of the significant occasion of 60th Anniversary of Friendship between Japan and Cambodia. The proceeds from the concert will be donated to the scholarship programs for the youth to help brighten its future through the influence of the performing arts.

ZACH Braff’s bid to fund a follow-up to Garden State, his critically acclaimed 2004 directing debut, closed on Friday after gathering support worth a total of $3.1 million from more than 46,000 supporters and fans on Kickstarter. Braff’s campaign for Wish I Was Here, the latest high-profile bid for financial support through the crowdfunding site, achieved its goal of $2 million in pledged funds just days after launching on April 24. Since then, he has signed Kate Hudson to appear. the guardian

‘Obama’ surfs internet from a Chinese café

PRESIDENT Barack Obama appears to be a regular customer of a Chinese internet café, reports said, after the manager forged an identity card in the US leader’s name to help surfers avoid China’s web rules. The card has a full-face picture of Obama, lists his correct birthday and gives his address as “White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC”, while stating his ethnicity as “Kenyan”, pictures showed. afp

Bridget Jones still mad about a boy: new book

THE title of Helen Fielding’s new Bridget Jones novel, to be published on October 10, has been revealed as Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. It’s been 14 years since the last Bridget Jones novel, Edge of Reason, was published.

The new novel promises to find Bridget older if not wiser, and deeply embroiled in the contemporary virtual landscapes of internet dating. the guardian

18

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Motoring

A 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. It has a 6.4-liter V-8 hemi with 470 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque.

bloomberg

Weird and wonderful: 2014 Jeep Jason Harper

T

HE $63,000 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is a strange creation. The interior is as nice as you’ll find on many fancy European cars.

It can tow up to 7,200 pounds. It has 470 horsepower. It’s capable of speeds up to 160 miles per hour (without towing).

In other words, this Jeep is a strange, beautiful flower. Take a car like the Toyota Corolla, which is an inoffensive way to get from A to B. Its allure to customers is easily understood. With the Jeep, you have to drill down pretty far into the carbuying population to find the ideal purchaser. It’s one part mountainbusting SUV, one part muscle car and one part luxury people mover.

This version comes from Street and Racing Technology (SRT), now its own Chrysler brand. While the base Grand Cherokee can be had for less than $30,000, the SRT model starts at twice that. As driven, my Jeep cost $70,260.

The Grand Cherokee nameplate goes back to the 1990s when SUVs began to rule the auto world. It has always purportedly, (and somewhat justly) been a rock-crawling off-roader, though it’s most often used as an able grocery getter.

As a mid-size SUV that seats up to five, with a variety of engine choices and option levels, it is a major player in Chrysler’s arsenal.

The truck has been steadily and substantially revised in the last several years, including a refresh of the latest 2014 model.

Changes include an even more upmarket interior and a major transmission change.

The automatic transmission now has eight gears – a technological tweak that transforms the driving experience. The company has also released a diesel V-6 model, which gets up to 30 miles per gallon the highway and is good for 420 pound-feet of torque.

Whatever version, it looks like an all-American SUV. Big and bulky, it hasn’t bowed to the trend for sleeker forms that look more like crossovers.

This is no Acura MDX or Lexus RX; the Jeep still screams roughand-ready truck. You’ll step up to get in, and you can dump up to 68.7 cubic-feet of stuff into the rear.

Inside you’ll find the SRT mod-

el is easily as nice as the current Mercedes-Benz (DAI) ML550 SUV, which has 402 hp and starts just under $60,000. The Jeep’s dash is leather covered and stitched smartly. Carbon-fibre inserts look modern, and it has an optional panoramic sunroof. The GPS infotainment system, with a touch screen, is better than Mercedes’s tired rotary-operated unit.

My test model had 20-inch wheels and Pirelli P Zero tires; all that shiny rubber helped to ensure maximum traction and handling on a sunny day.

But these are summer performance tires, and if you imagine driving them on mountain trails come winter, or even out of a snow-drifted driveway, you’re in for a rude surprise.

If you live in colder climes you’ll either have to settle for all-seasons or, better, switch to seasonal snow tyres.

Extremely balanced for an SUV, it whips around curves with little lean and great stability. The company claims you’ll get to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and there’s even a launch control to make that happen. Silliness, but why not?

There is still room for improvement. The seats are only so-so comfortable: not well bolstered enough for hard driving, not really comfy enough for long mileage. And the leather is a bit less convincing than I’d prefer from a $70,000 vehicle.

Will the company sell a lot of them? Not likely.

It takes a certain kind of buyer to appreciate such an odd, beautiful thing. bloomberg

Kia pro_cee’d: ‘not the most engaging ride’ Sam Wollaston

HOW do you turn a cee’d into a pro_cee’d? Take away two doors. No, it wasn’t supposed to be a joke. I was just explaining the difference, OK? This is just the coupe version. But because it’s Kia, they can’t simply call it a c’eed coupe – they have to commit further atrocities against language (having already inserted that apostrophe) by adding a prefix and an underscore.

And – cleverly (they probably thought) – it kind of makes a new word: pro_cee’d, proceed, meaning move forward, which is sending out the right messages about the direction the

car is going, both philosophically and on the road (unless it’s reversing, of course, or stuck in traffic, or parked).

The choice of prefixes was limited. Maybe they considered suc_cee’d, which also sends positive messages, but suc is a bit like suck, which is rude (whereas pro means in favour of and professional).

And ex_cee’d? Hmmm, hints of overindulgence – not good for a budget, eco-friendly car.

Or em_cee’d? Only good for former DJs. And that’s it, I think.

Anyway, it’s obviously an abomination of a name.

The car? Well, my girlfriend is quite happy (she’s never very happy) in the front. But my

brother and my son in the back are less content.

There’s enough leg room, but my brother feels claustropho-

which it isn’t, so why not make it nicer for the passengers?

My son doesn’t know the word “dishonest”. Actually, at

so he’s cross, too. And me, driving? I’ve got loads of buttons to play with – things, like cruise control, you normally find on

The choices of prefixes was limited. Maybe they considered suc_cee’d, which also sends positive messages but seems a bit rude bic because of the small rear windows, which don’t open.

(What does he expect? It’s a coupe – sorry, pro.)

He’s into design, and he’s sniffy about this one, calls it “dishonest”.

By which he means it’s trying to look all sleek and sporty,

the time of writing, he knows only one word: car (good boy), pronounced “caaaaar”.

His favourite thing in the whole world is to ride around in the back of a caaaaar, spotting more caaaaars. But he can’t see them from this one. The small, high rear windows are to blame,

more expensive cars.

I’m feeling smug about my fuel economy and emissions, and the money I’m saving (not to mention the whole planet).

Plus there’s Kia’s amazing seven-year warranty. But it’s not the most engaging or fun ride.

The diesel engine is strong

enough, but this isn’t a dynamic driving experience: if I was having a really good time, I wouldn’t mind having two grumpy boys in the back.

But the pro_cee’d is not the VW Scirocco, or even the Vauxhall Astra GTC, it would like – and is pretending – to be.

Dishonest, you might say, in so far as dishonesty can be attributed to a caaaaar.

Top spee’d 121mph Acceleration 0-60mph in 11.5 seconds Combined fuel consumption 74.3mpg CO2 emissions 100g/km Eco rating 8/10 Cool rating 4/10 the guardian

19

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Travel PREAH SIHANOUK - SIEM REAP Flighs Days Dep Arrival K6 130 1-3-5 12:55 13:55

INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULE FROM PHNOM PENH Flighs

Days

Dep

TO PHNOM PENH Arrival

PHNOM PENH - BANGKOK

Days

Dep

Arrival

BANGKOK - PHNOM PENH

K6 720

Daily

12:05

01:10

K6 721

Daily

02:25

03:30

PG 938

Daily

06:40

08:15

PG 931

Daily

07:55

09:05

PG 932

Daily

09:55

11:10

TG 580

Daily

07:55

09:05

TG 581

Daily

10:05

11:10

PG 933

Daily

13:30

14:40

PG 934

Daily

15:30

16:40

FD 3616

Daily

15:15

16:20

FD 3617

Daily

17:05

18:15

PG 935

Daily

17:30

18:40

PG 936

Daily

19:30

20:40

TG 584

Daily

18:25

19:40

TG 585

Daily

20:40

21:45

PG 937

Daily

20:15

21:50

PHNOM PENH - BEIJING CZ 324

Daily

BEIJING - PHNOM PENH 08:00

16:05

CZ 323

Daily

14:30

20:50

PHNOM PENH - DOHA ( Via HCMC)

DOHA - PHNOM PENH ( Via HCMC)

QR 605

1.2..5.6

22:35

05:15+1

QR 604

1.2..5.6

08:00

21:00

QR 603

..34..7

15:50

22:25

QR 602

..3.4..7

01:25

14:20

PHNOM PENH - GUANGZHOU CZ 324

Daily

08:00

11:40

CZ 6059

2.4.7

12:00

13:45

CZ 6060

2.4.7

14:45

18:10

CZ 323

Daily

19:05

20:50

09:40

13:00

VN 840

Daily

17:30

20:35

VN 841

Daily

HO CHI MINH CITY - PHNOM PENH

VN 841

Daily

14:00

14:45

VN 920

Daily

15:50

16:30

VN 3856

Daily

19:20

20:05

VN 3857

Daily

18:00

18:45

PHNOM PENH - HONG KONG 1.2.4.7

11:25

15:05

KA 208

1.2.4.6.7 08:50

10:25

City postcard: Bars, art and fino in Madrid

KA 207

6

11:45

22:25

KA 206

3.5.7

14:30

16:05

KA 209

1

18:30

22:05

KA 206

1

15:25

17:00

KA 209

3.5.7

17:25

21:00

KA 206

2

15:50

17:25

KA 205

2

19:00

22:35

Clare Kane

FM 833

D

ESPITE its worldclass museums, good climate and arguably Europe’s best nightlife, Spain’s capital is often overlooked in favour of its beachside sister, Barcelona.

But the fact Madrid is a better-kept secret is something to celebrate – the city has steered clear of tourist tat and the British pubs of the sunsoaked Costa del Sol to hold onto its unique charms that once delighted Ernest Hemingway and friends.

Friday 7pm – Start with a drink in Plaza de Santa Ana, close to the Prado museum. If you want to be with the beautiful people, grab a spot on the terrace of the Melia hotel for a sunset drink.

9pm – Dinner happens late in Spain and you can choose from one of the many good tapas bars in the square (Tartufo, Cerveceria Alemana or 100 Montaditos for budget snacks, which cost just one euro each). For a more authentic slice of Madrid, walk down Calle Huertas, making sure to read the quotes from famous Spanish authors engraved on the street. Maceiras offers good food from the northern region of Galicia, and the octopus and croquettes are highly recommended.

11pm – Madrid really comes to life by night – bar hop down Huertas before heading to the multi-storey Kapital for a variety of music and people.

Saturday 9:30am – Start the day with a hearty Spanish breakfast of churros y chocolate. The fried pastry and thick chocolate for dunking is best done at Chocolateria San Gines. From there you can easily walk to Plaza Mayor, the opera house and the Royal Palace.

11:30am – Head to the

Prado, Madrid’s most famous museum with thousands of famous artwork, including that of Goya and Velazquez.

2pm – The trendy Chueca neighbourhood is bustling with boutiques and bars, but the best spot to eat is Mercado San Anton, which has a variety of Italian, Japanese, Greek and Spanish cuisine.

4pm – Walk from Chueca down Gran Via to admire the art deco architecture and the Telefonica building (one of Europe’s first skyscrapers).

You’ll find plenty of high street shops dotted down Gran Via, including homegrown Zara and Mango.

7:30pm – Start with a traditional sherry, or fino, in one of Hemingway’s old haunts, La Venencia. The often dusty inside of the bar looks like it hasn’t been redecorated since the 1930s and the sherries come cheap in this little corner of old Spain.

9pm – Jump in a cab to La Buganvilla for the best paella in Madrid. A huge rice dish with seafood or chicken will cost up to €25 per person.

11:30pm – From here it’s not far to explore the Malasana area. This was the heart of Madrid’s movida movement in the 1980s. Visit classic haunt La Via Lactea or Tupperware for drinking and dancing.

Sunday 10am – Modern art museum La Reina Sofia is free on Sunday mornings. The first floor has lots to offer, including Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica.

12pm – Take a stroll in the Retiro park, just across the road from the museum.

There’s an artificial lake, but the real joy of Retiro is finding hidden spots to sunbathe or relax in.

4pm – If you have the time, take a cab over to Madrid’s cable car (Teleferico Madrid) in Arguelles, for unbeatable views of the city. REUTERS

PHNOM PENH - INCHEON

1 Monday

5J - CEBU Airways.

MH - Malaysia Airlines

2 Tuesday

AK - Air Asia

MI - SilkAir

3 Wednesday

BR - EVA Airways

OZ - Asiana Airlines

4 Thursday

CI - China Airlines

PG - Bangkok Airways

5 Friday

CZ - China Southern

QR - Qatar Airways

6 Saturday

FD - Thai Air Asia

QV - Lao Airlines

7 Sunday

FM - Shanghai Air

SQ - Singapore Airlines

K6- Cambodia Angkor Air

TG - Thai Airways | VN - Vietnam Airlines

This flight schedule information is updated about once a month. Further information, please contact direct to airline or a travel agent for flight schedule information.

AIRLINES

INCHEON - PHNOM PENH

KE 690

Daily

23:40

06:40

KE 689

Daily

18:30

22:20

OZ 740

Daily

23:50

06:50

OZ 739

Daily

19:10

22:50

PHNOM PENH - KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR - PHNOM PENH

AK 1473

Daily

08:35

11:20

AK 1474

Daily

15:15

16:00

MH 755

Daily

11:10

14:00

MH 754

Daily

09:30

10:20

MH 763

Daily

17:10

20:00

MH 762

Daily

3:20

4:10

20:05

06:05

PHNOM PENH- PARIS

PHNOM PENH - PARIS 20:05

06:05

PHNOM PENH - SHANGHAI 2.3.4.5.7

KA - Dragon Air

HONG KONG - PHNOM PENH

KA 207

2

COLOUR CODE

2817 - 16 Tigerairways

HANOI - PHNOM PENH

PHNOM PENH - HO CHI MINH CITY

AF 273

AIRLINES CODE

GUANGZHOU - PHNOM PENH

PHNOM PENH - HANOI

Picasso poses in front of his masterpiece Guernica in 1937. The painting is on display at Madrid’s La Reina Sofia. BLOOMBERG

Flighs

SIEM REAP - PREAH SIHANOUK Flighs Days Dep Arrival K6 131 1-3-5 11:20 12:20

19:50

AF 273

2

SHANGHAI - PHNOM PENH 23:05

PHNOM PENH - SINGAPORE

FM 833

2.3.4.5.7 19:30

22:40

SINGAPORE - PHNOM PENH

MI 601

1.3.5.6.7

09:30 12:30

MI 602

1.3.5.6.7 07:40

08:40

MI 622

2.4

12:20

15:20

MI 622

2.4

08:40

11:25

3K 594

1.3.6

12:35

15:55

3K 593

1.3.6

10:40

11:50

3K 599

2.4.7

17:25

20:25

3K 591

5

18:45

20:00

3K 592

5

20:45

23:45

3K 591

5

18:45

20:00

MI 607

Daily

18:10

21:10

MI 608

Daily

16:20

17:15

2817

1.3

16:40

19:40

2816

1.3

15:00

15:50

2817

2.4.5

09:10

12:00

2816

2.4.5

07:20

08:10

Air Asia (AK) Room T6, PP International Airport. Tel: 023 6666 555 Fax: 023 890 071 www.airasia.com

Cambodia Angkor Air (K6) PP Office, #90+92+94Eo, St.217, Sk.Orussey4, Kh.7Makara, PP, Cambodia.

Tel: 023 881 178/77-718-333 Fax: (+855)-23-886-677 E: mai@royalaviationexpert.com

Qatar Airways No. 296 Blvd. Mao Tse Toung (St. 245), Ground floor, Intercontinental Hotel PP Tel: +23 42 40 12/13/14 www.qatarairways.com

Jetstar Asia (3K) PP: No. 333B Monivong Blvd.

Myanmar Airways International Tel: 023 220909.Siem Reap: No. No. 479-481Eo, Kampuchea 50,Sivatha Blvd.Tel: 063 964388 www.jetstar.com Krom (St. 128), 12155, Phnom Penh, Cambodia T:023 881 178 | F:023 886 677 www.maiair.com

Dragon Air (KA) #168, Monireth, PP Tel: 023 424 300 Fax: 023 424 304 www.dragonair.com/kh

Cebu Pacific (5J) Phnom Penh: No. 333B Monivong Blvd. Tel: 023 219161 Siem Reap: No. 50,Sivatha Blvd.

Tel: 063 965487 E-mail: cebuair@ptm-travel.com www.cebupacificair.com

Tiger airways G. floor, Regency square, Suare, Suite #68/79, St.205, Sk Chamkarmorn, PP Tel: (855) 95 969 888 (855) 23 5515 888/5525888 E: info@cambodiaairlines.net

SilkAir (MI) Regency C,Unit 2-4,Tumnorb Teuk, Chamkarmorn Phnom Penh Tel:023 988 629 www.silkair.com

2817

6

14:50

17:50

2816

6

13:00

14:00

2817

7

13:20

16:10

2816

7

11:30

12:30

09:10

11:35

PHNOM PENH SORYA BUS TRANSPORT SCHEDULE INTERNATIONAL ROUTES

TAIPEI - PHNOM PENH

PHNOM PENH -TAIPEI BR 266

Daily

12:45

17:05

PHNOM PENH - VIENTIANE

BR 265

Daily

VIENTIANE - PHNOM PENH

VN 840

Daily

17:30

18:50

VN 841

Daily

11:30

13:00

PP-HO CHI MINH DEPATURE

HO CHI MINH-PP

QV 920

Daily

17:50

19:10

QV 921

Daily

11:45

13:15

6:45, 8:30, 11:45

6:45, 8:00,11:30

PP-BANGKOK

BANGKOK-PP

6:30

6:30

PP-PAKSE,VIENTIANE

PAKSE,VIENTIANE-PP

6:45

7:30

PHNOM PENH - YANGON 8M 404

3. 6

YANGON - PHNOM PENH 20:10

21:35

8M 403

3. 6

16:45

FROM SIEM REAP

TO SIEM REAP

SIEM REAP - BANGKOK Flighs Days Dep Arrival K6 700 Daily 12:50 2:00 PG 924 Daily 09:45 11:10 PG 906 Daily 13:15 14:40 PG 914 Daily 15:20 16:45 PG 908 Daily 18:50 20:15 PG 910 Daily 20:30 21:55 SIEM REAP - GUANGZHOU CZ 3054 2.4.6 11:25 15:35 CZ 3054 1.3.5.7 19:25 23:20 SIEM REAP -HANOI K6 850 Daily 06:50 08:30 VN 868 1.2.3.5.6 12:40 15:35 VN 842 Daily 18:05 19:45 VN 844 Daily 19:45 21:25 VN 800 Daily 21:00 22:40 SIEM REAP - HO CHI MINH CITY VN 3818 Daily 11:10 12:30 VN 826 Daily 13:30 14:40 VN 3820 Daily 17:45 18:45 VN 828 Daily 18:20 19:20 VN 3822 Daily 21:35 22:35 SIEM REAP - INCHEON KE 688 Daily 23:15 06:10 OZ 738 Daily 23:40 07:10 SIEM REAP - KUALA LUMPUR AK 281 Daily 08:35 11:35 MH 765 3.5.7 14:15 17:25 SIEM REAP - MANILA 5J 258 2.4.7 22:30 02:11 SIEM REAP - SINGAPORE MI 633 1, 6, 7 16:35 22:15 MI 622 2.4 10:40 15:20 MI 630 5 12:25 15:40 MI 615 7 12:45 16:05 MI 636 3, 2 18:30 21:35 MI 617 5 18:35 21:55 3K 599 2.4.7 15:50 20:25 SIEM REAP - VIENTIANE QV 522 2.4.5.7 10:05 13:00 SIEM REAP - YANGON 8M 402 1. 5 20:15 21:25

BANGKOK - SIEM REAP Flighs Days Dep K6 701 Daily 02:55 PG 903 Daily 08:00 PG 905 Daily 11:35 PG 913 Daily 13:35 PG 907 Daily 17:00 PG 909 Daily 18:45 GUANGZHOU - SIEM REAP CZ 3053 2.4.6 08:45 CZ 3053 1.3.5.7 16:35 HANOI - SIEM REAP K6 851 Daily 19:30 VN 843 Daily 15:25 VN 845 Daily 17:05 VN 845 Daily 17:45 VN 801 Daily 18:20 HO CHI MINH CITY - SIEM REAP VN 3809 Daily 09:15 VN 827 Daily 11:35 VN 3821 Daily 15:55 VN 829 Daily 16:20 VN 3823 Daily 19:45 INCHEON - SIEM REAP KE 687 Daily 18:30 OZ 737 Daily 19:20 KUALA LUMPUR - SIEM REAP AK 280 Daily 06:50 MH 764 3.5.7 12:10 MANILA - SIEM REAP 5J 257 2.4.7 19:45 SINGAPORE - SIEM REAP MI 633 1, 6, 7 14:35 MI 622 2.4 08:40 MI 616 7 10:40 MI 636 3, 2 13:55 MI 630 5 07:55 MI 618 5 16:35 3K599 2.4.7 13:50 VIENTIANE - SIEM REAP QV 512 2.4.5.7 06:30 YANGON - SIEM REAP 8M 401 1. 5 17:05

19:10

Arrival 04:05 09:00 12:45 14:35 18:10 19:55 10:30 18:30 21:15 17:10 18:50 19:30 20:00

10:35 12:35 16:55 17:40 20:45 22:15 22:40 07:50 13:15 21:30 15:45 09:50 11:50 17:40 11:35 17:45 15:05 09:25 19:15

DOMESTIC ROUTES PP-SIEM REAP SIEM REAP-PP 6:15, 7:00- 12:00, 13:00, 14:00 5:30, 6:30, 7:00, 9:30, 10:30,12:30, 13:30 PP -SIHANOUK SIHANOUK-PP 7:00 To 12:00, 13:00, 14:30, 16:30 7:10, 8:00, 10:30,12:15, 14:00,15:30,17:30 PP-BATTAMBANG BATTAMBANG-PP 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 5:30, 6:45, 7:45, 8:30, 9:30,10:30 PP-MONDULKIRI MONDULKIRI-PP 8:30 8:30 Further information, please contact: Tel: 023 210 359, Email:168@ppsoryatransport.com

REGULAR SHIPPING LINES SCHEDULES CALLING PORT ROTATION LINE

CALLING SCHEDULES

FREEQUENCY ROTATION PORTS

1 Wed, 08:00 - Thu 16:00

1 Call/week

2 Thu, 14:00 - Fri 22:00

1 Call/week

3 Fri, 20:00 - Sat 23:59

1 Call/week

1 Th, 08:00 - 20:00

1 Call/week

2 Fri, 22:00- Sun 00:01

1 Call/week

SITC (BEN LINE (4 calls/onth)

Sun 09:00-23:00

1 Call/week

HCM-SHV-LZP-HCMNBO-SGH-OSA-KOBBUS-SGH-HGK-CHM

ITL (ACL) (4 calls/month) APL (4 calls/month) COTS (2 calls/month)

Sat 06:00 - Sun 08:00

1 Call/week

SGZ-SHV-SIN-SGZ

1 call/week

SIN-SHV-SIN

RCL (12calls/moth) MEARSK (MCC) (4 calls/moth)

Fri, 08:00 - Sun, 06:00 Irregula

SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN HKG-SHV-SGZ-HKG (HPH-TXGKEL) SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN SGN-SHV-LZP-SGN - HKG-OSA-TYO-KOB - BUS-SGH-YAT-SGN - SIN-SHV-TPP-SIN

2 calls/month BBK-SHV-BKK-(LZP)

34 call/month BUS= Busan, Korea HKG= HongKong kao=Kaoshiung, Taiwan ROC Kob= Kebe, Japan KUN= Kuantan, Malaysia LZP= Leam Chabang, Thailand NBO= Ningbo, China OSA= Osaka, Japan SGN= Saigon, Vietnam

SGZ= Songkhla, Thailand SHV= Sihanoukville Port Cambodia SIN= Singapore TPP= TanjungPelapas, Malaysia TYO= Tokyo, Japan TXG= Taichung, Taiwan YAT= Yantian, China YOK= Yokohama, Japan

FLY DIRECT TO MYANMAR WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY YANGON - PHNOM PENH PHNOM PENH - YANGON FLY DIRECT TO SIEM REAP MONDAY & FRIDAY SIEM REAP - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP No. 479-481Eo, Kampuchea Krom (St. 128), 12155, Phnom Penh Tel 023 881 178 | Fax 023 886 677 | www.maiair.com

20

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Entertainment NOW SHOWING

Green Night @ Meta

legend cinema

Cambodia’s first bi-monthly eco-tradefair, featuring film, eco-talk and free water.

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organisation of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.

Starring Vin Diesel.

9:15am, 11:35am, 2pm, 6:30pm, 8:40pm

At 7pm, AIESEC students will start the night with a presentation of the Plant More Trees Project. Then at 8pm, Allan Michaud's Cambodia: Forest, Water, Life (2012) will be screened. The film explores the effects humans have on watersheds and groundwater supplies.

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organisation, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.

With Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

4:15pm, 9:20pm

Meta House, Sothearos Boulevard, 7pm

Folk Music @ The​​Village Tonight, the BKK restaurant and bar plays host to acoustic guitarist Masahiro Watabe from Japan.

EPIC A teenager finds herself transported to a deep forest setting where a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil is taking place. She bands together with a rag-tag group characters in order to save their world – and ours.

12pm, 2:10pm

cineplex cinema PEE MAK (KHMER DUB) This Thai romance, horror and comedy film is an adaptation of Thailand's Mae Nak Phra Khanong legend.

9:15am, 10am, 12pm, 12:50pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:50pm, 4pm, 4:50pm, 5:50pm, 6:50pm, 8:45pm

Spend a mellow evening listening to his classic soft rock and Japanese folk music.

The Village. No.1, St.360 7pm

TV PICKS

7:50am – DRIVE: A mysterious Hollywood stuntman, mechanic and getaway driver lands himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbour. Ryan Gosling plays the lead. FOX MOVIES 9:30am – COLOMBIANA: A young woman, after witnessing her parents' murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. With Zoe Saldana and Jordi Molla. FOX MOVIES

BULLET TO THE HEAD After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman and a Washington DC detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.

7:10pm

11:20am – THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker. Rooney Mara stars.

FOX MOVIES

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 (See above) 9:15am, 11:35am, 2pm, 6:20pm, 8:40pm STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (See above) 8:20pm

Hip Hop @ Cambodiana

The documentary Cambodia: Forest, Water, Life will be shown at Meta House tonight. PHOTO SUPPLIED

Carey Mulligan stars opposite Ryan Gosling in Drive, on Fox Movies tonight. BLOOMBERG

1:55pm – FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN: A scientist makes a last stand against an invasion of alien phantoms with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers.

FOX MOVIES

Get fit the fun way at Hotel Cambodiana with Dance World Cambodia's hip hop classes.

For a drop-in class, its $10 with a discount for a 13-class pass.

313 Sisowath Quay (Hotel Cambodiana), Entrance @ Physique Club Gym, 5:45pm

Swing Dance @ ISPP Learn how to lindy hop at the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP). The American dance, from Harlem, New York City, evolved in the 1920s Jazz Age.

ISPP Dance Studio, 146 Norodom Boulevard, 6:30pm

Thinking caps “TRIED AND TRUE” ACROSS 1 6 10 14 15 16 17 20 21 22 23 24 28 30 32 35 36 40 41 42 45 49 50 52 53 56 57 61 62 63 64 65 66

It’s as good as a miss Faction Wedding staple Causes of distress Beseech Butter replacement “You couldn’t be more wrong!”

Aussie flock Like games in the dome “Silent ___” (presidential nickname) What destiny has in store Second Hebrew letters “Tsk, tsk!”

Christmas drink Comedians, e.g.

Blubber Innocent slip Aviation concern Defunct airline Husband’s common-law right Baker’s glove “Rocky” opponent Apollo Atlas or Minuteman Mendes of Hollywood Like some chest pain Part of BTU Nice weather forecast A little of a large lot?

Many a univ. donor High school event Audition, in a way Antiprohibitionists Subsequently

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 19 23 25 26 27 29 30 31 33 34 36 37 38 39 40 43 44 46 47 48 50 51 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Utterly miserable Kenyan rebel of the 1950s What’s added to injury “Shall we?” reply Suffix of superlatives Lightened one’s billfold Eat into Syndicate bigwig Tit for tat, e.g.?

Corner-office occupiers “The Louisville Lip” New Jersey cager Petting zoo female Breaks Spherical objects Act incensed Bulletin board fastener “Spenser: For ___” (Urich series) Conniving Typical dachshund color Sealed court document Put together, as a model Reprieve from the governor “Mamma Mia!” foursome What the little hand shows Fabled meanie Cut, as fat Aardvark’s tidbit Airwaves regulating gp. ___ up (got misty) Novelist Ferber Flat rate payer?

Show clearly Babble Computer data Allays Agitate (with “at”) Run in place Thunderbirds’ gp. “___ and Away” (Kidman film) You’ll need one for blackjack Nest egg option, briefly Abbr. on a toothpaste box

Friday’s solution

Friday’s solution

21

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Sport

Local MMA prospects given pounding by foreign fighters Chorn Norn and Mi Somony

T

he inaugural International Cage Fight Night captivated and infuriated a packed crowd at the arena of CTN TV station in equal measure on Tuesday, with Tak Sophorn the only Cambodian to emerge victorious from a card of six mixed martial arts bouts featuring local fighters against foreigners.

As well as assembling the impressive line-up, CTN also flew in an international standard referee.

The night’s first match-up saw a bloody encounter at 60kg between Khleang Moeung Club brawler Sok Chenda and South African fighter Nkajlmulo “Zulu Boy” Zulu.

With Chenda aiming for an early takedown, Zulu launched a series of counterpunches and elbows to the head of his rival, opening up cuts.

The visitor then expertly clinched the tie when mounted by producing a triangle choke with his legs around Chenda’s neck. The Cambodian tapped out at 2:40 through the second round.

Next up was Sam Andun of Im Ouk’s A Fighters team, who was rapidly taken down and struck by a vicious series of huge elbows to the jaw from South African opponent Matt Buirski, resulting in a knockout at 2:36 of the first round.

The third bout, which pitted Ty Tonghy of Saravorn Keila Club against Englishman Jamie Lee, also ended in a first-round knockout for the foreign fighter. When Tonghy fell on his side, Lee made no hesitation in firing hooks to the face until the local was well and truly out for the count, with referee Ei Phouthang unable to stop the fight in time.

It wasn’t until the fourth match that

Two all-Cambodian teams, NSK Dream and Sela Meas will hit the boards at Beeline Arena in the first of the three games slotted for Saturday, marking the start of a long winding 70-match inaugural season of the Cambodian Basketball League presented by title sponsors Western Union.

The second tie features Cellcard Eagles against IRB The Lord while Alaxan FR Patriots take on Ganzberg in the late evening encounter.

The local flavour will be glowingly evident when the first two sides take the court.

On one end is Sela Meas, a perfect blend of some seasoned players with good basketball sense and control.

Though the team performed in snatches during last year’s Challenge competition, they did trouble some of their higher-ranked rivals and the team is all the better this season for that useful airing.

Opposing Sela Meas will be NSK Dream, the youngest team in the roster with an average age of just 23. With an average height of 180 centime-

Reigning playoff MVP Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the defending champion Los Angeles Kings advanced to the NHL playoff semi-finals on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Right wing Justin Williams scored both Los Angeles goals and Quick made several key stops down the stretch as the Kings held on in the deciding game to win the Western Conference playoff series four games to three. AFP

Pacers beat Heat to level the series at 2-2

Centre Roy Hibbert scored 23 points as the Indiana Pacers went on a 13-3 run to close the game and beat the Miami Heat 99-92 in game four of their NBA semi-final round series on Tuesday. The Pacers were blown out of game three by the Heat, but rebounded mightily at home on Tuesday against the defending NBA champion Heat to level the series at 2-2. The series now shifts to Miami for game five tonight. AFP

Nike to halt Livestrong merchandise production

Nkajlmulo Zulu of South Africa (bottom) performs a succsessful triangle choke on Cambodia’s Sok Chenda.

the home crowd were given something to cheer about with A Fighter Tak Sophorn edging England’s Dave Newbrook on points. Both men traded punches and kicks throuhgout the three rounds, although Sophorn was penalised for attempting a head-butt while mounted.

Experienced Cambodian boxer

Pich Arun of Sam Reak Reach Asy Club lasted less than a minute-and-ahalf with South African karate expert James Smart, who hammered the local man’s face with powerful punches until the referee had seen enough.

The final fight featuring a Cambodian followed a similar theme, with Angkor Youth fighter Paddy Meun-

SRENG MENG SRUN

sophea grounded and pounded into submission to force a stoppage in the middle of round 1.

The string of one-sided defeats had one Cambodian spectator remark: “The foreign fighters are both heavier and more experienced. So in this event it was like we sent kids to fight with men.” TRANSLATED BY CHENG SERYRITH

backs ‘kampung’ Locals to fire first in CBL Singapore sports for 2015 SEA Games H S Manjunath

Kings oust Sharks to keep title defence alive

tres, they may not exactly be giants but they are big at heart and that could possibly go in their favour.

Sela Meas will have to contend with the guiles of 190-centimetre Ouch Sokpanha and look out for his intrusive play.

Meanwhile, the towering presence of Keith Kelly and Sean Looney could pose IRB The Lord some problems as the Cellcard Eagles are sure to protect their rim more zealously than their rivals. Looney had a big hand in Sabay Salty Crabs winning the Challenge last year, but some quality players he played with then will now be on the other half of the court.

The Lord’s strength will be in their long range shooting and quick transitions, areas where national players Kim Vengoun and Monh Ratana normally excel. Both these men are also good three-point shooters.

This is a contest where the tougher of the two sides will prevail.

The trio of Colin Meyn, Curran Hendry and Jeffrey Cane hopping over from last year’s Team Sharky to the Alaxan FR Patriots fold could considera-

bly boost the squad’s stocks.

The Patriots will be hoping to see Filipino Aimar Sabayo touch his best the way he did in the first half of the Challenge before injury slowed him down a bit.

Interestingly, Sabayo will cross paths with some of his Filipino friends who form the core of Ganzberg, a team that could adopt blowout tactics with their full press offence.

Among the major tasks for the Patriots would be to rein in Jerry Roxas, who has the speed to outrun his pursuers and keep one of the best point guards in the business, Emman Quiriz, in check.

Entry to the arena for the members of the public is free.

During half time breaks there will be fun contests on dribbling and shooting for the audience with T-shirts and caps as giveaway prizes.

Saturday’s Games NSK Dream v Sela Meas 2pm Cellcard Eagles v IRB The Lord 4pm Alaxan FR Patriots v Ganzberg 6pm

Singapore’s 2015 SEA Games Games organising chief yesterday rebuffed calls to standardise the tournament’s ever-changing list of sports and backed its strong regional character.

Lim Teck Yin acknowledged that the Southeast Asian event had been derided as the “Kampung [village] Games”, owing to its inclusion of home-grown disciplines like sepak takraw and vovinam, which often mystify outsiders.

But he said it was important to maintain Southeast Asian traditions, to engage local communities and develop sport in the emerging region.

“I’ve heard this argument before, that without some level of control like the Olympic Games, some of you have written that this became the ‘Kampung Games’,” Lim told reporters at a briefing.

“I don’t know whether my opinion matters or not ... I would say as a participant in many SEA Games in the past, the SEA Games has its own flavour.”

Lim announced the 2015 tournament’s dates as June 5 to 16, but he said the list of sports to be contested would be kept under wraps until next year.

The list has previously proved controversial as it changes each edition, with local organisers often including obscure events in which they can win more medals.

Philippine Sports Commission Richie Garcia has threatened to boycott this year’s tournament in Myanmar in protest at what he calls manipulation of the events to favour local athletes, according to a local report.

At the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, the organising committee president said future editions should focus on Olympic sports to help the region’s athletes improve in world-recognised events.

Lim would not discuss which sports are shortlisted for 2015, but he said there would be more than 30 disciplines with dragon-boating, netball and floorball – a form of hockey – among those under discussion. AFP

Nike has decided to stop making products for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong’s cancer charity Livestrong, but will still support the group financially, the sports products giant said on Tuesday. The Livestrong Collection, which includes footwear, apparel and accessories, will be phased out at the end of the year, the company said, bringing down the curtain on what has been a globally recognised brand for almost a decade. Exemplified by the distinctive yellow wristband, of which Nike said 87 million had been distributed worldwide, the decision will inevitably be seen as the company’s latest step to rid itself of Armstrong’s toxic legacy. AFP

Owners approve sale of Kings to Indian tycoon

The National Basketball Association approved the sale of the Sacramento Kings to a group headed by Indian business tycoon Vivek Ranadive, the league announced on Tuesday. The NBA board of governors voted unanimously to allow the Maloof family to sell the franchise to Ranadive for a reported $347 million. The Maloofs had controlling ownership of the Kings since 1999. There was a competing bid from a group, headed by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, that wanted to move the team to Seattle, but board voted down that proposal earlier this year. AFP

Tomic defends banned father after retiring hurt Bernard Tomic limped away from the French Open on Tuesday night, headed for what he hopes will be the greener pastures of London, nursing a torn muscle in his right hamstring but no reservations about his explosive father, John, who was kept outside the gates of Roland Garros – as he will be at Wimbledon. “He’s still my dad, still my coach,” the serially troubled but gifted Australian said of his volatile father after retiring during his first-round match against the Romanian Victor Hanescu. THE GUARDIAN

22

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Sport

Poms to urn it: Kiwi

NZ’s McCullum backs England for Ashes win

N

ew Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said England were ‘‘red hot favourites’’ to retain the Ashes after the Black Caps had their ‘‘hearts ripped out’’ by Alastair Cook’s men.

England completed a 2-0 series whitewash with a commanding 247-run victory over New Zealand in the second Test at Headingley on Tuesday. This was England’s last Test before the Ashes opener at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground in July.

Australian batsmen have struggled against the swinging ball in recent Ashes series and McCullum said: ‘‘England are red hot favourites at home, their ability to swing the Duke ball is huge. Any team that plays at home is familiar with the surroundings.’’

McCullum added the defining moment of his team’s Test campaign against England had been the fourth day of the first Test at Lord’s when they collapsed to 68 all out Cook will lead England’s 50-over squad into a three-match series against New Zealand, starting at Lord’s tomorrow, followed by the Champions Trophy – which begins in Cardiff next Thursday, with England’s first game against Australia at Edgbaston on Saturday week.

AFP/THE GUARDIAN

Song Ratha, 18, performs an ollie at the PSE Skatepark in Stung Meanchey district in August. A skateboarding competition will be held in Kep on Saturday.

SKATEISTAN

Skaters set to shred Kep bowl Dan Riley

L

ocal NGO Skateistan Cambodia will host its second skateboarding competition this Saturday at the concrete skate bowl of Jasmine Valley Eco Resort in the coastal town of Kep. Skateistan Cambodia uses skateboarding as a tool for social rehabilitation and youth empowerment, working with youths from diverse backgrounds, especially disadvan-

taged and streetworking children.

The organisation built and operate two skatepark facilities in Phnom Penh, including one at children’s charity Pour en Sourire d’Enfant’s complex in Stung Meanchey district.

Skateistan was founded in Kabul, Afghanistan, in May 2007 by Australian Oliver Percovich. It has since expanded to projects in Cambodia and Pakistan and also has volunteers operating in Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,

France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States.

About 25 skaters aged between nine and 18, including Skateistan students, are expected to demonstrate their skills in the bowl at Jasmine Valley Eco Resort, which is the only one of its kind in the Kingdom.

The resort, run by Jasmine and Owen Beck, are generously offering free accommodation and food to all competitors and Skateistan staff.

The main event is set to begin at 4pm on Saturday, with all members of the public welcomed to attend.

Organisers say they expect to give awards to the top three boy and girl skaters, while boys’ best trick, girls’ best trick, best slam and best attitude will also be honoured. Prizes have been donated by 10K Skateshop.

Chicago-based DJ Major Taylor will keep the festivities going late into the day with an eclectic mix of punk, hip hop, reggae and electronic music.

Australian football ‘ape’ slur reignited by King Kong gaffe Job Announcement The Phnom Penh Post is an independent media company in Cambodia and is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of reporter as follows: Khmer Reporter: 1 position Job requirements: -

Bachelor’s degree in journalism or an equivalent degree At least three years’ experience in journalism Must be able to speak and write articles in both Khmer in English Computer literacy (must be able to type Khmer Unicode well) Female candidates are highly encouraged Age 25 to 40 He/she will be required to serve on the National News Desk of both the Khmer and English newspapers - Candidates must have no political agendas, no bias, no nepotism or discrimination - Must be fully aware of and obey all the codes and ethics of journalism - Available to work in a high pressure environment Interested candidates should submit their cover letter and CV to the human resource office of The Phnom Penh Post at the below address: Post Media Co. Ltd, #888, Floor 8, Building F, Phnom Penh Center, Corner of Sothearos and Preah Sihanouk boulevards, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh or through email address: jobs@phnompenhpost.com; Tel: 023 214 311 or Fax: 023 214 318 Deadline: June 01, 2013 Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews.

Successful People Read The Post.

A star Aboriginal Australian footballer racially abused as an “ape” by a 13-year-old spectator last week was stunned yesterday when a top figure in the sport said he should be promoting King Kong.

Australian Rules star Adam Goodes spoke out on Saturday after the Collingwood supporter called him an ape from the sidelines of the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday and he had her removed from the stadium.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire was among the first to apologise to the Sydney Swans footballer over the incident, which left Goodes devastated and unable to enjoy the highly publicised indigenous round.

“I’m pretty gutted to be honest,” Goodes said.

“She’s 13 years old, still so innocent. I don’t put any blame on her.

“Unfortunately, it’s what she hears, and the environment that she’s grown up in has made her think that it’s OK to call people names.”

The girl and her taunt have been the subject of intense media scrutiny. But McGuire exacerbated the situation yesterday when he mentioned Goodes while discussing the musical King Kong, which is playing in Australia.

“Get Adam Goodes down for it, do you reckon?” McGuire asked his co-host on his morning radio show, Luke Darcy, who replied: “No, I wouldn’t have thought so, absolutely not.”

McGuire added: “You know with the ape thing, the whole thing, I’m just saying the pumping him up and mucking around and all that sort of stuff.”

He later described the com-

ments as a “two-second slip of the tongue”.

“I wasn’t racially vilifying anybody,” he told a press conference.

“I’m not a racist. I’ve done a lot of things in the past and continue to fight for the cause of equality in Australia.”

McGuire said he had apologised personally to Goodes, who had told him he was disappointed.

Goodes has not commented publicly beyond tweeting a link to the story with the comment: “Morning Australia, this is what I have woken up to”.

The Sydney Swans said they were bewildered by the incident, particularly given McGuire’s highly commendable efforts to fight racism.

“He and us are very disappointed in the comments,” Swans coach John Longmire said of Goodes. AFP

Egyptian sumo gets boost in Japan The first professional sumo wrestler from either Africa or the Arab world was given a boost yesterday, winning promotion to the sport’s second highest division in Japan.

The Japan Sumo Association promoted 21-year-old Eg y p t i a n Ab d e l ra h m a n Ahmed Shaalan, who goes by the ring name of “Osunaarashi” (Great Sandstorm), to the “jyuryo” division, made of wrestlers ranked between 43rd and 70th.

“I am very glad,” Shaalan told reporters in Japanese at his sta-

ble in downtown Tokyo. “I will work hard and aim higher still by practising more and more.”

The 189-centimetre grappler, who weighs in at 145 kilograms, made his debut in March last year and has lost only six of his 49 regular matches in seven tournaments since.

In the latest tournament, held in Tokyo this month, he won all seven matches. But the going will get tougher from now on, with wrestlers in the top two divisions fighting 15 times in every tournament.

A devout Muslim, Shaalan will again fast during this year’s Ramadan, the Islamic holy month when adherents cannot eat or drink in daylight hours.

“I’ll be alright. I can handle it,” he said about this year’s Ramadan, which is set to clash with the July tournament.

Shaalan belongs to one of about 40 sumo stables. His position in the top 70, known as “sekitori”, affords him his own room, having previously shared with other wrestlers. AFP

23

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Football

Svay Rieng rally late to hold Kirivong safe; Naga run riot HS Manjunath

K

irivong Sok Sen Chey watched in horror as their two-goal cushion disappeared in a matter of minutes with Svay Rieng FC restoring parity late in the second half to force an honourable 2-2 draw in a Metfone C-League tie at Olympic Stadium yesterday.

After a somewhat even, goalless first session, Kirivong stormed ahead in the 50th minute when Ek Vannak rammed in a rebound. The visitors from Takeo doubled the lead when substitute Savorn Rathnak Visal turned his first touch into a screamer of a goal from no less than 25 yards and Kirivong appeared to be coasting home.

Then came a twist as late in the 76th minute that would poke a dagger into the Kirivong heart. A powerful volley from Sok Rithy off a set piece sequence following a flag kick, brushed the inside of the right post and angled into the goal.

Within two minutes of this unexpected event came another blow.

This time striker Khun Laboravy tapped the ball in after a goal-mouth fracas even as the Kirivong backline were looking pleadingly at a hesitant linesman, who clearly had his flag up for an offside call.

The referee, who was better placed to judge the situation, was in no doubt that the goal was legitimate. It stood and so did Svay Rieng’s pride in eking out a draw that had seemed unlikely barely minutes before.

The one point that Svay Rieng had to fight so hard for helped them to a total of 23 and a clear second behind

The Cambodian U14 national team found the going tough in Myanmar, recording a goalless draw and a 5-0 loss in their first two Group F fixtures of the inaugural AFC U14 Championship qualifiers.

An uninspiring 0-0 result against fellow minnows Bangladesh on Tuesday at the Zeyar Thiri Stadium in Naypyidaw meant the boys went into their second tie against Indonesia yesterday without much in the way of confidence.

Under the guidance of coach

The Excel-Events Charity Auction will be held at The Exchange restaurant and bar next Tuesday to raise the final funds to help send a Cambodian squad to the 2013 Homeless World Cup in Poznan, Poland in August.

According to organisers the event, slated to start at 7:30pm, has already received over $5,000 worth of donations for auctioning on the night.

DAN RILEY

Twelve arrested over chaos at cup match

Twelve people have been arrested after fans stormed a stadium hosting a Malaysian football championship semifinal and forced the game to be called off amid chaotic scenes, police said yesterday. In the latest black eye for troubleplagued Malaysian football, fans threw water bottles and stones and stormed the pitch on Tuesday night in the eastern state of Pahang. The outburst was apparently sparked when some spectators were denied entry, district police officer Aziz Ahmad told AFP. He said some 40,000 people thronged the 35,000-capacity Darulmakmur stadium in the east coast town of Kuantan for the Malaysian Football Association Cup’s second-leg semi-final between Pahang and Johor Darul Takzim. AFP

Osvaldo is kicked out of Italy squad after tantrum Kirivong Sok Sen Chey’s Nhem Sovannara (left) tries to tackle Khoun Laboravy of Svay Rieng in their MCL match yesterday. SRENG MENG SRUN

the runaway leaders Boeung Ket Rubber Field.

The draw took Kirivong’s 12-game total to 18 points. For less than hour they held fourth slot in the standings.

That was until Naga Corp’s destruction of Senate Secretariat.

Naga’s 12-0 win hauled them past Phnom Penh Crown into third with Kirivong sliding down to fifth.

Cambodia U14s start slow Dan Riley

Charity auction to help send kids to World Cup

Bouy Dary, a former Cambodian international and head of Phnom Penh Crown Academy, the boys held out against their regional rivals until the 22nd minute, when Egy Maulana Vikri opened the scoring.

The Indonesian attacking midfielder was in imperious form, going on to net three more goals in the space of just 24 minutes. Another strike by forward Ferdiyansyah completed the rout.

Cambodia now have an uphill struggle to grab one of the two berths from the group to the 2014 finals round, to be

The Cambodian U14 squad before their AFC U14 Championship qualifier against Indonesia yesterday in Myanmar. PHOTO SUPPLIED BY PPPFC

held in Uzbekistan. They face Laos at 6:30pm Cambodian time tomorrow, before taking on Thailand on Sunday and rounding off their qualifying campaign with a Monday encounter against Singapore.

Other results from the sixteam Group F on Tuesday include a 6-2 thrashing of Indonesia by Thailand and Singapore’s 3-1 defeat of Laos.

Group E is also being played concurrently in the Myanmar capital at Wunna Theik Stadium, involving teams from Timor Leste, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei. Both groups conclude on June 6.

The six other groups have already played out across earlier this year. The teams already advancing to the finals are: Group A – Iraq (winners), Syria (runners-up); Group B – Saudi Arabia (winners), Yemen (runners-up); Group C – Tajikistan (winners), Afghanistan (runners-up); Group D – Iran (winners), Pakistan (runners-up); Group G - South Korea (winners), China (runners-up); Group H – North Korea (winners), Japan (runners-up).

Uzbekistan have been give a bye as hosts, while Australia have received an invitational berth.

Choun Chum led the Naga goal hunt with six, Teab Vathanak hit a double while Prak Chanratana, Anderson Zogbe, Sun Sovanrithy and Chhim Sambo contributing a goal each.

Dutch teens, dad go on trial for linesman killing The trial began yesterday of seven Dutch teens and a father charged with kicking to death an amateur football linesman last year, a killing that sent shockwaves around the Netherlands and the world.

Linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, died in December after he was allegedly kicked several times in the head by enraged youth players shortly after the final whistle at an amateur game.

Nieuwenhuizen died shortly afterwards in hospital, leading to much soul-searching in the football-mad Netherlands, while the teenaged boys and one of their fathers were charged with manslaughter.

In a surprise development, a renowned British pathologist will testify that the victim may have died of other causes.

“An independent pathologist is to testify that his investigation found that the linesman may have died of a number of causes including a spontaneous tear in his carotid artery,” defence lawyer Sydney Smeets told AFP. The left and right carotid arteries deliver blood to the brain through the sides of the neck.

Dutch media said Christopher Milroy, a former chief

forensic pathologist in Britain who is now a forensic pathology professor at Ottawa University in Canada, found an anomaly in the artery that in rare cases could lead to death.

“Therefore, what we’re saying is that there is no reason to believe that Richard Nieuwenhuizen died as a result of kicks he may have received, but could have died of many other causes,” Smeets said ahead of the trial in Lelystad, northeast of Amsterdam.

Milroy was one of four expert witnesses – two requested by the defence and two for the prosecution – to take the stand yesterday, the Public Prosecutor’s office confirmed.

The Dutch Forensic Institute, which conducted part of the autopsy, concluded however in its report that it was “highly likely that the linesman died of kicks to the head and neck” during the December 2 assault, the NRC newspaper reported.

The seven youths and one man, identified only as ElHasan D, 51, were subsequently arrested and charged.

The youths and El-Hasan are charged with manslaughter, public violence and brutality. AFP

AS Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo has been axed from Italy’s squad for the Confederations Cup in Brazil following his tantrum in Sunday’s Italian Cup final, the country’s soccer federation (FIGC) said on Tuesday. Osvaldo, joint third top scorer in Serie A this season with 16 goals, had been included in a 31-man squad for this week’s training camp before becoming the latest victim of coach Cesare Prandelli’s strict code of ethics.

FIGC president Giancarlo Abete told the ANSA news agency: “All decisions are made by Prandelli and the spirit of the ethics code, which ensures respectful behaviour in the Italian team, is well-known. “Osvaldo will remain out of the squad for the Confederations Cup but that does not rule him out of future involvement [with Italy].” REUTERS

Martinez clear to leave Wigan and join Everton

Everton are willing to pay around £2 million ($3 million) to appoint Roberto Martinez as their manager after the 39-year-old informed Dave Whelan he wished to end his four-year reign at Wigan Athletic. Martinez was granted permission to speak to Everton by the Wigan chairman on Tuesday having decided against leading the FA Cup winners in the Championship next season.

Negotiations with Bill Kenwright, the Everton chairman, are expected imminently and the Goodison Park club are not deterred by a compensation fee in the region of £2 million. THE GUARDIAN

tonight’s fixtures International Friendlies Japan v Bulgaria – 5:20am USA v Belgium – 7am

24

THE PHNOM PENH POST MAY 30, 2013

Sport Djokovic demands lights, action W Dave James

orld number one Novak Djokovic called for the French Open to install floodlights to help clear the backlog of rain-hit matches and claimed that a five-year wait to have a roof-covered showcourt was too long.

Top seed Djokovic only got on court at just after 6:30pm on Tuesday to kick off his 2013 campaign in Paris where he seeks a first Roland Garros title and to become just the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam.

In all 13 matches were held over to yesterday while three others were suspended due to darkness after rain delays of four hours played havoc with the schedule.

Djokovic believes that the 2018 target for a retractable roof to built on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier is not the most pressing concern even if a covered centre court will bring the tournament into line with the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Employees remove water from a tarpaulin covering the Philippe Chatrier central court as rain falls on the French Open in Paris.

“It seems a long way from now, but it is what it is. And at least for the future of our sport we’re gonna have all centre courts covered except the US Open. We’re gonna need that, as

well,” said the Serb. “I think what is more needed here is the lights on the centre court, because, you know, you stop play at 9pm, 9:30pm because you can’t see anymore.

AFP

“So at least you could have lights so the play can go for a few more hours.

And I believe that’s not something that is big comparing to the project of the roof.

“So I hope it’s gonna happen in next year or two.”

A roof on the main Court Philippe Chatrier is the centrepiece of a controversial €340 million project to expand and improve the cramped Roland Garros site in the west of Paris.

Court Suzanne Lenglen, the complex’s second show court, will be renovated, a new 5,000-seater arena will be built as will a new training centre.

Djokovic, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year, started his campaign by beating David Goffin of Belgium 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round.

“I warmed up five or six times because of the rain. Then you have to adjust your tactics because of the damp conditions,” said Djokovic, who next faces Guido Pella of Argentina, the world number 83.

“You need to step into the court and hit the ball.

“He did really well, played some nice tennis. It was tough. I had to fight, but I played my best tennis when I had to.” AFP