130619-The Post English

Government expects 7.5 million tourists a year by 2020

page 7

Issue NUMBER 1650

business

Successful People Read The Post

WednesDAY, jUne 19, 2013

Monsoon madness in India

world page 12

4000 RIEL

Japan’s latest fad is making teens sick

health page 18

NagaWorld strike ends with force Shane Worrell and Khouth Sophak Chakrya

According to the International Diabetes Federation, there were an estimated 212,000 diabetes sufferers in Cambodia in 2012, with almost another 134,000 estimated to be undiagnosed.

The disease was responsible for more than 5,000 deaths last year and is one of four non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that, according to the World Health Organisation, account for 46 per cent of all deaths in Cambodia.

But historically, said Van Pelt said, NCDs have received just one per cent of donor contributions in Cambodia, with communicable diseases

IN a crackdown condemned as “overkill” by labour-rights groups, armed police and security guards broke up a peaceful protest of mostly young women at NagaWorld casino yesterday, briefly detaining 19 workers and their union leaders.

Eleven of those detained were female, while another woman was taken to hospital after fainting and scores more were left in tears outside the casino, visibly shaken by their ordeal.

More than 100 casino workers, striking for a sixth day over wage demands, had assembled under tarpaulins on parkland in front of their workplace in the morning.

Right up until combined forces formed a ring around them at about 3pm, a festival atmosphere prevailed as strikers clapped and sang to the beat of drums.

That changed when the casino’s security guards, backed by military and riot police, pushed through the crowd to dismantle the tarps that had sheltered workers from the rain – and then set about driving them from the park altogether.

The security guards, clad in blue, detained workers who resisted – at one point forcibly carrying away a young woman – and also targeted union leaders who were addressing their members.

“They’re arresting me,” said Chhim Sithar, vice president of an independent in-house union, as security guards forced her to a nearby police truck.

“They say this is an illegal strike, but we’ve followed the law.”

Doeur Daro, assistant president of the Cambodian Tourism and Ser vice Workers Federation (CTSWF), which the casino union is affiliated with, also defended the legality of the strike – before he, too, was led away.

“We have already informed the company and they have continued to

Continues on page 6

Continues on page 4

Security guards carry away a protester during yesterday's NagaWorld strike in which scores rallied outside the Phnom Penh casino calling for better conditions.

hong menea

Diabetes and its discontents Kevin Ponniah and Phak Seangly

A

RUBBISH strewn and flooded dirt path leads to a small concrete house where a number of people are dutifully gathered, patiently waiting for neighbours to prick their fingers.

Though they will feel a sharp pain, the circle of crimson blood that results will indicate the state of their health and, crucially, whether they have kept certain promises.

These diabetes sufferers are captive to their weekly blood sugar readings – which are branded on their palms in black ink, as well as in the bright blue record books they all carry.

However, here in Phnom Penh’s

Srah Chak slum community, treatment and monitoring is carried out with a sense of fun.

Geriatric men squat on standing scales, laughing and shouting, as their peers squint to read their weight.

A group of middle-aged women argue about exercise routines nearby, while another sits at their feet, quietly studying a colour-coded healthy diet pyramid poster.

“They don’t feel scared here . . . it’s better than going to the doctor. They can come here and talk to each other, and share knowledge and learn from me too,” says Meach Lina, 44, the home’s owner and a peer educator with chronic disease NGO MoPoTsyo.

The organisation has trained more than 100 diabetes patients like Lina

around the country to provide counselling and blood sugar checks in their own homes for those who suffer from the disease.

According to MoPoTsyo’s director Maurits Van Pelt, the casual format allows patients to monitor their progress in a social atmosphere, and to take treatment into their own hands.

“It’s more informal. You can see that people here, if they don’t believe something, they will challenge it and they will speak back. And then all of the other people will also give their opinion,” he said.

“People can change their minds and actually understand something . . . [whereas] when those messages are given in a clinical setting they just evaporate immediately.”

A hidden scourge

2

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

National

Activists, cops clash at palace Khouth Sophak Chakrya

AT LEAST two protesters fainted and a third was injured yesterday after Boeung Kak villagers clashed with police in front of the Royal Palace.

Some 30 residents, including approximately a dozen children, descended on the palace yesterday in the hope of submitting a petition to Queen Mother Norodom Monineath, pleading for a birthday intervention on behalf of imprisoned activist Yorm Bopha.

More than 100 hoped to join the protest but, like the day before, were blocked from leaving their Daun Penh community by a phalanx of police officers.

The handful who made it to the palace, however, were met by more than 60 officers and riot police, who quickly cracked down on the protesters.

Security forces grabbed at portraits of Bopha, enraging the activists who began hitting at the officers with sarongs and attempting to push them back.

Municipal police chief Choun Sovann later defended the actions, saying

Gov’t posts racy audio from Sokha’s ‘mistress’ Stuart White and Vong Sokheng

T

Protesters fight back against police while delivering a petition to the Royal Palace yesterday.

tight security was necessary given the ongoing UNESCO conference.

After the brief clash, the protesters stood back, and began reading their petition over loudspeakers. The group dispersed after two officials from the palace came out and received the letter.

The embattled community has been calling for the re-

lease of the activist who last week lost her appeal over convictions of intentional violence. Arrested in September, Bopha stands accused of masterminding an attack on two motodops – a charge she and her supporters call politically motivated.

According to human rights group Licadho, Bopha filed an appeal with the Sup-

hong menea

r e m e C o u r t o n M o n d a y.

Speaking at the protest, fellow activist Tep Vanny insisted the group had no intention to clash with the authorities.

“We came here only to submit our petition asking the Queen Mother to help intervene and free Yorm Bopha because she has not committed as accused.”

HE government’s Press and Quick Reaction Unit yesterday posted on its website a salacious and possibly slanderous interview with Keo Sophannary – the woman purporting to be the estranged mistress of opposition leader Kem Sokha.

In an audio clip of the interview, Sophannary can be heard holding forth on topics that run the gamut from sexual gossip to the overtly political.

The audio was recorded during a sitdown with Sathya Rak, a presenter for Bayon Television – a station run by the daughter of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Over the course of the conversation, Sophannary went through the chronology of her alleged affair with Sokha – the existence of which the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has repeatedly and forcefully denied.

Detailing purported sexual encounters, she went as far as discussing the former Human Rights Party leader’s sexual relationship with his wife, while also claiming that Sokha had given her money for, among other things, a small shoe store she wanted to open.

Sophannary concluded the interview with a highly specific, policy-based admonishment to voters.

“I would like to appeal to [voters], don’t believe the cruel Kem Sokha – he cannot support his children and wife. Don’t believe it when he promises to pay $150 as a salary per month,” she said, referring to the CNRP’s proposed minimum wage for civil servants.

CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann again denied the veracity of the claims yesterday, adding that he did “not pay attention to” Sop-

hannary’s claims anymore.

“All the things related to her, or to Chum Mey, are fabricated by politicians,” he added.

By way of evidence, Sovann said that television crews had never attended CNRP meetings in the past, but that on the day Sophannary appeared there had been a TV van and ambulance waiting.

“This is fabricated,” he reiterated. “They make a movie.

It’s not the real story – it is a movie.”

The PQRU is technically a government agency but has in recent months begun publishing propaganda for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, such as an audio mashup of Sokha and fellow opposition leader Sam Rainsy insulting each other before their parties merged.

Independent political analyst Chea Vannath said yesterday that the PQRU’s involvement in posting the video was inappropriate and unprofessional for a government agency.

“As the government, it is not supposed to go into any partisanship, to support or [go] against any political party,” she said. “The administration is supposed to be neutral and independent.”

Then, speaking only as “a concerned citizen”, Vannath went on to express disappointment at the current political situation.

“As a citizen of Cambodia, it is too much for me to handle,” she said, noting that “the administration of a democratic country [is] supposed to be spending time paying attention to the social, political, economic [issues] of the country . . . rather than to go into any extra soap opera”.

“For me, it’s too trivial,” she concluded. “I don’t want to waste my time.”

Spokesmen for the government and PQRU declined to comment on the interview yesterday.

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

Every Saturday, 7.15 pm

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

Free admission www.beatocello.com

3

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

National

Judge forces sparse settlement on family of beaten children

Mey Crash kills four, badly Chum to defend injures seven others complaint

Phak Seangly

Kim Sarom and Sean Teehan

THE Ratanakkiri Provincial Court yesterday forced a family whose three children were allegedly beaten by DM Group firm employees last month to accept only $1,000 in compensation in place of the $40,000 the family initially had demanded, the children’s father claimed.

Ry Sarun, 52, said that investigating judge Eng Chamnag threatened to arrest Sarun’s two sons for allegedly injuring DM Group workers if the family did not accept the pittance, of which the judge then took $220 for

year-old, Ry Soklin, so badly in the head that he had to be sent to Vietnam for treatment, which cost the family more than $3,000, Sarun said.

Sarun said that Judge Chamnag had told him the court would hear the case against the four workers next month.

But he added that on Monday, when he visited the prison where the workers had been placed under detention after being charged by the court, he learned that the they had been released about two weeks before.

“I bribed a prison officer

I bribed a prison officer . . . I looked for the suspects, but I did not see them. The officer said they had been released. himself, leaving the family members with only $780 for their troubles.

“This is a miserable compensation but better than nothing,” Sarun said.

In his complaint to the court, Sarun alleged that four DM group workers beat his 12-year-old daughter, 14year-old son and 21-year-old son when the youths tried to prevent the company from bulldozing the area and planting commercial rubber trees on land that already had been measured for the family. Srun said two of his six hectares of land had already been grabbed in such a way.

The workers injured the 14-

25,000 riel and pretended to visit my relative in the prison,” Sarun said.

“I looked for the suspects, but I did not see them. The officer said they had been released.”

Chhay Thy, Ratanakkiri provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said the court’s actions were “absolute injustice” for Sarun’s family.

An Adhoc lawyer was assisting the family, he added.

Thy said the group was looking into the release of the suspects, noting that the early release appeared highly illegal.

Judge Eng Chamnag declined to comment by phone yesterday.

Cheang Sokha

A

HEAD-ON collision involving a tourist bus killed at least four people, including three children, and left seven with life-threatening injuries yesterday.

The Olympic Express bus was carrying about two dozen Cambodians and foreigners from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh when a Honda CRV collided with it on National Highway Number 6 in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district at about 2 pm, said Stoung district police chief Yong Sam. The crash occurred when the CRV driver, who was driving in the opposite direction, lost control of the car and swerved into the bus, according to Tant Sovann, the Olympic Express company’s owner’s daughter.

“The CRV driver was driving at a very fast speed,” Sovann said.

Everyone in the CRV, including three children younger than 10 and the driver, died, Sam said. The car was smashed and burned beyond recognition.

Seven people on the bus were

Onlookers inspect the remains of a crash that left four dead and seven injured in Kampong Thom. photo supplied

taken to Stoung Hospital with life threatening injuries, Sam said. Two of them were Chinese nationals.

A report from the Cambodia Road Traffic and Victim Information System says transportation companies were involved in 1,966 traffic deaths last year.

Earlier this month the Ministry of Public Works and Transport warned four bus companies they would be shut down if they did not reduce the number

of traffic deaths in which they are involved. Olympic Express is not one of these companies.

The bus driver escaped the accident with a broken leg, for which he was hospitalised, Sovann said. Of all the company’s driver’s he is one of their most conscientious, she added.

Olympic Express staff members are surveying the damage, but the driver said the front of the bus was heavily damaged, Sovann said.

THE PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has begun investigating a lawsuit filed last Friday by Khmer Rouge victims against opposition leader Kem Sokha on charges of defamation.

Kouy Thunna, the lawyer for the group of four S-21 prison survivors that includes victims association head Chum Mey, said that court prosecutor Meas Chan Piseth had summoned his four clients to defend their complaint on June 24.

Thunna said two clients will speak in the morning, and the other two in the afternoon.

“It is court procedure that the plaintiffs have to bring more information and evidence to the court to defend their complaint,” he said.

The lawsuit was filed against Kem Sokha, acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), over comments he allegedly made claiming the notorious detention center was a Vietnamese fabrication.

CNRP spokesmanYim Sovann said yesterday that Sokha was not worried about the complaint as the party believed it to be a political ploy.

4

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

National

nix request for Calm strike ends with force Judges WikiLeaks’ evidence Continued from page 1

ignore our demands. Police should not disperse our protesters because we have done this peacefully,� he said.

It remains unclear why security guards rather than police were doing the detaining – or why the strike warranted such a forceful response – but a government official who spoke at the scene told workers they were “protesting illegally�. “You did not provide information to authorities,� the official, whose name the Post could not confirm, said. “If you informed us, we would have found an appropriate place for this demonstration.�

The official added that this week was not a good time for workers to be protesting, due to the number of foreign delegates in Phnom Penh for UNESCO meetings. “I understand your difficulty, but you should think of the country’s reputation. I beg you to go home for a few days.�

Up to 1,000 workers protested outside NagaWorld in February, demanding the reinstatement of fired unionists, a minimum wage increase to $150 per month and other demands that went back years.

The wage issue was one of two

points workers say NagaWorld management had promised to deal with after three months.

Sokh Mulika, a casino operations dealer, said that time had arrived. “The company always tries to delay this issue,� she said. “That’s why we’re protesting.

We’re not demonstrating violently. The police should not arrest people and make the situation bad like this.�

Sithar, the detained union vice president who had earlier said through a microphone that the workers’ financial demands were small compared to NagaWorld’s annual profit, said by phone that the 19 workers were released last night. “We told them we had warned them about the strike a week before. They released us without charge after they received information from highranking officials,� she said.

Dave Welsh, country manager for rights group Solidarity Center/ACILS, said action taken by police and security guards was “overkill�. “It’s certainly intimidation,� he said. “And it’s complete military overkill. Two hundred military policeman with batons and shields against 100 trade unionists – virtually all young woman – protesting

Justine Drennan

Scores held a sit-in across from NagaWorld casino.

peacefully. It’s not a great optic four weeks from an election. And it doesn’t bode well for the future of industrial relations here at NagaWorld.�

Um Botom, another casino worker, said management had not negotiated with the workers during six days of strikes and were now “using the authorities to threaten us�.

NagaWorld management did not return calls.

Municipal police chief Choun Sovann did not respond to questions about why security guards had detained workers, but said the

sreng meng srun

protesters had gone on strike without permission.

Chheng Sophors, senior monitor for rights group Licadho, said NagaWorld security guards had no right to detain or arrest strikers on public land. “They can do this only on their private property,� he said. “I think the security guards have done this to scare strikers into stopping.�

But it may have backfired, according to Khleang Soben, one of the 11 women detained. “The strike will continue. It’s not over,� she said. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SEN DAVID

KHMER Rouge tribunal judges have rejected both the prosecution and the defence’s requests to admit cables released in April by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks as evidence, on the grounds that the cables offer no new information and their authenticity would be difficult to verify.

The prosecution had asked the court to consider 26 cables sent between the US Embassy in Phnom Penh and Washington DC from 1973 to 1975; while Khieu Samphan’s defence team had requested the admission of 12 different cables from that period as well as two from 2006 and 2007, the latter of which relate to alleged corruption at the court.

In their response, the judges write that, because “all proposed cables originate from the WikiLeaks website rather than from official State Department sources�, the court is “unable to conclude that material . . . is authentic.� “Although the parties could

seek to obtain authentic copies of the proposed cables from official sources,� the judges write, they assert the “impossibility of obtaining [the authenticated versions of these cables] within a reasonable time.�

The prosecutors had hoped to use some of the cables as evidence of excessive Khmer Rouge killings of civilians and Lon Nol soldiers; Samphan’s lawyers had hoped other cables would buttress claims of Samphan’s good character.

The judges, however, write that, even if authentic, the cables are “repetitious insofar as they tend largely to corroborate other background evidence already on the Case File.�

The judges add that the two more recent cables’ allegations of political bias and corruption at the court are “generalised, and the Khieu Samphan Defence has not demonstrated the relevance of these issues to the Accused’s alleged responsibility in Case 002/01 or facts otherwise at issue at trial�.

This Friday evening June 21, Hagar Restaurant and The Phnom Penh Post proudly present: A dinner lecture by Royal University of Phnom Penh Professor Jean-Michel Filippi

.&/6 Welcome Drink - Sangria!

Phnom Penh 1865 – 1995 Birth and evolution

Appetizer Tomato and Artichoke Salad with French Dressing Prawn and Avocado in a GlassRock Melon wrapped in Smoked Ham Sushi Asparagus cream soup Chef’s Salad Bar Mixed Green Lettuce, Sliced Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, Capsicum, French bean With Dressing of your Choice Live Station BBQ pork wonton Soup (Egg noodle, sliced BBQ pork, Beef Ball and Vegetables with Condiments) Main Course Grilled Fish with Orange Cream Sauce Pollo al Rosmarino, Boeuf Bourguignon Mashed Potatoes and Carrots, SautÊed Vegetables in Butter Jasmine Rice Desserts Mixed Khmer cakes, Cream Caramel, Walnut and Carrot Cake Sliced Seasonal Fresh Fruits

Buffet Dinner Friday, 21st June

The Fourth of July

$49 per person includes dinner, unlimited wine and beer, and a signed copy of Filippi’s latest book “Strolling Around Phnom Penh�.

6:30 to 8:30 pm plus Question and Answer. Books signed by the author.

A44 5;>F >5 B>5C 3A8=:B 144A 0=3 F8=4

• American companies doing business in Cambodia including motor vehicles, • A look at what’s happening for the United States of America in Cambodia: • The American Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia: what’s happening.

Story ideas? Email stuart.becker@gmail.com borom.chea@phnompenhpost.com or call 023 214 311 Booking deadline: Thursday, June 27. Artwork deadline: Tuesday, June 2.

people.

Limited to 60

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE READ THE POST

#44 street 310 Phnom Penh sales@hagarcatering.com www.hagarcatering.com

Coming up on Thursday, July 4, The Phnom Penh Post proudly presents

X marks the spot: the confluence of the Mekong River, the Tonle Sap and the Tonle Bassac.

Jean-Michel Filippi describes how and why this spot grew into what we now call Phnom Penh

Call to make your reservations now: Tel: 010333095 or 012306075

Thursday July 4.

5

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

National

Hun Sen extolls his KRT gets Aussie boost ‘football’ strategies Stuart White

THE Australian government pledged an additional A$3.25 million (approximately US$3.07 million) to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia yesterday, according to an announcement from Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr.

The new donation to the court’s international side brings the total contributions from Australia – currently the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second-largest donor, after Japan – to US$20.6 million, and represents nearly

Cheang Sokha

P

RIME Minister Hun Sen vowed yesterday that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) will decisively win the upcoming election and would rule the country for the government’s next five-year mandate.

Speaking at the opening of the National Football Center in Takeo province’s Bati district, Hun Sen said it was impossible that any other party would win the July 28 poll, and compared his party’s strategising to that of a football team.

“Of course we will win the election. Now I am speaking in the position of Prime Minister in the fourth mandate, and with just over a month to go, the election day will come, and the winner is obvious. It is clear that Hun Sen will be the Prime Minister,” he said.

“And I am still not too old even if I have held power as prime minister for 34 years,” he added.

“At the moment the CPP has arranged a team for the election. Hun Sen is the mid-fielder,

Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks in Takeo province yesterday.

photo

supplied

but he can be moved forward to be a striker, or moved backwards to be a defender,” he said, emphasising his role as a player who both attacks and defends.

He also likened the party’s president Chea Sim to the team’s coach and placed honourable president Heng Samrin as the goalkeeper.

Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party spokesman Yim Sovann said that if Hun Sen was so confident of winning the

upcoming election, he should take part in a televised debate with opposition leaders about important issues.

“He is fighting alone in the ring without his rival,” he said, referring to self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who is yet to confirm whether he will return to Cambodia to contest the election.

“So if the CPP wins the election it would be meaningless,” Sovann said.

one-10th of the court’s US$35.4 million budget for 2013.

“Australia will also encourage Cambodia to lobby current and potential donors to ensure the ECCC is fully supported through its remaining court proceedings,” Carr said in a statement.

In a seeming nod to past budgetary shortfalls on the court’s national side, he added that Australia would “look to the Cambodian Government to ensure that its share of the ECCC budget is fully funded and salaries paid for all national staff, consistent with Article

15 of its agreement with the United Nations”.

Lars Olsen, a legal communications officer with the court, said that while international staffers have been told that their contracts will be extended after their completion this month, both sides of the court are still in need of additional funding.

“There is obviously a significant budget shortfall on the national side, and on the international side there is a shortfall,” Olsen said. “The staff has been informed that they will get contracts through the end of September.”

Chief alleges threat by soldier Sen David

A VILLAGE chief in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district remains in hiding following a death threat a border soldier allegedly issued after the chief refused to give away a plot of land, he said yesterday.

Lop village Chief Siv Phlin, 50, filed complaints with police and rights group Adhoc on Monday, asking for intervention, adding that he took the threat seriously

enough to leave his home, where his six children live, and hide in the woods. “[The soldier] tried to force me into providing land, but I am just a village chief,” Phlin said. “I don’t have that authority, and I am so worried for my safety and the safety of my family.”

The soldier had allegedly demanded Phlin sign over a state-owned plot of land that measured 500 by 200 metres.

After Phlin declined, the soldier

threatened him over the phone on Sunday, Chhay Thy, Adhoc provincial coordinator said.

“The solider said he will shoot him if he did not provide a wide plot to him,” Thy said. “Now he is so panicked, he has hidden in the wild. He’s afraid to stay at his house.”

After receiving the complaint, O’Yadav police chief Ma Vichet told the Post police are protecting Phlin and keeping an eye on the soldier in question.

6

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

National

Tycoon runs down debtors Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

P

OLICE are seeking the arrest of tycoon Nhem Kosal after he allegedly severely injured a man and his family in a vehicular assault carried out in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok districton Sunday, police said yesterday.

Sen Sok district police chief, Major Mok Hong, said Kosal, upset over a still-outstanding debt of some $2,000, allegedly ran into friend and debtor Ny Sath, 49 – as well as Sath’s wife, Tep Liza, 41, and their daughter – after a verbal altercation in front of their Phnom Penh Thmey commune home at around 11:30pm Sunday.

“He got very angry with the victim, who is his friend, and who had borrowed his money for a long time but did not return it to him. Besides this, they also had been arguing with him,” Hong said. “So he drove his car into them while they stood in front of their house, and caused them injuries. He also drove his car into the victims’ car, and caused it to be seriously damaged.”

Sath sustained two broken legs in the incident, Hong said, and his wife and daughter each suffered a broken arm.

“After hitting the victims and their car, he managed to escape successfully from the scene,” he added.

A witness, who asked not to be named, told the Post that at about 11pm on Sunday night, Kosal parked his Range Rover in front of the victim’s house, and honked his horn, asking the victims to come out and meet him. However, when the victims came out, an argument erupted, ending with Kosal driving off.

“About 30 minutes later, Okhna Nhem Kosal returned again, and parked in front of the door of the victims’ house, and he honked his horn at the victim’s house,” the witness said. “But when the victims opened the door and came outside, he immediately drove his car into them, and into their car. And after hitting them, he drove his car away, escaping from the place.”

Kosal and his family could not be reached for comment regarding the accusations.

Couple charged in forced prostitution case police blotter Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

A MARRIED couple were charged with procurement of prostitution yesterday after allegedly luring two girls, ages 14 and 15, to Phnom Penh and forcing them to have sex with two young men in a hotel.

Ros Savin, chief of Kandal’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, said the huband, Chuon Chory, 45, and the wife, Bou Pov, 46, had been arrested following a complaint from the girls’ parents.

Several people in Kandal’s Takhmao town had told police that the couple had taken several girls to have sex with wealthy clients in hotels, but police were able to arrest the couple only after receiving a complaint directly from the victims’ family, Savin said.

According to the victims’ complaints, on May 18 the suspects invited them to a restaurant, Savin said. But when they arrived in the city, the couple brought them to the Chhouk Tip II Hotel to meet two men who raped them.

The husband and wife allegedly threatened to kill the girls if they told their parents.

The girls’ parents, however, noticed that their daughters had been missing all night and saw that when they returned, they looked pale and shaken, Bandith said.

The girls explained what had happened, and the family submitted a complaint to the Takhmao town police.

The suspects and their defence lawyer could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Possible evidence found in woman’s death Kim Sarom

POLICE experts are analysing clothes and other items found in a bag yesterday morning near where the naked body of a dead woman was found in early June, police officials said yesterday.

Deputy police chief Chuon Narin said the items may have belonged to the victim, who was found wrapped in a blanket with a cord around her neck at a Dangkor district dumpsite on June 4.

“The items are being examined by the post-mortem

team according to their protocols” he said.

Documents, female clothes, photos and identification cards were found in a large bin bag by a scrap collector about 50 metres away from where the body was found, Dangkor district police chief Yim Saran said.

“Police are verifying the fingerprint on the ID card with the victim’s fingerprint, but we don’t know if there is a match yet,” he said.

The ID card found was that of a woman named Im Sovanny, born 1986 and a resident

of Kandal province’s Kien Svay district, he added.

Soon after the body was found on June 4, a woman named Han Sina emerged, with her family identifying the dead girl as their daughter, 21year-old Mao Napha.

Napha allegedly worked at a garment factory and lived with her husband in Dangkor district before going missing on June 3.

Despite the claim, police could not match a thumbprint of Napha with the thumbprint of the deceased woman, and cremated the body.

such as HIV/AIDS receiving the bulk of funds.

“These four diseases [cardiovascular, respiratory, cancer and diabetes] kill Cambodian people at their most productive age,” Dr Sam Ath Khim, technical officer at the WHO for NCDs, told the Post.

Apart from key lifestyle risk factors such as insufficient exercise, smoking or unhealthy diets, there are also “root causes” of NCDs that stem from Cambodia’s rapid development, he said.

“We have to look at the causation pathways . . . which are related to globalisation, urbanisation, ageing and other social determinants.”

To wit: between 2003 and 2008 imports of soft-drinks and sweets into Cambodia rose by 5,041 per cent and 24,334 per cent respectively. “[With] . . . economic growth,

a lot of processed food has been imported. Five or 10 years ago you would hardly see fast food . . . but now there is a lot . . . people have started to change their lifestyle,” said Ath Khim.

The idea that NCDs are socalled “rich-man’s diseases” related to affluence, however, is a complete misconception with developing nations actually suffering most from the disease burden, said Ath Khim.

Many MoPoTsyo patients, like 68-year-old Saing Savoeurn, who has had diabetes for 18 years and only spends $5 a month on subsidised medications, are poor.

“I prefer coming here than to a private clinic as I used to spend a lot of money on treatment. Here, the counselor gives me advice . . . and it costs less.”

The Cambodian diet, which involves adding plenty of sodium-rich ingredients such as fish sauce, MSG and soy sauce

to food, has also contributed to the impact of NCDs, Ath Khim said.

Van Pelt identifies machinepolished white rice as the biggest change in the diet of Cambodians in recent decades.

“Nothing [else] can explain to me [why] suddenly so many of these middle-aged people in the countryside who are farmers are getting diabetes,” he said.

A study carried out earlier this year in Phnom Penh found that Cambodians were consuming an average of eight grams of salt per capita, well above the recommended dietary intake of five grams per day.

Approximately 34 per cent of Cambodians smoke tobacco daily, 26.7 per cent of urban Cambodians are overweight or obese, and 45.1 per cent of males drink heavily on a regular basis, according to a 2010 national health survey by the WHO. The same survey found that 32.5 per cent of urban dwellers had high cholesterol, while 84.3 per cent of Cambodians had a low consumption of fruit and vegetables.

A heavy burden

A woman has her blood sugar checked at an NGO-run clinic in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district. Heng chivoan

The effects of NCDs on economic growth have been called “staggering” by the WHO, which estimates that losses to low and middle-income countries are equivalent to approximately four per cent of annual output.

A country like Cambodia loses about $25 to $50 per person per year to NCDs, with a 2011 WHO report recommending several “best-buy” intervention strategies and measures to reduce risk factors that

APPARENTLY inspired by the boxing match on the television in front of him, a drunken man in Battambang town decided to start his own fight on Monday.

Police said the man stumbled into a coffee shop after guzzling wine with friends and immediately started shouting about the match on TV. The other men in the shop complained, and the shop’s owner turned off the TV. Annoyed, the inebriated man promptly damaged several chairs, a table and the TV set.

When police showed up, the man was rude to them, too, later explaining he was too drunk to control himself. Nokorwat

Clean car, clean lift ends with not-so-clean result IN A bid to clean up, a 23-yearold man lifted another man’s car from a cleaning station in Sihanoukville town on Monday.

Police said the suspect showed up after staff had rinsed off the car and, claiming to be the owner, took off with the vehicle.

When the car’s real owner realised his newly clean car had been stolen in a dirty trick, he immediately called police, who chased the suspect until he ran off the road into a rice field.

Cops returned the car to its owner. KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Phone mob goes after customer-cum-thief

Battling NCDs on the ground Continued from page 1

Angry customer acts like boxer, KOs table

A peer educator records blood sugar and blood pressure readings of diabetic community members at Srah Chak. scott howes

would cost less than two dollars per person.

“In health terms, the return on this investment will be many millions of avoided premature deaths. In economic terms, the return will be many billions of dollars of additional output,” the report says.

The government does appear to be taking notice of the problem, with the Second National Health Strategic Plan for 2008-2015 including NCDs as a strategic priority for the first time.

A second national plan specifically targeting NCDs, for 2013-2020, is also in the approval process.

Meanwhile, a best-buy strategy that is beginning to be implemented is cervical cancer screening using visual inspection with acetic acid ( VIA) with on-the-spot cryotherapy treatment, Sam Ath said.

The plan targets at least 80 per cent of women aged 30 to 49 being screened for the disease – the country’s most common cancer – by 2020, with

several programs currently in pilot stage.

A funding pool supported by various international donors to assist the Ministry of Health is also increasing its annual allocation towards NCD prevention and control to 15 per cent, according to the World Bank.

Despite this, Sam Ath said, awareness about the largely preventable diseases remains low, with most of the government yet to seriously recognise an issue that requires multisector coordination.

Cost-effective solutions, like MoPoTsyo’s peer educator program, could thus serve as a tested model for the future.

Patients like 71-year-old Thorn Sameoeu, whose twisted, swollen feet and degraded toes show the consequences of unmanaged diabetes, have greatly benefited from the approach.

“My leg is better now and almost cured since I started coming here and got my blood sugar down. The numbness has gone and I can feel my feet . . . I can finally walk again.”

A GROUP of phone shop customers in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district badly beat a not-very-cool customer on Monday after it turned out he was there to steal what they were there to buy. Police said the phony shopper tried to sneak away with a mobile phone while the salespeople were busy with others but was spotted while climbing onto his motorbike. The angry customers, along with a motodop, chased after him, caught him and beat him unconscious.

Police sent him to hospital and humbly asked the mob not to beat up suspects in future. KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Drug boss plays modest when caught with goods A SELF-EFFACING alleged drug boss denied the scope of his operation on Monday, when police caught him with 1.5 grams of crystal meth on him in Battambang town. Before he was sent to court, the suspect confessed he’d been delivering drugs in the area for about a year. Unsatisfied, police claimed the suspect actually had been part of a drug network for about seven years and had bribed some local authorities to deliver drugs for him. Nokorwat

Drunk driver hits drink cart, lands in hot water A 35-year-old Chinese national was seriously injured after crashing his motorbike in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district yesterday. Police said the driver was drunk and therefore did not pay adequate attention to a drinks cart moving in the same direction down the road. The cart’s owner was also injured in the crash, and both were sent to the hospital. Nokorwat Translated by Phak Seangly

7

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Business Indicative Exchange Rates as of 14/06/2013. 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

4,078

1.3358

0.9594

0.8058

1.5707

6.1355

USD / JPY

94.71

USD / HKD

7.7637

USD / SGD

USD / THB

1.2498

30.53

Gov’t sees 7.5 million tourists a year by 2020 Rann Reuy

UNESCO gets corporate Irina Bokova, UNESCO director-general, finalises a partnership deal with Panasonic Corporation's senior managing executive officer Takumi Kajisha in Phnom Penh.

HENG CHIVOAN

New name, same airline Mak Lawrence Li and Anne Renzenbrink

G

ROUNDED Tonlesap Airlines has changed its name to Wat Phnom Airlines, an official with Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said yesterday, about two months after the local chartered carrier suspended all of its flights.

Wat Phnom Airlines is now in the process of applying for a new Air Operator Certificate, said Vann Chanty, the secretariat’s director of air transport.

“They are submitting all related documents now,” he said.

Chanty did not say when Wat Phnom Airlines would take off, or if the name change had anything to do with Ton-

lesap’s widely reported financial troubles.

A former Tonlesap Airlines flight attendant reached by the Post this week said the airline went bankrupt.

“The airline stopped flying two months ago, and someone from the office told us the company had cleared out,” said the former employer, who worked as a cabin crew member in the airline for more than a year, and is not being named out of concern for job security.

“But then comes Wat Phnom Airlines, and we are told that the management team and the owner is actually the same as Tonlesap but just with a different brand name.”

He added that he was waiting for the new company to

notify its employees of new work arrangements.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Wat Phnom could launch if its alleged successor, Tonlesap, is still in debt.

The Post reported in February 2012 that Taiwanese airline Far

ese tourists stranded. Taiwan was one of a handful of regional destinations for Tonlesap since it started flying chartered flights from the airport in Siem Reap in 2011.

Zhao Hung Ti, public relations officer at Taiwan’s Taoyu-

The airline stopped flying two months ago, and someone from the office told us the company had cleared out Eastern Air Transport grounded a plane it leased to Tonlesap at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that month, saying the company owed about $105,000 in aviation fuel fees. It had allegedly left more than 200 Taiwan-

an International Airport Corporation, said yesterday that Tonlesap Airlines owed the airport an estimated NT$1.6 million (US$53,558) in landing fees, and the Civil Aeronautics Administration NT$0.625

million in aviation management fees. The charges are estimates, she said, and may be higher due once late payments come in.

She said the airport isn’t seeking to file any claims against the airline but would levy the fees if the flights ever landed on its Taipei tarmac in the future.

“Even though Tonlesap has changed its name, if flies again, we can still ask for the unpaid fees if the management team and the owner is the same,” she said.

The website of Tonlesap Airlines was down yesterday, and a listed number did not work.

No one picked up the phone at the number listed on site purporting to belong to Wat Phnom Airlines.

Tourism officials have revised upwards their forecast for foreign tourist arrivals from 7 to 7.5 million per year by 2020.

The estimate was released yesterday during a presentation to the delegates of UNESCO at the Ministry of Tourism by Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon.

Khon told the Post the ministry arrived at the new figures in April, when foreign tourists had already reached 1.5 million for this year.

“Before we thought we would receive only 3.8 million this year, but now we expect 4.2 million for this year,” he said.

According to Khon, the government had implemented strategies to make visitors stay longer. He cited an example of changes to a weekly ticket to visit the Angkor complex, whereby visitors were no longer restricted to fixed dates but could return to the complex with the ticket throughout their entire stay in Cambodia.

Khon said that upheaval in the Middle East region also meant that tourists were turning to Asia as a holiday destination.

“We are trying to ensure that visitors who visit Asia do not miss Cambodia,” he said.

Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said he agreed on figures raised by the minister but noted that Cambodia needed to do more to enhance tour ism infrastr ucture, including safe transportation and accommodation at tourism destinations.

“Local investors need to participate more to enhance tourism and take opportunities to invest in this sector,” he said.

The number of international tourists in Cambodia increased 24.4 per cent from 2.88 million in 2011 to 3.58 million in 2012, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism.

8

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Business

In brief Thai farmers’ deposits surge in past two years

Outstanding deposits of Thai farmers surged by 60 billion baht (nearly $2 billion) over the past two years, thanks mainly to the government’s rice pledging scheme and farmers’ debt suspension project, according to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. Farmers’ outstanding deposits rose by 50 per cent to 180 billion, executive vice-president Somsak Kangteerawat said.

BANGKOK POST

Vietnam’s state bank to clear out bad debt

THE state bank of Vietnam plans to start operations of its asset management company in mid-July to clean up nearly $5 billion of bad debt and accelerate the country’s banking restructuring process. “Banks must do two parallel duties: resolve bad debts and prevent existing loans from becoming bad ones,” according to central bank governor Nguyen Van Binh. BLOOMBERG

Thailand still viewed as manufacturing hub

Japanese investors still view Thailand as a manufacturing hub and will continue to use the country as a gateway to markets in Southeast Asia.

Seiya Sukegawa, vicepresident of the Japan External Trade Organisation, said on Tuesday Thailand will continue to be the main base for Japanese firms to facilitate operations of their subsidiaries in Laos and Cambodia. BANGKOK POST

Bangladeshi microlender in row with government

B

ANGLADESH’S pioneering microlender faces an uncertain future after a commission proposed the government takeover or break up the Nobel-winning bank, analysts said yesterday.

The government commission has released a working paper on restructuring Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and which has lent more than $11 billion to millions of people, mainly women, to help them gain financial independence.

The paper, to be sent to Bangladesh’s financial experts for discussion, says Grameen should be broken up into 19 separate organisations with a headquarters maintaining loose control. It also suggested Grameen’s legal status be amended closer to that of a state-owned industrial bank, with the government owning at least 51 per cent.

Yunus, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize with the bank in 2006 for economic and social development, slammed the recommendations as an “extreme abuse of government power”.

“The government takeover of a sound financial institution owned by 8.4 million poor women will be a case of extreme abuse of government power,” he said.“ Options offered by the inquiry commission are totally

Grameen Bank founder and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus seen here in an undated photo.

irrelevant and unworkable.”

Yunus, who fell out with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after talking publicly about going into politics, was officially fired as head of the bank in 2011 for exceeding the mandatory retirement age of 60. He challenged the move in court but lost.

The court ruled that the bank, established in 1983, was a government institution, not a private bank owned by its lenders, as Yunus maintained.

The commission’s paper

recommends that the “composition of the [bank’s] board of directors will be such that it makes sure the government maintains majority stake”.

A deputy director of the commission said the proposals would be discussed by financial experts, including the finance minister, at a meeting in Dhaka on July 2.

“These proposals are not final. The commission will finalise its report after consulting with experts and other people,” he said anonymously.

AFP

Experts fear the proposals, if approved by the government, could jeopardise the future of the bank, which has lifted millions of Bangladeshi people out of poverty and empowered women in the deeply conservative country.

“The suggested structures of the bank will not lead to financial sustainability in future. It is likely to make the institution sick,” said Baqui Khalily, a professor of finance and the executive director of the Institute of Microfinance. AFP

Malaysian fund plans power asset shares sale SOVEREIGN wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd plans to raise about $1 billion in a public listing of power assets in Malaysia next year, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The proposed IPO is the latest in a string of announced or rumoured listings that could return Malaysia to the ranks of top regional IPO markets. The funds raised through the share sale will help pay off some of the debts of the Malaysian investment company, Dow Jones said in a report on Monday.

Government-owned investor 1MDB has bought several power plants since last year, including Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan’s power generation business for $2.7 billion and Genting Bhd’s domestic energy operations for 2.3 billion ringgit ($730 million). 1MDB is a strategic investment company focused on spurring development in key economic sectors.

Malaysian companies raised billions in share sales last year, making the country Southeast Asia’s top IPO market by deal value, as big issues capitalised on a rising share index and optimism over government plans to spur the economy.

Activity cooled in recent months as investors held their breath in the run-up to May 5 elections, but the 56-year-old ruling coalition once again retained power, promising policy continuity. AFP

Fund pushing Sony to Thai consumer goods giant scales down list increases its stake Pitseenee Jitpleecheep

THE hedge fund that has called on Sony to list part of its profitable entertainment arm has boosted its stake in the company, a report said yesterday, days ahead of a shareholders’ meeting.

Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb, who last month proposed cleaving off up to 20 per cent of the division, said his Third Point LLC fund had since added another five million shares, taking its stake to seven per cent.

In a new letter to Sony boss Kazuo Hirai, carried by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Loeb says the division lacks the “discipline and accountability” of its competitors and would benefit from a listing.

“It seems difficult to argue that Entertainment would not be strengthened by the transparency that comes with public reporting, an active media analyst community evaluating financial performance regularly, and an expert board with strongly aligned incentives,” the letter said.

Sony, like many Japanese companies that came of age in the booming Japan of the 1970s and 1980s, diversified its operations to include seemingly unrelated businesses. Critics say this has left them too big to cope with their more nimble

overseas competitors and has led to years of profit bleeding.

Despite having taken a particularly bad beating in the sector, the firm has repeatedly reiterated its commitment to producing televisions and other home electronics.

In his more recent letter, Loeb, an investor with a reputation for pushing change at the companies he targets, suggested Hirai serve as head of the board of the new business while retaining his spot at the helm of the overall group.

He also repeated his offer to serve on Sony’s board, noting the size of his fund’s stake.

In May, Hirai said the board would examine Loeb’s proposal, despite having previously said the entertainment arm of Sony was not for sale.

The company’s annual shareholder meeting is being held in Tokyo on Thursday.

“As previously stated, Sony’s board of directors will conduct an appropriate review of Third Point’s proposal,” a company statement said yesterday.

In the fiscal year to March, Sony reported its first annual net profit in five years, although it was largely driven by a weakening of the yen, and a string of asset sales including unloading its Manhattan headquarters. AFP

SAHA Group, Thailand’s biggest consumer goods conglomerate, says it will postpone new investments this year and scale down or shutter some existing plants due to several negative factors.

Shoe and textile factories are among those hit hard by the recent slowdown in consumption. Consumer purchasing power in the first months of 2013 was not as good as in previous years, said Saha chairman Boonsithi Chokwatana.

He attributed the low purchasing power to the government’s first-time car buyer plan, which ate up spending.

And while the rise in the minimum wage to 300 baht (just under $10) a day has increased personal income, it has led to costlier consumer items. Boonsithi said export business was hurt by the stronger baht, causing losses in shoe and sock manufacturing. The sluggishness cut sales from exports to 20 per cent from as much as 30 per cent over the past few years.

Given the current conditions, Saha forecasts three to four per cent growth instead of the typical 10 per cent.

“Our business growth this year is expected to be the worst in the past 10 years,” Boonsithi said on Monday.

He predicted Thai GDP growth this year

of two to three per cent, far lower than the government’s forecast.

Boonsithi said Saha will pause investment in operations and instead continue expanding in areas such as retail and education.

Saha Pathana Inter Holdings, the investment company under Saha Group, has set aside 300 million baht to develop a community mall in Chon Buri province.

The construction is divided into two phases, with the first concentrating on the development of a Japanese-style community mall to open in October. The second phase, a condo development, will be completed by 2015. BANGKOK POST

Vietnam to intervene on dollar rates Vietnam looks set to ratchet up intervention in the foreignexchange market to stem losses in the dong and promote greater use of the currency.

The State Bank of Vietnam is considering lowering the maximum interest rate that lenders can offer on dollar deposits to curb demand for the US currency, Nguyen Thu Ha, deputy head of monetary policy at the central bank, said in a telephone interview in Hanoi yesterday. She said no timeframe has been set.

The cap will be cut “sharply”, news website VnExpress said yesterday, citing central bank

governor Nguyen Van Binh.

The move comes as Asian policy makers seek to temper declines in their currencies amid concern a reduction in US monetary easing will spur capital outflows, putting pressure on inflation as exchange rates weaken.

The State Bank intervened “with reasonable volume” to slow a slide in the dong fuelled by increasing dollar demand from importers, according to a statement on Monday. The local currency tested the upper limit in which it’s allowed to trade for a second day.

“This would show the State

Bank is concerned about dong deposit rates and trying to make dollars less attractive to encourage people to shift into dong,” said Fiachra MacCana, managing director of Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corp.

This would show the State Bank is concerned about dong deposit rates “That could make dong deposits relatively more attractive and ease pressure on the dong without the State Bank having to actually adjust the reference rate.”

The central bank caps rates on dollar deposits for individuals at two per cent, compared with 7.5 per cent for the dong.

The government has embarked on an “anti-dollarisation” program to reduce its use and cut black market trading.

The dong was little changed at 21,036 per dollar as of 1:26pm in Hanoi yesterday, matching the low reached on six of the past seven trading days, Bloomberg data shows. That’s 0.99 per cent weaker than the central bank’s reference rate of 20,828, which has remained unchanged since December 26, 2011. BLOOMBERG

9

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Markets Business

Gem shop owner explains success Inside Business Hor Kimsay

W

HILE many know that failure can be an invaluable experience in business ventures, not all absorb the theory in practice.

Dy Ly, however, a gem shop owner from Pailin province in western Cambodia, has had no choice; he’s too familiar with setbacks.

Starting a business because he loved gem products, Ly became a trader in the early 1990s, with gold capital weighing 16 ounces.

His paltry knowledge of the industry made him fail from the start. He lost all his money after another trader swindled him in a deal that involved bogus gems.

“When we lost, there was nothing to blame the winner for, because all was managed by us,” Ly, a 56-year-old father of three, said.

“I realised that loving something isn’t enough in the business, you need technical knowledge. Know how and experience in the sector is the core of success.”

Dy Ly, a gem shop owner from Pailin province, speaks to the Post on Sunday in Phnom Penh. hong minea

Ly and his wife were left with nothing after the tainted deal. His business was closed and his money was gone.

He tried a different tact.

In 1997, Ly decided to earn his income in the gem industry by extracting precious

stones from the field rather than being a trader.

“I [worked] as a gem extractor for a few years,” Ly said. He added that after toiling in the fields, his income gradually increased and he saved up enough

profit to open a gem processing shop. A trader and business owner once again, Ly dwelled on what happened the first time.

He reminded himself to try harder, to strengthen his knowledge of the industry.

“When I first established the new shop, I was thinking all the time, wherever I went I need to be highly careful when I buy raw gems to be processed,” he said.

The extra work has led to extra hours. Getting to bed late has become Ly’s habit.

He won’t accept a gem until he’s assured of its sound quality.

“When I buy gems at a high price, I am very scared, in case the quality is not suitable for the price,” he said.

“Moreover, I need to consider what to do with it and how to process this valued product.”

Despite the fact that good internal management is necessary to grow a business, external factors such as market demand and government support are major factors influencing Ly’s business.

According to Ly, poor living conditions in Cambodia during the late 1990s amounted to a challenging business climate.

“At that time, many of us [were] just worried about daily food,” Ly said.

“People were thinking about the basics, not the decorations.”

However, the market and the perception of locals who value gems have improved,

especially in the last five or six years.

Ly said Cambodia’s political stability and a lot of promotion campaigns by the Ministry of Commerce to increase awareness of the product’s value have contributed to boost market demand.

Now, demand for gems is expanding beyond the local market and orders are coming

Know how and experience in the sector is the core of success. in from abroad.

“Clients from ASEAN countries and China are visiting our shop very often to order our product,” Ly said, adding that China is his biggest market.

Ly’s business is growing apace.

His shop is one of the two biggest gem shops in Pailin.

After more than 10 years in the business, Ly says he is satisfied with what he has and who he is now because his business helps his family to live in good conditions and enjoy a modern life.

“Honesty and struggle is the core of prosperity,” Ly said.

“Being trustworthy and always faithful with business partners makes my business grow.”

Thai rice committee seeks pledge price ceiling cut Phusadee Arunmas

THAILAND’S National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC) was expected to propose that the cabinet cut the paddy pledging ceiling price to no more than 13,500 baht ($437.9) a tonne and not accept all grain under the scheme.

The move came after the NRPC on Monday accepted the government suffered losses of 136 billion baht in the first year of the rice program.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, who acts as chairman of the NRPC, said the committee resolved that the maximum pledging price should be cut to between 12,000 and

13,500 baht a tonne from 15,000 baht to ease the loss burden and maintain fiscal discipline as the Finance Ministry has set a ceiling for losses from the ricepledging scheme at 70 to 100 billion baht annually.

There are three proposals for the price reduction, he said: To cut the pledge price by 15 to 20 per cent from the present level, to add a 25 per cent profit margin from the rice cultivation cost estimated by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, and to add a 10 per cent premium to the market price.

The NRPC also decided that not all grain for pledging should be accepted.

Of paddy yield estimated at 26-27 million tonnes in the next harvest, the government is expected to receive 14 to 15 million tonnes for pledging. The new pledging condition will apply from the next harvesting season if the cabinet gives its approval.

PM’s Office Minister Varathep Rattanakorn said the NRPC accepted the government posted losses of 136 billion baht from its rice scheme during the program’s first year as reported by a Finance Ministry panel.

The committee has yet to endorse the Finance Ministry panel’s loss figures reported for the first crop of the second year after the Commerce Ministry

insisted the panel failed to include 2.5 million tonnes of additional stockpiled pledged rice in its calculation.

This prompted the NRPC’s order for authorities to verify whether the stockpiled rice exists, Varathep said.

He said the NRPC approved the firstyear figure proposed by the Finance Ministry’s subcommittee that was asked to assess the accounts of the government’s pledging scheme.

The loss of 136 billion baht was based on all expenses in the rice-pledging scheme in its first year, the 2011/2012 crop year, including management costs, interest and the estimated value of remaining rice stocks.

The calculated price was based on the lowest market price on the accounting closing date of January 31.

In the scheme’s first year, the government spent 352 billion baht on 21.7 million tonnes of rice.

The value of the remaining rice stocks is estimated at 156 billion baht, while the sales of pledged rice are estimated at around 59.2 billion baht. The total losses are therefore 136 billion baht.

The NRPC has not concluded on the losses for the second year, the 2012/2013 crop season, despite the fact that the Finance Ministry’s panel reported the first crop losses for the second year at 84 billion baht. BANGKOK POST

Thai and Cambodian trade fair on the road

Bad crops blamed on climate change

Rann Reuy

Farmers in Myanmar point to Cyclone Nargis, which hit the delta in May 2008, as the point at which their calendar went awry.

Since then, erratic weather patterns have made planting and harvesting rice perilous, especially for farmers who depend on rainfall. Too little early in the monsoon season – May to October – or too much at harvest time can destroy a crop.

“Farmers in the delta have yet to recover from the cyclone,” rice expert U Tun Win said, adding that they have had little or no external assistance to cope with erratic weather patterns since then. Farmers say rains have been up to a month late every year since 2010 and that they have had to bump forward

In a joint effort to promote trade ties, government officials in Cambodia and Thailand have organised the first “Caravan Fair” in which producers within the neighbouring countries will showcase their products to one another.

The Cambodia-Thailand Caravan Fair 2013, a travelling event starting on June 25 and ending on July 5, is the first such set-up between the two countries and is an initiative from the Joint Border Committee of Cambodia and Thailand.

Jiranan Wongmongkol, Director of the Foreign Trade Promotion office at the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, said products including clothes,

cosmetics, food and home appliances would be promoted.

“During the exhibition, the price of goods are cheaper,” she said, adding that the caravan fair would travel to Pursat from June 29 to July 1, and Battambang from July 3 to July 5.

Kep Vutha, Chief of the Trade Exhibition Office at the Trade Promotion Department, said that while the fair was a joint initiative, the majority of the work was done on the Thai side, including numbers of booths and participating companies.

“I think there won’t be many Cambodia producers at the fair for this year because it came in a short time,” he said, adding that “next year; I hope more Cambodians will participate in the fair”.

Myat May Zin

planting from the second week of May to mid June.

Besides delayed planning, they are also seeing heavy rains just before or during harvest, which can destroy a season’s crop. Farmers in the Ayeyarwady Region have been the hardest hit. Some say they can

monsoon season as the main threat, especially for fields lacking drainage systems. Flooding is breaking embankments around fields and ruining crops, he said.

U Ye Min Aung, general secretary of Myanmar Rice Federation, said there is an urgent

Just look out the window from Naypyidaw. There are no forests left on the Bago mountain range adjust to later planting, but once the paddy has been transplanted to fields they cannot prevent its destruction by heavy rains.

Farmer U Sein Win from the region’s Pantanaw township identified heavy rains late in the

need for an insurance fund to protect farmers against lost harvests, natural disasters and erratic weather patterns. “We need credit insurance and crop insurance,” he said, adding that insurance will lessen the risk banks face when lending to

farmers or specialised rice companies.

A credit insurance system will also allow the development of financial institutions, local microfinance institutions and other insurance businesses necessary to develop the agricultural sector, U Ye Min said.

U Tun Win linked flooding to deforestation and a build up of silt in rivers, streams and lakes.

The forestry department is “brave” to claim that 40 per cent of Myanmar remains forested, he said. “Just look out the window from Naypyidaw. There are no forests left on the Bago mountain range,” he said.

Financial support for farmers is insufficient, he said, adding that loans will drive farmers deeper into debt if the underlying causes of the crisis are not addressed. THE MYANMAR TIMES

10

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Business

In brief Rating agency lowers grade for Venezuela

STANDARD & Poor’s cut Venezuela’s credit rating one notch to “B” on Monday citing the first post-Hugo Chavez government’s lack of action on the deteriorating economy.

The downgrade “reflects the government’s diminishing ability to implement measures to reverse declining GDP growth, rising inflation, and weakening external liquidity in the context of growing political disagreements within the administration,” Sebastian Briozzo, an S&P analyst, said in a statement. afp

IMF advice unheeded

by Iceland’s new PM

ICELAND’S new Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson said on Monday that he would ignore the International Monetary Fund’s criticism of his government’s plans to reduce household debt following the country’s economic collapse.

Gunnlaugsson was referring to an assessment published by the IMF on Friday after carrying out a mission to the North Atlantic island. AFP

Bidding war opens up for South Korea planes

SOUTH Korea formally opened bidding yesterday on a $7.3 billion deal to provide 60 advanced fighter planes, with three aviation giants vying for what is the Asian nation’s largest defence contract to date. US companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin and the European aerospace consortium EADS are in the running and all have prefaced their bids with various sweeteners to try and edge out their rivals. AFP

So sorry for that, says Norway budget airline

NORWEGIAN Air Shuttle, Europe’s third-largest budget airline, apologised Monday for refusing passengers food, water and even blankets on its recently launched long-haul flights to New York and Bangkok.

Only a handful of budget airlines operate long-haul routes and passengers are sometimes surprised to find out that they have to pay for services other carriers offer free of charge. Norwegian will improve its communication with customers, a spokesman said. afp

Airline easyJet intends to make several buys

BRITISH no-frills airline easyJet on Tuesday announced a deal to purchase 135 Airbus singleaisle A320 passenger planes, including 100 new generation neo aircraft for $11.9 billion (€8.9 billion), after agreeing to sizeable discounts. EasyJet, issuing a statement amid the Paris Air Show where European aircraft maker Airbus is battling for orders with US rival Boeing, said that is has secured an option to buy an additional 100 A320neo planes. afp

EU car sales hit 20-year low Mathieu Rosemain

E

UROPEAN Union car sales in May fell to a 20-year low as rising joblessness caused by a recession in the euro region contributed to falling demand at PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault SA and General Motors Co. Registrations in the 27-member EU dropped 5.9 per cent to 1.04 million vehicles from 1.11 million cars a year earlier, reaching the lowest level for the month since 1993, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said yesterday in a statement.

The drop contrasts with 1.7 per cent growth in April that was the first gain in the market in 19 months. Including figures from Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, sales in May fell 5.9 per cent to 1.08 million cars.

The unemployment rate reached a record 12.2 per cent in April in the 17 countries using the euro, and manufacturing output in the area contracted in May, extending a decline to almost two years. Auto-industry executives are forecasting that the European car market will shrink a sixth consecutive year in 2013, with a possible recovery starting by the final quarter.

“Nobody’s buying cars,” and there’s “no reason to be optimistic”, as the sales increase the previous month was because of a calendar effect, Jens Schattner, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd, said before the ACEA released figures.

European sales by Paris-based Peugeot, the region’s second-biggest carmaker, fell 13 per cent in May. Registrations in the region dropped 10 per cent

Registrations in the 27-member EU dropped 5.9 per cent to 1.04 million vehicles from 1.11 million cars a year earlier. bloomberg

at Renault, based in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, and 11 per cent at GM as well as at Turin, Italy-based Fiat SpA. The euro region’s recession, the longest since the common currency was introduced in 1999, deepened in the first three months of the year as investment and exports plunged. The European Central Bank widened its forecast of a full-year drop in the area’s gross domestic product on June 6..

Deliveries in Western Europe, which excludes countries that have joined the EU since mid-2004, fell 5.7 per cent to 1.02 million vehicles in May. Five-month Europewide sales dropped 6.8 per cent

to 5.26 million units, with demand in the EU declining at the same rate to 5.07 million cars.

Dealers in Germany cut car prices by an average 11.9 per cent last month, versus 11.6 per cent a year earlier, according to a trade magazine. GM’s Opel brand deepened its average discounting to 15.2 per cent of the list price from 12 pe cent a year earlier and Fiat offered price cuts of 13.5 per cent versus 12 per cent in the 2012 period. Peugeot, Citroen and Renault’s combined average price cut in Germany was 13.3 per cent in May, the magazine said.

Daimler AG’s chief executive officer, Dieter Zetsche, said on June 12 that the

European car market is “bottoming out” and a “slight recovery” is possible in the region in the second half of the year.

The Peugeot brand’s Europewide sales fell 12 per cent in May, while the Citroen division’s dropped 15 per cent. Peugeot said on May 22 that demand for new vehicles in the region has started to stabilize at a “very low level”. Maxime Picat, head of the Peugeot brand, reiterated a forecast that industry sales in Europe will fall 5 per cent 2013. The company plans to shut a car factory near Paris and is in talks with unions on improving work efficiency.

GM’s European sales drop last month was propelled by a 23 per cent plunge at the Chevrolet brand, while Opel and its UK sister division Vauxhall posted an 8.4 per cent decline. Detroit-based GM, seeking to restore profit in Europe after accumulating $18 billion in losses in the region since 1999, is reorganising in response to the car-market drop with plans to shutter a plant in Germany and freeze pay for remaining workers through 2015.

Europewide sales by Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford Motor Co fell 0.5 per cent in May. The manufacturer, which is forecasting a combined loss of $3 billion in Europe for last year and 2013, said this week that it’s counting on new models such as the EcoSport compact sport-utility vehicle to help reduce reliance on low-margin sales to rental-car companies in the region.

Volkswagen AG, Europe’s biggest carmaker, posted a 2.8 per cent decline in sales in the region last month, led by a 7 per cent drop at its namesake brand.

The Audi division, the world’s secondlargest maker of luxury vehicles, sold 3.9 per cent fewer cars. BLOOMBERG

China’s dip in FDI Apple exec offers defence growth continues of e-book pricing policies Zhou Kin

FOREIGN direct investment in China rose in May by the least in four months, a sign of concern that growth is slowing in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Inbound non-financial investment increased 0.3 per cent from a year earlier to $9.26 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said today in a statement in Beijing, after a 0.4 per cent gain in April. China’s outbound investment rose 20 per cent in the first five months of the year to $34.3 billion, compared with a 27.4 per cent pace in January-April.

The report follows data indicating capital inflows slowed last month while growth decelerated in exports, industrial production and lending. Confidence is fading in an economic rebound this quarter, with investment banks from Morgan Stanley to Barclays Plc cutting their 2013 expansion forecasts.

“Growth in developed markets is picking up while China’s growth is slowing down, and China is no longer an ideal place for low-value-added manufacturing,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, said before the release.

South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest smartphone maker, may boost investment by $1 billion in Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province, the state-run Dau Tu

newspaper reported last week.

The Chinese government is trying to streamline regulatory procedures for foreign investors to boost inflows as Premier Li Keqiang seeks to pare the government’s role in the economy.

Huang Feng, deputy director of the Commerce Ministry’s FDI department, said June 4 that the ministry’s examinations of projects fell to about 100 in 2012 from more than 3,000 in 2005.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic-planning agency, said March 5 that foreign direct investment may rise about 1.2 per cent to $113

China is no longer an ideal place for low-value-added manufacturing billion this year. Outbound investment was projected to increase 15 percent to $88.7 billion, the agency said in its annual report.

Foreign-invested enterprises contributed half of the country’s exports and imports in 2012, a quarter of industrial output and a fifth of tax revenues, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Data earlier this month showed export growth slumped to a 10-month low in May and imports unexpectedly fell, while new local-currency lending and industrial production trailed estimates. BLOOMBERG

John Biers

A TOP Apple executive downplayed the theory of an e-book price-fixing conspiracy at an antitrust trial on Monday, saying publishers were already moving away from Amazon’s model when Apple launched its iPad. Eddy Cue, an Apple senior vice president, said in his second day of testimony that Apple introduced e-books for the iPad that were not available on Amazon, which was selling many popular e-book titles for $9.99.

“We were making available books immediately that weren’t going to be available for months and at really great prices,” Cue said as he was questioned by Apple attorney Orin Snyder in US federal court in New York.

“We didn’t raise prices for books that weren’t available.”

Cue said that at the time at least four major publishers had delayed books to Amazon or threatened to do so in a practice known as “windowing,” because of dissatisfaction with the pricing model.

Cue’s testimony sought to blunt the US government argument that Apple and major publishers conspired to end Amazon’s pricing scheme and impose a new system with higher prices for electronic books when the iPad was introduced in 2010.

But Cue, in response to questions from US Justice Department lawyer Lawrence Buter-

Eddy Cue, an Apple senior vice president, speaks in February 2011 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. afp

man, acknowledged that some e-book prices did go up.

Cue admitted that the day of the iPad launch, a memoir by the late US senator Edward Kennedy, True Compass, was not windowed and that Apple was selling the book for $14.99 while it retailed on Amazon for $9.99.

“For that book, that’s correct,” Cue said.

Buterman said that only 37 books were windowed, saying this was a relatively small number. Cue countered that “37 could be a huge number if it’s the right books”.

Cue also came in for tough questioning about a December 21, 2009, email updating Apple’s chief at the time, Steve Jobs, in

which he said the publishers were generally pleased with Apple’s stance because it “solves the Amazon issue”.

Buterman asked if “solving” the “Amazon issue” meant the publishers agreed to impose higher prices on other retailers.

But Cue denied this and said he was referring to following the publisher’s demand that Apple not charge $9.99 for bestsellers.

“What I wanted was competitive pricing,” Cue said.

The US Department of Justice has accused Apple of being the “chief ringleader” in a price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. The company denies all charges. AFP

11

the phnom penh post june 19, 2013

Markets Business

Rubber poised for record glut as exporters cut curbs

Chinese carbon to hit market Benjamin Haas

China’s plan to set up markets to trade emissions will make it second only to Europe in efforts to put a price on pumping carbon into the atmosphere. For cities choking on the nation’s smog, expect little relief.

Seven pilot carbon-trading programs are scheduled to start this year, with the first opening today in Shenzhen, followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei.

They are set to regulate 800 million to 1 billion tonnes of emissions by 2015 in the world’s biggest cap-and-trade program after Europe’s.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission will oversee emission exchanges in a country that the World Bank says has 16 of the world’s most-polluted 20 cities. The commission is better known for setting prices than creating open markets, said Stuart Cerne, managing director at Hong Kong-based environmental business consultant Enecore Carbon.

“The NDRC’s measure of success of the pilots is primarily focused on technical aspects of setting up the system, whilst the importance of an active trading environment has not been given as much importance,” Cerne said by telephone. BLOOMBERG

Markets Thailand

Vietnam

Thai Set 50 Index, Jun 17 1100

Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Jun 17 550

1025

500

950

450

875

400

800

350

992.73

Aya Takada and Supunnabul Suwannaki

South Korea

KOSPI Index, Jun 17 2100

R

ubber is headed for the biggest glut on record, prolonging the bear market that began in April, as supply exceeds demand for a third year and Southeast Asian exporters ended curbs on shipments.

The surplus will expand 57 per cent to 490,000 metric tonnes this year, enough to meet US demand for six months, according to RCMA Commodities Asia Group, the Singapore-based company that has traded rubber for nine decades.

Futures in Tokyo, a global benchmark, will drop at least another 4.9 per cent to 225 yen a kilogram ($2,373 a tonne) by the end of December, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Five anticipate 200 yen, a price last seen in 2009.

Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, representing about 70 per cent of supply, failed to agree on new curbs at a meeting last week after reducing exports by 300,000 tonnes in the six months through March. While record global car production signals rising demand for tyres, that won’t end the glut caused by farmers expanding output by 18 per cent in three years after prices more than doubled since the end of 2008.

“There isn’t enough demand out there to absorb the surplus,” said Kazuhiko Saito, the chief analyst at Fujitomi Co in Tokyo who has covered the market for almost a quarter century.

“We’re going to see an influx of rubber

498.88

Philippines

PSEI - Philippine Se Idx, Jun 17 7500

1975

7125

1850

6750

1725

6375

1600

6000

1,900.62

6,518.77

Singapore

Malaysia

FTSE Straits Times Index, Jun 17 4000

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, Jun 17 1800

3500

1700

3000

1600

2500

1500

2000

1400

3,228.30

Hong Kong

China

Hang Seng Index, Jun 17 25000

Rubber sheets hang on a rack for drying in the smoke house at the Thai Hua Rubber Pcl factory in Samnuktong in Thailand’s Rayong province. bloomberg

unless governments intervene as production from Southeast Asia moves into high gear.”

Rubber fell 22 per cent to 236.7 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, or Tocom, this year and is now 56 per cent below the record 535.7 yen reached in February 2011. Lower prices should reduce costs for Bridgestone Corp, Michelin & Cie and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, the biggest tyremakers.

The Standard & Poor’s GSCI gauge of 24 raw materials dropped 2.5 per cent since the start of January and the MSCI All-Country World Index of eq-

uities climbed 7.7 per cent. Treasuries lost 1.2 per cent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.

RCMA Commodities Asia was anticipating a 2013 surplus of 353,000 tonnes in March and increased its estimate because of signs that demand in China, Europe and the US is weakening.

The International Rubber Study Group also may need to increase its forecast for a 179,000-ton glut because consumption is weaker than anticipated, said Lekshmi Nair, a senior economist at the Singapore-based group.

1,773.40 CSI 300 Index, Jun 17 3000

23250

2750

21500

2500

19750

2250

18000

2000

21,200.03

Japan

Nikkei 225, Jun 17 16000

2,418.75

Taiwan

Taiwan Taiex Index, Jun 17 8500

15250

8000

14500

7500

13750

7000

13000

6500

8,011.02

13,007.28

Laos

Laos Composite Index, Jun 17 1500

BLOOMBERG

Indonesia

Jakarta Composite Index, Jun 17 6000

1350

5500

1200

5000

1050

4500

900

4000

1,338.82

International commodities

Cambodian commodities (Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)

Energy Commodity

Units

Price

Change % Change Time(ET)

Crude Oil (WTI)

USD/bbl.

97.63

-0.14

-0.14%

3:35:07

Crude Oil (Brent)

USD/bbl.

105.6

0.13

0.12%

3:34:24

3.9

0.02

0.59%

3:35:01

286.59

0.98

0.34%

3:35:01

NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu RBOB Gasoline

India

USd/gal.

NYMEX Heating Oil

USd/gal.

294.89

-0.14

-0.05%

3:34:57

ICE Gasoil

USD/MT

890.5

-3.75

-0.42%

3:35:06

Agriculture Commodity

Units

Price

Change

% Change

Time(ET)

CBOT Rough Rice

USD/cwt

16.35

0.02

0.12%

2:59:17

CME Lumber

USD/tbf

285.6

0.6

0.21%

22:09:53

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

BSE Sensex 30 Index, Jun 17 21000

Karachi 100 Index, Jun 17 23000

20000

22250

19000

21500

18000

20750

17000

20000

Construction equipment

Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits Average 2760 2280 1860 8100 2080 4220 24000 33600 18200 12400 20800 13100

(%) -1.43 % 3.64 % 3.33 % 1.25 % 4.00 % 5.50 % -40.00 % 1.82 % 7.06 % 3.33 % 15.56 % 0.77 %

Item

Unit

Base

Average

(%)

Steel 12

R/Kg

3000

3100

3.33 %

Cement

R/Sac

19000

19500

2.63 %

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

4,852.92

Pakistan

19,253.10

Australia

22,037.00

New Zealand

S&P/ASX 200 Index, Jun 17 5500

NZX 50 Index, Jun 17 5000

5250

4750

5000

4500

4750

4250

4500

4,814.35

4000

4,462.10

12

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

World India rains cause deadly havoc T

ORRENTIAL rains and flash floods washed away homes and roads in north India, leaving at least 60 people dead and thousands stranded, as the annual monsoon hit the country earlier than normal, officials said yesterday.

Authorities called in military helicopters to try to rescue residents and pilgrims cut off by rising rivers and landslides triggered by more than three days of rain in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials said.

“We are unable to confirm the number of deaths since most of the communication lines have broken down across the state,” the state minister for disaster and relief said.

“But at least 60 people are feared dead and nearly 50,000 are stranded,” Yashpal Arya said.

Among those killed were four members of the same family, who died when their home was hit by a landslide as they slept, in Kasta village near the state capital of Dehradun, local officials said.

Television footage showed bridges, houses and multistorey buildings crashing down and being washed away by the swirling waters. A swollen river

People stand on t a flood damaged road near the River Alaknanda in Chamoli district in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand yesterday.

is seen engulfing a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the tourist hub of Rishikesh.

Rising water levels in some towns have also swept up cars, earthmoving equipment and even a parked helicopter, as a result of the surprise rains which have lashed the state

since Saturday. Roads in many areas have been destroyed, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded on their way to visit shrines in remote areas. Authorities have cancelled pilgrimage trips, fearing further rains and landslides in the state, often referred to as the

“Land of the Gods” because of its many Hindu temples and other sites.

Fresh rains in some districts were hampering rescue efforts, with teams from the national disaster management authority camping in the popular pilgrimage town of Haridwar awaiting

AFP

air lift to the worst-affected districts, officials said.

The state government was also readying food parcels and drinking water to be dropped by helicopters to remote villages.

“The situation is very grim.

The meteorological office has

predicted that the rain will continue for another three days at least,” government official Amit Chandola was quoted by television stations as saying.

The annual monsoon, which India’s farming sector depends on, covers the subcontinent from June to September, usually bringing some flooding.

But the heavy rains arrived early this year, catching many by surprise. The country has received 68 per cent more rain than normal for this time of year, data from the India Meteorological Department shows.

In the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh, at least 10 people were feared dead, while more than 1,500 tourists were stranded, a local official said.

Efforts were under way to try to reopen the major roads to rescue those cut off by the rains, said JM Pathania, a top administrative official of Kinnaur district.

Two hydropower stations in the state that cater to the northern Indian grid have also been shut down.

A few villages close to the border with China have seen unseasonal snowfall, leaving dozens of shepherds and thousands of sheep stranded, a village headman said. AFP

Putin faces isolation on second day of G8 summit RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin faced growing isolation on the second day of a G8 summit yesterday as world leaders lined up to pressure him into toning down his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria was set to dominate the last day of the meeting in a secluded, heavily guarded golf resort in Northern Ireland, with Putin standing firm on his position that forcing out Assad would be disastrous for Syria and the region.

Following a frosty encounter between the Kremlin chief and US President Barack Obama on Monday, G8 leaders sought to use the last day

of talks to find common ground on a transition of power in Syria despite Russia’s stance.

If there is no consensus, it is possible a final G8 statement might be released without Russia’s input and in the name of the G7 rather than the G8, officials indicated.

Such a scenario would further damage Russia’s position on the world stage. But it is something that the Kremlin-controlled media would probably seize upon to portray Putin as standing up to a bullying and imperialistic West, a familiar charge that still plays well for him at home.

Putin, who appeared tense on the first day, has faced a barrage of criticism from Western leaders for supporting Assad, who is trying to crush a twoyear-old uprising in which at least 93,000 people have been killed.

“It’s a clarifying moment to see what kind of commitments the Russians are willing to make in a leading world forum,” a British official said before the leaders met for dinner.

Russia and the United States have agreed to bring together warring sides for a peace conference but their goals are different. Obama wants Assad out while Putin believes it is too dangerous

to remove him at a time when there is no clear transition plan.

It is unclear what Obama could offer Putin as an incentive to change his mind on Syria as there is little he seems to be looking for at the summit.

But it appeared some form of consensus was still possible. An official close to one delegation said the talks over dinner on Monday had gone better than expected and that a joint communique with Russia on Syria now seemed more likely.

A person with direct knowledge of the talks said on condition of anonymity that Putin was constructive and

willing to reach consensus during late Monday talks and no hard words were exchanged between him and Obama.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that the Syrian opposition must not set preconditions for attending the peace conference proposed by Moscow and Washington, suggesting sticking points remained.

Renewed diplomatic tension over Syria stems from last week’s decision by the United States to step up military aid to the rebels, including automatic weapons, light mortars and rocketpropelled grenades. AFP

14

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

World Malaya-era massacre in spotlight

China crackdown

Charges laid over attempt at protest

C

HINESE authorities have formally arrested a man for trying to stage a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protest, his wife said yesterday, signalling an increasing intolerance for dissent.

Police in eastern Jiangsu province arrested Gu Yimin, an odd-job worker, on Friday on “suspicion of inciting subversion of state power�, marking the first time the charge has been used since President Xi Jinping took office in March.

Gu had been held in a detention centre in Changshu city in Jiangsu since early June, his wife said. The centre could not be reached for comment.

Inciting subversion is a charge that in the past was commonly levelled against critics of one-party rule.

Between late March and May, authorities detained 15 anti-graft activists involved in demonstrations calling for government officials to publicly disclose their assets, according to Maya Wang, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. REUTERS

A screen grab from YouTube of Thai monks flying on a private jet.

Monks take wing with bling

T

HE behaviour of Thailand’s Buddhist clergy has been thrust under the spotlight after footage emerged of three monks flying in a private jet, wearing earphones and sunglasses and travelling with a Louis Vuitton luxury bag.

The video, which has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube, has prompted fevered debate in the Buddhistdominated kingdom over monks’ adherence to austere

principles which include living without possessions, beyond a handful of robes.

According to one of the monks, who has since been “reprimanded�, the jet was chartered by a devotee to fly them home to northeast Si Sa Ket from Bangkok after performing duties in November, said Nopparat Benjawattantnun, director of the National Office of Buddhism. “His behaviour – wearing sunglasses and carrying

Coming up on Friday, June 28, The Phnom Penh Post proudly presents

INSURANCE CAMBODIA A special report that reviews what’s available and what’s new in Cambodia for:

w 1-8@4 5:?A>-:/1 w 521 5:?A>-:/1 w (145/81 5:?A>-:/1 w 9<8;E11 41-8@4 -:0 -//501:@ 5:?A>-:/1 <8-:? w ;:?@>A/@5;: -:0 .A?5:1?? 5:?A>-:/1 : @45? 5??A1 C1 /;:0A/@ 5:@1>B51C? C5@4 81-01>? 5: @41 5:?A>-:/1 5:0A?@>E C4-@ @41E ;Ĺ&#x160;1> -:0 C4-@ @41 @>1:0? ->1 5: /;?@ -:0 /;B1>-31 -/>;?? @41 ?<1/@>A9 )1 -8?; 5:@>;0A/1 :1C <8-E1>? 5: @41 9->71@ -:0 1D-95:1 C4-@ @41E 4-B1 @; ;Ĺ&#x160;1> D<1>@? 5: @41 5:?A>-:/1 5:0A?@>E 35B1 @415> ;<5:5;:? -.;A@ .1?@ <>-/@5/1? 5: @41 01B18;<5:3 3;B1>:91:@-8 <;85/1 -:0 Ĺ&#x2039;>1 ?@>A/@A>1 5: -9.;05- <8A? 1D-9<81? ;2 <-E;A@? @4-@ 4-B1 .11: 9-01 5: @41 01B18;<5:3 5:?A>-:/1 5:0A?@>E :;C ?;91.;0E 5: @41 5:?A>-:/1 5:0A?@>E C1 ?4;A80 5:@1>B51C email: stuart.becker@gmail.com

0B1>@5?1 E;A> /;9<-:E .E /;:@-/@5:3 41- ;>;9 -@ .;>;9 /41- <4:;9<1:4<;?@ /;9 ;;75:3 01-085:1 >50-E A:1 WU w >@C;>7 01-085:1 )10:1?0-E A:1 W[ w "A.85/-@5;: 0-@1 >50-E A:1 W] WUVX

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE READ THE POST

a Louis Vuitton handbag â&#x20AC;&#x201C; amounts to an ostentatious display that will provoke criticism from laymen,â&#x20AC;? Nopparat said.

Virood Chaipanna, director of Si Sa Ketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office of Buddhism, named the monk as Luang Pu Nenkham Chattigo, 34, from Wat Pa Khantitham. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yesterday I went to the temple but he was not there.

They said he is in France,â&#x20AC;? Virood said.

Buddhism is Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

state religion and around 95 percent of the population is believed to follow it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the highest percentage in the world.

Figures last year from the National Office of Buddhism showed Thailand had more than 61,000 monks.

Their behaviour frequently falls under the spotlight with media reports uncovering cases of clergy taking drugs, drinking, gambling and visiting prostitutes. AFP

A PETITION was delivered to the British government yesterday demanding an â&#x20AC;&#x153;honourable acceptance of responsibilityâ&#x20AC;? for the massacre of 24 unarmed rubber plantation workers by British troops during the anti-communist insurgency in Malaya in 1948.

The petition, signed by 10,000 people, will be handed to the British high commissioner in Malaysia, Simon Featherstone.

It will demand an apology and a memorial to those killed at Batang Kali and ask for â&#x20AC;&#x153;modest reparationsâ&#x20AC;?.

The case has been compared to that of elderly Kenyans who have been offered nearly $31 million in costs and compensation after being tortured and abused during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s.

High court judges in Britain last year questioned the official record given to parliament â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that the Malaysians were shot when trying to escape in 1948.

Allegations that there was a â&#x20AC;&#x153;deliberate execution of the men and it was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;covered upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; by the Scots Guards and British armyâ&#x20AC;? could â&#x20AC;&#x153;properly be made on the evidence,â&#x20AC;? the judges said. AFP

15

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Technology

Thai tablet scheme draws criticism Amelie Bottollier-Depois and Apilaporn Vechakijp

I

N A rural classroom in the Thai highlands, hill tribe children energetically slide the tips of their fingers over tablet computer screens practising everything from English to mathematics and music.

The disadvantaged students are part of an ambitious scheme by the kingdom to distribute millions of the handheld devices in its schools in a move supporters hope will boost national education standards.

For opponents of the plan, however, it is an expensive gimmick designed to boost the popularity of the ruling party among parents – and the next generation of voters.

At Ban San Kong school in Mae Chan in the northern province of Chiang Rai, 90 children received a tablet computer last year as part of the “One Tablet Per Child” policy that was part of the government’s election campaign in 2011.

Previously the school had only a few desktop computers with limited internet access.

Now, with headphones over their ears for one hour a day during class, the students use the devices for activities including singing English songs, watching cartoons about the life of Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol and playing maths games.

With the school year just beginning, and the new tablet content yet to arrive, they are left to revise their lessons of the previous year as their teacher Siriporn Wichaipanid sits and watches.

She has received no specific training for using the tablets and seems at a bit of a loss.

“I have some knowledge. At home, I use an iPad,” she said.

But “if I don’t understand, I don’t know how to teach the children”.

For the students – mostly from ethnic minority Akha hill tribe communities for whom Thai is not their mother tongue – using the tablets has been a positive experience, according to the school.

“The students cannot speak Thai very well, but they can hear sounds more clearly from the tablets and repeat them,” their teacher from the previous year, Wannawadee Somdang, said.

“Some of them dare not ask questions. It’s easier when they listen to the tablets.”

For now, only two of the 90 students are allowed to take the computers with them after class to use in their homes, which often lack electricity.

“They don’t have wi-fi and it’s not convenient for them to charge the batteries. And, most importantly, their parents have no knowledge about the tablets,” said school principal Uthai Moonmueangkham.

But using devices that would normally be out of reach for the kingdom’s poorest children is progress, even if it is only just one hour a day, he said.

“They have the same opportunities as those in the city,” Uthai said.

Reducing the “education gap” between the urban rich and rural poor is one aim of the project, said Surapol Navamavadhand, an advisor to the minister of information and communication technology.

By the end of 2014, the government plans to distribute handheld computers to 13 million school children at a cost of about $100 each – a total of $1.3 billion – and then

Students use tablets during a lesson at a classroom in the Ban San Kong school in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai on May 27.

replace them every two years.

About 850,000 Chinesemade devices have already been given out, and the government says it will soon launch a tender offer for another batch of about 1.7 million tablets, in what it has described as the world’s largest handout of the devices for education.

Experts warn that the computers offer no guarantee of an increase in education standards.

The tablets are “just another tool” like a pencil, according to Jonghwi Park, an education technology specialist at UNESCO in Bangkok.

“It’s not about what to use, it’s about how to use it,” she

said, and urged governments considering introducing new technology for learning to think hard about whether it will really help them achieve their goals.

Critics of the Thai education system say much more radical changes are needed.

“If you want to deal with the education in Thailand, I can tell you that the whole system must be demolished,” said Somphong Chitradub, an associate professor specialising in child education at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

“Our classrooms are passive, tiring and boring,” he said.

Most Thai children are encouraged to memorise infor-

mation and “lack courage to express opinions”, he added.

As a result, while other Asian nations fared well in the most recent global education survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in 2009, Thailand came about 50th out of 65 countries in the rankings for reading, maths and science.

A mediocre performance compared with other nations that “focus a lot on process of thinking”, admitted Rangsan Maneelek, an advisor to the education ministry.

While the Thai education system places importance on whether the answer is right or wrong, other nations look

AFP

at how students reached their conclusion, he said.

But he added that the tablets would help by enabling students to “surf the world for knowledge”.

And if some people worry about the possibility of children using the computers to look at pornography or play violent video games, others stress the need to prepare students for the digital era.

“For the kids these days, one of the most important capacities . . . for them to live in the 21st century is to know how to integrate those devices into their life,” UNESCO’s Park said.

“Without those skills, they cannot get a job.” AFP

Japanese experts discuss ‘chimeric embryo’ rules Yesterday Japanese experts were set to discuss rules for experiments with animal-human embryos, as scientists seek permission for tests that could see human organs produced inside the growing body of an animal.

Researchers want to introduce a human stem cell into an animal embryo to create a so-called chimeric embryo, which they can implant into an animal’s womb.

The hope is that this stem cell will grow into a fully functioning human organ – a kidney or a liver, for example – as the animal matures.

This would mean when the creature is fully grown, the organ could be harvested from the

animal and used for transplanting into a person in need.

“Experts will study what possibilities this kind of research will generate,” especially with regard to ethics and human dignity, a government official said.

The panel’s recommendation will be sent to a government committee next month, which is expected to begin drafting guidelines shaping the boundaries of Japan’s cutting-edge embryonic research.

Japan currently allows scientists to grow chimeric embryos for two weeks in test tubes, but prohibits them from putting those embryos

into an animal’s womb, the official said.

In the proposed experiment, researchers led

by Tokyo University’s Hiromitsu Nakauchi want

Experts will study what possibilities this kind of research will generate to implant a chimeric embryo made from a fertilised pig egg and a human induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cell into a pig’s womb, he said.

Stem cells are infant cells that can develop into any part of the body.

Until the discovery of iPS cells several years ago, the only way to obtain stem cells was to harvest them from human embryos. This is controversial because it necessitates the destruction of the embryo, a process to which religious conservatives, among others, object.

Pioneering work done in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University, a Nobel laureate in medicine last year, succeeded in generating stem cells from skin tissue.

Like embryonic stem cells, iPS cells are also capable of developing into any cell in the body, but crucially their source material is readily available. AFP

Huawei launches smartphone for high-end users CHINESE telecoms giant Huawei was set to launch a new smartphone yesterday to better compete with high-end rivals like Apple and Samsung overseas, an official from the company said.

Huawei will unveil the Ascend P6 in London in one of its major smartphone launches of the year, Huawei spokesman Roland Sladek said.

The move is “significant” because it marks a global launch held outside Huawei’s home base of China and will be a standalone event, unlike

previous launches at industry trade shows, he said.

The venue for the launch is London’s Roundhouse, Dow Jones Newswires reported, a legendary cultural venue that has previously hosted shows by rock icons such as Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd.

“It’s a very well-designed, very appealing phone – one of the thinnest phones in the world,” Sladek said.

“It’s certainly competing with Apple, but beyond that it’s really looking

for an audience who look for a piece of modern fashion,” he said.

Starting as a provider of telecom network equipment, Huawei has sought to make inroads into mobile devices by selling smartphones under its own brand over the past three years.

The company, founded by a former engineer in the Chinese army, has also found controversy overseas for its traditional line of business.

The US Congress last year warned network equipment supplied by Hua-

wei could be used for spying and called for its exclusion from government contracts and acquisitions.

Huawei has denied those claims and accused the US government of protectionism.

In China’s highly competitive smartphone segment, Huawei held a 10.1 per cent share in the first quarter of this year, higher than Apple’s 6.4 per cent, according to consultancy Analysys International.

South Korea’s Samsung was the market leader for smartphones in

China with 17.3 per cent for the period, its data showed.

“The handset products Huawei launched before were relatively low end and low priced,” Wang Jun of Analysys International said.

“The launch of this higher quality handset is related to Huawei’s own strategy of product excellence,” he said.

“The value of its brand was not well reflected before, when it used low-priced products to grab market share.” AFP

16

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Opinion www.phnompenhpost.com

editorial personnel Publisher Ross Dunkley Editor-in-Chief Alan Parkhouse Managing Editor David Boyle Editor-in-Chief Post Khmer Kay Kimsong Managing Editor Post Khmer Sam Rith Chief of Staff Cheang Sokha Deputy Chief of Staff Chhay Channyda National News Editor Chad Williams Deputy National News Editor Abby Seiff Deputy News Editor Vong Sokheng Group Business Editor May Kunmakara Deputy Business Editor Joe Freeman Property Editor Rupert Winchester Foreign News Editor Dan Besant Sports Editor Dan Riley Pictorial Editor Kara Fox Lifestyle and 7Days Editor Poppy McPherson Deputy Head of Lifestyle Desk Pan Simala Special Projects Officer Stuart Alan Becker Chief sub-editor Michael Philips Sub-editors Emily Geminder, Shane Worrell, Stuart White, Joseph Freeman, Justine Drennan, Joe Curtin, Julius Thiemann, Rosa Ellen, Claire Knox, Daniel de Carteret, Anne Renzenbrink Reporters Meas Sokchea, Mom Kunthear, Khouth Sophak Chakrya, May Titthara, Khuon Leakhana, Kim Yuthana, Roth Meas, Ung Chamroeun, Sen David, Phak Seangly, Rann Reuy, Buth Reaksmey Kongkea, Chhim Sreyneang, Sieam Bunthy, Lieng Sarith Photographers Vireak Mai, Sreng Meng Srun, Heng Chivoan, Pha Lina, Hong Menea Regional Correspondent Roger Mitton Web Editor Leang Phannara Webmasters Seng Sovan, Uong Ratana, Horng Pengly Siem reap bureau

Bureau Chief Peter Olszewski Office Manager Thik Skaline Distribution Manager Seng Sech Reporters Thik Kaliyann, Miranda Glasser Marketing Executive Sophearith Blondeel production & printing

Head of Desktop Publishing Nhim Sokphyrak Desktop Publishing Suon Savatdy, Tep Thoeun Thyda Chum Sokunthy, Yousos Hafisoh, Aim Valinda, Meng

head office

Post Media Co, Ltd. 888, Building F, 8th floor, Phnom Penh Center, Cnr Sothearos & Sihanouk Blvd, Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tel: 023 214 311, 0214 311-017 Fax: 023 214 318

Workers rest in front of sacks with rice at a rice mill in Ratchaburi province in Thailand. The commerce minister has been asked the cost of the rice intervention scheme.

Thai minister needs to come clean on rice deal Comment

siem reap

No 629, Street 6 Dangkum Commune Tel: 063 966 290, Fax: 063 966 590 Chief Executive Officer Chris Dawe sAles department National Sales Director Borom Chea Account Directors Chap Narith Post Khmer Sales Manager Toun Chanreaksmey Classified Ad Manager Lim Bunthoeun circulation & distribution

Circulation Director Sophea Kalvin Heng Circulation Supervisor Heng Sokal Distribution Manager Meas Thy administration

HR Manager Buth Lina Assistants to HR Manager Rithy Someta, Pov Linna Financial Director Heang Tangmeng Chief Accountant Sren Vicheka Treasurers Sok Sophorn, Yon Sovannara, Cheam Sopheak System Administration Seng Nak, Vong Oun TO CONTACT US newsroom@phnompenhpost.com advertising@phnompenhpost.com subscription@phnompenhpost.com webmaster@phnompenhpost.com www.phnompenhpost.com © 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

REUTERS

Atiya Achakulwisut

T

HAILAND’S Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom wouldn’t be able to pass for Angelina Jolie. He obviously does not have those lips or the acting skills.

But if he shared only just one bit of the actress’s proactive attitude, Boonsong wouldn’t have landed in such a career-killing position, on top of a massive, loss-ridden ricepledging scheme, which he can’t explain away.

You see, it’s not the amount of financial losses that is the crux of the matter when it comes to government-sponsored price guarantee programs. Everyone knows they will run at a loss.

The biggest problem in the Thai government’s marquee policy of buying up “every single grain of rice” at prices that are about 30 per cent higher than market, supposedly to boost the country’s income from rice exports and “put more money in the hands of poor farmers”, is the minister’s failure to inform the public about how the project is being implemented, every single step of the way.

His tactic from the start, which was

to treat any release of rice from the government’s stockpile as confidential, was plain wrong.

For a public anxious to know how its money is being spent, the attempt to withhold information will not be read as an act of protecting the state’s interests, but as a cover-up of something unusual.

Indeed, as the minister in charge of the government’s most expensive and crucial policy, Boonsong could have taken a page or two out of the Hollywood actress’s script. In assessing her health risks, Angelina was precise.

In an article she wrote for The New York Times entitled My Medical Choice, Angelina said she had an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.

The minister could have also learned from the actress’s sharp, proactive choice. Angelina wrote that once she knew her numbers, she decided to minimise the risk and opted for a preventive double mastectomy.

Not only has Boonsong been imprecise about his numbers – whether the financial loss amounts to 260 billion baht (US$8.4 billion), as claimed by a Finance Ministry accounting committee, or 130 billion baht as asserted by another minister, Varathep Ratanakorn – but he has also offered a very lame reason for

his project-monitoring failure. To tell the public the project is still running and that the loss will not be known for at least another few years, when everybody knows the huge pile of rice he is sitting on is decaying and losing value every day, is irresponsible.

Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na- Ranong floated the idea of cutting the guarantee prices next season to curb the losses. But what is the point of considering that measure when the government does not know how much it is losing exactly, why, and how to rectify the situation?

In fact, the government or Boonsong should have known. In an oped article written for the Wall Street Journal in October 2012, one year after the ambitious rice-pledging scheme was launched, Boonsong laid out rosy prospects for Thai rice in the global market.

He predicted that by 2013, Thailand’s competitors such as India and Vietnam will be depleting their excess stockpiles of rice.

“If Thailand can succeed in preserving the superior pricing of its jasmine rice and preserve its market share over that period, the scheme will bring in substantially higher export revenue in future years. This will then be the time when the government will recoup its investment (and possibly make a profit) by grad-

ually releasing its stockpiles into the world market,” Boonsong wrote.

According to the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, India and Vietnam are expected to ship even larger amounts of rice exports this year than previously forecast. What depletion, Boonsong?

Rice can be grown every year. Did you know that?

In the same article, entitled In Defence of Bangkok’s Rice Subsidies, Boonsong also sketched out a dream of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar forming a rice cartel that would be capable of manipulating rice prices in world markets.

“If this bloc succeeds, Thailand’s farmers will reap the benefits of higher prices,” he said. But we know well that the rice bloc will never happen as Vietnam is thanking the Thai rice-pledging program for allowing it to surpass us as one of the world’s top rice exporters.

He also said back then the government has signed contracts to sell as much as 8.38 million tonnes of rice which should earn 240-250 billion baht for the country.

Last week, he said the income stood at 120 billion baht. If Angelina were in charge of the program, she would have cut her losses by now.

Atiya Achakulwisut is Deputy Editor of the Bangkok Post.

17

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Lifestyle Made in SE Asia: films champion local talent Bennett Murray

F

OREIGN TV stations might have the money to commission documentary stories about the wonders and heartaches of Southeast Asia – but it’s the locals who have the skill and ability to tell them.

That was the realisation that led to the creation of a regionwide festival which arrives in Phnom Penh today.

Filmmakers from across the region, including two from Cambodia, will have their documentaries screened at cultural centre Meta House on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Showing 11 films from five Southeast Asia countries, the screenings will show highlights from the ChopShots Film Festival Southeast Asian Best Shorts Competition that was held in Jakarta last year, which only featured documentaries produced in the region.

Marc Eberle, festival curator and filmmaker, said that international broadcasters prefer documentaries shot by filmmakers who are native to the filming locations.

“The Western broadcasters, who have all the money to pro-

Nico Mesterharm (second from left) and Mark Eberle (centre), with the team of 25 Frames to Move. supplied

duce these films, they are not interested in foreigners like me telling the stories in a ‘colonial’ fashion,” he said.

“They want the stories from the local guys.”

The festival was organised

by DocNet, a regional network of documentary training initiatives that includes Meta House.

Coordinated by the GoetheInstitut and funded by the European Union, DocNet aims to

provide both training and exhibitions for local documentary makers.

As part of its participation in DocNet, Meta House assisted the production of Cambodia’s two entries to the festival: 25 Frames to Move, which follows the production of the Kingdom’s first animation films in Battambang, and Two Girls Against the Rain, which tells the story of

a lesbian couple from Takeo.

In Phnom Penh, the other screened films include The Hills are Alive, the competition winner that explored the lives of an Indonesian family living near a volcano.

“It is crucial to watch documentary films, especially in countries where they are not shown,” said Nico Mesterharm.

As the scene in the region

develops, valuable cultural and political discussions will follow, said Eberle.

“Documentaries allow for national understanding and debates.”

Mai Lan Thai, DocNet project coordinator, said the region lends itself well to the genre.

“Southeast Asia is such a rich region in terms of history, but also in terms of the changes that are happening right now,” said Mai Lan in an interview from Hanoi.

“Despite the ASEAN alliance, neighbouring countries really don’t know much about each other. But with documentaries, people can know about other countries.”

For Sao Sopheak, whose short documentary Two Girls Against the Rain, will be screened on all three days, what is of real importance is that locals tell the stories themselves.

“Cambodians can tell the story from inside, while foreigners tell the story with the camera on the outside,” said Sopheak, whose film tells the story of a lesbian couple in Takeo.

“But we can show ourselves from our country and our hearts.”

Why the World Cup cannot save Brazil FOR soccer fans flocking to Confederations Cup matches in Brazil’s tropical northeast next week, getting tickets to the stadium should be simple – but two in three will not find accommodations in the host city Recife.

Officials are sending visitors as far as 120 kilometres inland to spend the night.

The tournament starting on Saturday, a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup, will lay bare for visitors what may surprise many: despite gor-

geous beaches, a tempting climate and legendary hospitality, Brazil’s tourism industry pales next to its neighbours.

How has Brazil – blessed with 7,500 kilometres of sunny coastline, the fame of Rio de Janeiro and the wonders of the Amazon – managed to blow such an open shot on goal?

A foreign fan heading to a soccer match in Brazil next week may find one of the answers right away – at the hotel counter.

Even in Recife’s more expensive

hotels, introducing oneself in English can prompt blank stares and embarrassed grins. In one case, the concierge at a hotel – FIFA-certified accommodation for the World Cup – went silent after such an introduction.

“Hello, my name is?” he then asked, furrowing his brow.

Due to Brazil’s size, isolation and uneven education, most residents have little or no contact with a second language.

Brazil’s English proficiency ranked

in the bottom 15 per cent of a global study by teaching company Education First.

Resorts, restaurants and tourism outfits therefore pay – and charge – a hefty premium for bilingual service.

“If you can afford English lessons, you’re not going to work the front desk of a hotel,” said Gunde Schneider, a Brazilian of German descent with a bed-and-breakfast in nearby Gravata.

“More likely, you’re the owner of the hotel.” REUTERS

Special Monsoon Subscription Promotion Subscribe to success and receive gift vouchers to enjoy at your nearest BB World, Pizza World, and T&C Cafe.

Promotion ends on July 10th, 2013 Subscription period

Post Khmer

Post English

Gift

Six months

$35

$90

$5 Voucher

One year

$60

$175

$10 Voucher

Subscribe today ! please contact: Subscription 017 433 944, 017 799 942

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE READ THE POST

In brief Saatchi accepts caution for assault on Nigella

CHARLES Saatchi was on Monday cautioned for assault after a police investigation was sparked by the emergence of pictures showing him repeatedly grabbing his wife by the throat in a restaurant. The multimillionaire art collector had sought to downplay the images showing him grabbing Nigella Lawson around the neck, claiming that he was “attempting to emphasise my point”. However, the Metropolitan police said last night that a 70-year-old man voluntarily attended a central London police station in the afternoon and accepted a caution for assault after an investigation. the guardian

Mumford bassist on the mend after surgery

BRITISH folk band Mumford & Sons’ bassist Ted Dwane posted a message on Monday saying he was recovering after brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Dwane posted a picture of himself with a shaved head on the band’s official website with the caption, “Bear with a sore head! Thanks so much for all the well wishing, it seems to be working! I’m home.” The London band was forced to cancel the final three US dates of its “Summer Stampede” tour last week. reuters

Technology that traced Bin Laden used in cakes

THE technology used to track the most elusive terrorist in history is at the centre of another top mission to help to enhance the life of cakes in British bakeries. Strathclyde University has been awarded a grant to examine how the imaging used on the helicopters in Bin Laden’s Pakistan compound in 2011 might be used to perfect cupcakes, Victoria sponges and a host of other staples of the British diet. They are trying to plot the deterioration of a cake and formulate a recipe with the best fat, sugar and liquid content. the guardian

18

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Health

We’re not all female or male: Australian court Madeleine Coorey

A

LANDMARK ruling won by an Australian gender trailblazer which finds that sex does not just mean male or female could have broader implications as society becomes more accepting of diversity, experts say.

Norrie, who does not identify as either male or female, last month won a bid to have a new gender category on the register of births, deaths and marriages in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state.

“I’m very happy that I have been told in no uncertain terms that what sex you are is not just male or female necessarily,” Norrie, who uses only a first name, told AFP. Born as a male, Norrie underwent gender reassignment surgery in 1989 to become a woman. However, the surgery failed to resolve Scotland-born Norrie’s ambiguity about sexual identity.

The sexual equality campaigner made global headlines in February 2010 when an application to New South Wales’s department of Births, Deaths and Marriages accepted that “sex non-specific” could be accepted for Norrie’s records.

But soon afterwards, the office revoked its decision, saying the certificate was invalid and had been issued in error. At the time, Norrie said the decision left her feeling “socially assassinated”.

“There was a lot of support for fighting for it,” the 52year-old recalled.

So began a series of appeals, ending with a decision last month in the New South

Australian trailblazer Norrie, who does not identify as male or female, has won a landmark ruling that could have broader implications.

Wales Court of Appeal which ruled that sex should not be limited to male or female, though it stopped short of defining other categories.

“There are a few people, not many, who are like Norrie and don’t want male or female on their birth certificate,” said Norrie’s lawyer, Emily Christie.

“She feels that every time she has to sign a form, every time she has got to fill something out, and it says ‘What’s your sex?’ and it only has male or female, she feels that she is being forced to live a lie.”

Christie said that while Norrie’s passport has had an ‘X’ instead of male or female, this only goes so far, as a birth certificate creates a person’s identity under a range of different laws.

“If Births, Deaths and Marriages recognises that you can be something other than male and female then she can be something other than male and female potentially under other legislation,” Christie explained.

“This is the first time that we have actually had a court case say that just the ordi-

nary meaning of sex, in this legislation, in our current day and age given our understanding of diversity in the community and how people want to be identified, can mean more than just male and female and so should recognise Norrie.”

The case has now been sent back to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal to determine what the description for Norrie will be, and whether a term such as “non-specific” is acceptable.

Within two weeks of the Norrie decision, the Austra-

afp

lian government had released new guidelines stating that individuals should be given the option of selecting “male”, “female” or “indeterminate, intersex, or unspecified” on their Australian government documents.

“Transgender and intersex people in Australia face many issues trying to ensure the gender status on their personal records matches the gender they live and how they are recognised by the community,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in announcing the new guidelines. afp

Men are to blame for menopause, study says MEN and their preference for younger female mates may have led to the phenomenon of menopause in women, according to a controversial study by Canadian researchers published this week.

“If women were reproducing all along, and there were no preference against older women, women would be reproducing like men are for their whole lives,” said evolutionary geneticist Rama Singh, a professor at McMaster University.

Singh said the conventional “grandmother theory”, which holds that older women grow infertile so that they can assist the survival of their kin by helping to raise their children’s offspring, did not make sense to him.

Instead of age leading to infertility, Singh theorised that the dwindling pool of male mates for older women – because many older men seek to mate with younger women – led to a lack of reproduction that gave rise to menopause.

The study was published on Thursday in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLOS Computational Biology.

But while the assertion raised many eyebrows, not all experts are convinced by Singh, who questioned why menopause appears to be mainly a human phenomenon.

“I cannot agree with the theory,” Steven Goldstein, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at New York University School of Medicine, said.

“There are other primates who experience menopause, although life expectancy after menopause is extremely limited,” said Goldstein, who was not involved in the research. afp

Eyeball-licking making Japanese teens sick Stuart Heritage

Well eye never: Japanese women look at a street performer in Tokyo. A new fetish called oculolinctus has led to a rise in infections among the country’s adolescents. reuters

OCULOLINCTUS, an eye-licking fetish, is currently sweeping across the schools of Japan like, well, like a great big dirty bacteria-coated tongue sweeping across a horrific number of adolescent eyeballs.

Sometimes known as “worming” – which somehow makes the whole thing worse – oculolinctus is being blamed for a significant rise in Japanese cases of conjunctivitis and eye chlamydia, which is actually a thing. It’s apparently seen as a new second-base – the thing you graduate to when kissing gets boring.

The craze is thought to stem from a music video by Japanese emo band Born (there’s a chance that the eyeball-licking scene was only included to distract everyone from the fact that the song sounds like it belongs on a menu screen for an EA Sports game about

snowboarding from a decade ago, but at this point that’s just speculation).

Tumblr, inevitably, is filling up with drawings and unnecessarily close-up photographs of the act, and YouTube is no stranger either.

One theory about why it has taken off so spectacularly is down to the sheer number of

I still like to ask guys to lick my eyeballs . . . it turns me on nerve endings in the cornea.

The eyeballs are incredibly sensitive because they need to detect grit and other small particles, and the sensation of oculolinctus is supposedly akin to that of toe sucking.

Luckily, one student from the US Virgin Islands with an oculolinctus fetish has explained: “My boyfriend started licking my eyeballs

years ago and I just loved it. I’m not with him any more but I still like to ask guys to lick my eyeballs . . . it turns me on.”

However, the dangers of oculolinctus are very real.

As well as spreading pinkeye like nobody’s business, there’s also a risk of corneal scratching, which can lead to ulcers and blindness. Plus, there’s a strong chance that you’ll have to go to school the next day in an eye patch.

At least with lovebites you could just throw on a poloneck jumper and be done with it.

Hopefully oculolinctus won’t catch on elsewhere and will remain one of those peculiarly Japanese fads such as bagelheading (injecting saline into your forehead until it swells out of all proportion, yaeba (undergoing dental surgery to give you crooked teeth) and shippo (wearing a neurologically controlled tail that reveals your moods). THE GUARDIAN

19

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 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

Flighs

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 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

PHNOM PENH - HANOI 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

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

PHNOM PENH - INCHEON 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

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

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

1 Monday

5J - CEBU Airways.

INCHEON - PHNOM PENH

KE 690

FM 833

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

CZ 324

VN 840

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

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

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

Myanmar Airways International Tel: 023 220909.Siem Reap: No. 50,Sivatha Blvd.Tel: 063 964388 #90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, www.jetstar.com 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

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

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

PHNOM PENH -TAIPEI BR 266

Daily

TAIPEI - PHNOM PENH 12:45

17:05

PHNOM PENH - VIENTIANE

BR 265

Daily

VIENTIANE - PHNOM PENH

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

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 RCL (12calls/moth)

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

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

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

MEARSK (MCC) (4 calls/moth)

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

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 #90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Tel 023 881 178 | Fax 023 886 677 | www.maiair.com

The Parthenon sits at the top of Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece. The city is a haven for both culture vultures and street food fans. bloomberg

Athens’ top street food and stalls Despina Trivolis

B

EFORE we get down to the business of discussing the best Athens street food, a disclaimer: Athens is at a disadvantage when it comes to streetside eats.

For one thing, a lot of venues – souvlaki joints, pizza parlours and even offal soup places – are open all night, some even 24/7; they are just not serving on the street, though. Whatever the reason, there are really just two main street foods in Athens: koulouri (sesame bread) which is eaten early in the morning or really, really late at night, and old-fashioned hot dogs, for people who have had a bit to drink and are looking for something greasy and filling.

Greeks are not a nation of breakfast eaters, so koulouri, a plain, circular bread topped with sesame seeds, tends to be the morning fare for most people. There is something seriously sweet and fresh about these bread rings, which are sold on most street corners in downtown Athens. The bread must be eaten fresh, so it is best consumed early in the morning or at places that have high turnover. In recent years, koulouri has evolved similarly to bagels in the US, with new flavours in addition to the traditional plain variety. There is now koulouri with cheese (usually feta), koulouri with chocolate (not our personal favourite), koulouri with cream cheese (an interesting option but not for the summer months, as it tends to melt) and, our absolute favourite, koulouri stuffed with black or green olives.

Though there are numerous

koulouri vendors in Athens, three in particular stand out for us. Our preferred stand usually runs out before 2pm, thanks to its central location opposite the old Church of Agii Theodori in downtown Athens, at the intersection of Dragatsaniou and Evripidou, an area home to a number of banks and public services.

Our two favourite vromiko – a colloquial term for food trucks – are both located in downtown Athens and serve hot dogs and sandwiches until the early hours. We’re also quite fond of two other hot dog trucks, the first of which goes by the name Johnie Hot Dog (136 Andrea Syngrou). This bright red truck is parked on busy Syngrou Avenue outside Panteion University, the city’s university for social and political sciences. Almost a gourmet hot dog truck, it offers four types of sausage and a number of “exotic” extras, such as jalapeños. Our favourite is the Athenian version of a corn dog, a frankfurter sausage with cheddar, mayo and sweetcorn.

The infamous Meraklis food truck is stationed at the edge of the Phaleron neighbourhood, close to both the marina and the tram lines. Meraklis specialises in what one could call the down-and-dirty version of a giant charcuterie sandwich, which is a veritable protein fest – salami, mortadella, ham, smoked bacon, turkey and gouda cheese (you can even opt for blue cheese for that extra kick), all in the same sandwich. This is a meat-lovers’ sandwich for those who are either super-hungry, excessively drunk or, as is usually the case, both. bloomberg

20

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Entertainment NOW SHOWING

Jazz @ The Village

legend cinema

Sydney vocalist and composer Briana Cowlishaw joins forces with pianist and composer Gavin Ahearn for tonight's show at the Village.

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.

9:30am

Her blend of jazz, pop, folk and rock has attracted international attention - she has collaborated with the likes of acclaimed New York jazz musicians Reuben Rogers and Aaron Goldberg.

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.

1:55pm, 4:25pm, 7:30pm

The Village, #1 Street 360 7:30pm

Trivia @ The Willow Test your trivia prowess at one of Phnom Penh’s biggest trivia nights.

NOW YOU SEE ME An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

9:45pm AFTER EARTH A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, a millennium after events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help.

9:30am, 1:15pm, 5:30pm, 10pm RAPTURE PALOOZA Two teens battle their way through a religious apocalypse on a mission to defeat the Antichrist.

Starring Anna Kendrick, Ken Jeong and Rob Corddry.

11:30am

Set among orchids and potted plants in The Willow’s pretty courtyard, up to $100 in prize money can be won. Entry is $2, with a maximum of seven people per team.

The Willow, #1 Street 21, 7:30pm

House @ Pontoon Bistro

Briana Cowlishaw, 24, performs tonight with The Gavin Ahearn trio at the Village. SUPPLIED

TV PICKS

cineplex cinema AFTER EARTH (See above.)

9:15am, 11am, 12:50pm, 2:40pm, 4:30pm, 8:50pm

4:10pm - UP: By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl sets out to fulfil his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years younger, inadvertently becomes a stowaway. FOX MOVIES

Fancy a cheeky party on a Wednesday night? Pontoon bistro's weekly electronic music session could be just the ticket.

5:50pm - X-MEN: FIRST CLASS: In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III. FOX MOVIES

Pontoon Bistro, #80 Street 172 11:55pm

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 (See above) 3:45pm, 8:20pm

8pm - CHRONICLE: While attending a party, three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery underground. Soon, though, they find their lives spinning out of control and their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides. FOX MOVIES

RAPTURE PALOOZA (See above.)

7:15pm

9:25pm - THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: A paleoclimatologist for NORAD must make a daring trek across America to reach his son. FOX MOVIES

Michael Fassbender as Erik ‘Magneto’ Lehnsherr in X-men: First Class, on Fox Movies tonight. BLOOMBERG

House music until 3am with resident DJ Stryket Lefty.

Film fest @ Meta House Catch some of the top flicks from the Southeast Asian Chopshots 2012 Festival.

In Two Girls Against the Rain, a Khmer lesbian couple fights to marry. Sweetie Pie follows a Burmese babysitter.

Meta House, Sothearos Boulevard, 7pm

Thinking caps “FOOD FOR THOUGHT” ACROSS 1 5 10 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 23 24 28 32 33 36 39 41 42 43 46 47 48 50 53 57 61 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71

Fight verbally “Halt!” on the seas Barely cooked Burgundy or Bordeaux Grinding tooth Cleveland’s lake Abbr. accompanying a college name Old Jimmy Dorsey hit “Maria ___” Desktop item Where to find fresh milk Follow an event Annual baseball break Boom sites Depart Peke cousin?

Weekly shopping site, for many Egg, biologically Chutney fruit Alaska, once (abbr.)

Place for hams Farm pen “The Faerie Queene” character In ___ (peeved) Stats in hockey and basketball Deal breakers?

It rolls with your goodies Stop Practice public speaking Do as told Fencer’s blade Acts the stoolie Actor with no lines After this, buy a new calendar Difficult shoes to walk in Fruity drinks

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 22 25 26 27 29 30 31 33 34 35 37 38 40 44 45 49 51 52 54 55 56 58 59 60 61 62 63

Volvo factory worker, most likely Native of the Leaning Tower city Those opposed “The Shining” graffiti City in Iowa Field rodent Actor Baldwin Year-end stocking stuffer Have some catching up to do Wedge in again Compass doodle Lead-in for “Bravo” Poetic, V-less contraction Some votes Big earthenware jar Confiscates Turn aside, as a gaze Hold another hearing for Kind of wrestling “Heart and Soul” one-hit wonder Medicinal herb of the pea family Small platforms Once-___ (quick appraisals) Slippers for the stubborn?

Army units (abbr.)

Big name in faucets One who may marry Transaction option Feature of Saturn Puget Sound seaport Certain fairy’s procurement Lively shopping outing More than fervent Cordial introduction?

Eyelid swellings Opposite of flushed “___ cost you!”

The Untouchables’ leader “You there!”

Cornelius or Dr. Zaius, e.g.

Pasture

Tuesday’s solution

Tuesday’s solution

21

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Sport

Bailey notes lack of confidence Barney Ronay

A

ustralia are heading towards next month’s Ashes series with “not a great deal of confidence” according to their stand-in ODI captain, George Bailey. Bailey, who has a reputation as a refreshingly candid cricketer, was speaking after the defeat by Sri Lanka that saw Australia eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy with two defeats and a washout in Group A, all completed without the injured Michael Clarke.

“There is probably not a great deal of confidence there,” Bailey said in a pre-Ashes statement of intent slightly lower down the scale of Australian bravado from Glenn McGrath’s familiar 5-0 whitewash predictions.

“But it’s just a very different mindset, going from a one-day tournament to a Test series. The Ashes tends to bring out something special in both sides. Whatever can be written and said leading up into those games, but until that first Test and the result of that first Test, I think that will dictate how the summer plays out.”

If Bailey’s words could be most favourably interpreted as a pre-Ashes rope-a-dope strategy, there was a hint of better news – just about – for Australia in his suggestion Clarke would indeed be fit for the first Ashes Test in three weeks’ time.

“I would imagine he would,” Bailey said after a defeat that ensured Sri Lanka progressed to the semi-finals, where they will face India tomorrow.

England, meanwhile, will take on South Africa at 4:30pm Cambodian time today after this result ensured they finished as Group A winners.

“If he could have got outside and got a bit more training under his belt in the last couple of days, if it had been a 50-over fixture in terms of us being able to play it as a 50-over fixture, I think he would have had a re-

Australia’s George Bailey gets run out during their final 2013 ICC Champions Trophy group match against Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval in London on Monday.

ally good chance playing this game.”

“I was only really captain again this morning when Pup was ruled out.

There was a real chance that he was going to play. Circumstances, almost dictated that he didn’t.

“I think if it had been a 50-over game, he might have had a better chance to play. But the up-in-the-air nature of how today was going to pan out probably played against him, as

has the weather for the last couple of days, trying to get some really good training under his belt.”

Australia will be keen to emphasise that Clarke’s absence was less a sign of chronic issues with his longstanding lower back problem and more an indication of where their summer priorities lie. Steve Waugh may have scored 153 against England at the Oval with one functioning leg

12 years ago, but in this collapsible Australian top order the captain looks ever more indispensable with the first Ashes Test less than weeks away.

The sight of Ricky Ponting watching at the Oval – looking almost alarmingly fit and now averaging 98 in first-class cricket for Surrey – was a perhaps rather unwanted echo of riches past.

As for their exit here, Bailey was em-

Bruins beat Blackhawks 2-0, edge ahead in series Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots on Monday to lead the Boston Bruins to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks and into the lead in the NHL Stanley Cup finals.

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series thanks to secondperiod goals from Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron.

In the third, the Bruins relied on Rask to preserve the lead

and once again he came through with his third shutout of the playoffs.

The Bruins host game four tonight, trying to cement their lead in a series that marks the first time two of the NHL’s Original Six franchises have met in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1979, when Montreal beat the New York Rangers in five games.

The Blackhawks have now

Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask makes a glove save against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Finals. REUTERS

lost two straight after their triple-overtime triumph in the series opener.

Chicago goalie Corey Crawford stopped 33 shots, but he was backed by little offense as the Blackhawks went 0-for-4 on the power play.

The Blackhawks were hindered by the absence of Marian Hossa, who was scratched after the pre-game warm-ups.

Hossa, who was tied for the team lead in playoff points with 15, was replaced by forward Ben Smith, who was playing his first game in this post-season.

After coming out flat in the first period of game two, Boston controlled play for much of the first period on this one, with Crawford called on to make 11 saves.

“I think we came out pretty solid,” Boston’s German defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. “We tried to get pucks deep, tried to forecheck them, tried to force turnovers.

“It was, I think from both teams, a pretty slow start, a little tentative maybe. But we slowly got it going and started skating better once the game started, found our game eventually.” AFP

AFP

phatic about where things had begun to go wrong: “Losing to England by 45 runs. That hurt us. That was our major cock-up.” Separately, Australia’s chairman of selectors, John Inverarity, has hinted that the 31-year-old asylum-seeking Pakistan-born spinner Fawad Ahmed may be called up to this summer’s Ashes squad after the fast-tracking of his passport application. THE GUARDIAN

It’s your move, plan carefully.

Viktor Kuznetsov v Grzegorz Gajewski 8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

a

b

c

Black to play and win

d

e

f

g

h

Solution on page 22

Moving house? Call 023 880 951 or visit www.asiantigersgroup.com for more information

22

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Sport

F1 commentator Walker diagnosed with cancer

Former Formula One commentator Murray Walker, whose enthusiastic style during decades behind the microphone has made him a household name in Britain, has been diagnosed with cancer, his former employer the BBC reported on Monday. The 89-year-old, whose catchphrase is “Unless I am very mistaken . . . and I am very much mistaken”, has a treatable form of lymphatic system cancer. REUTERS

At post-Cecil Royal Ascot meeting, emotions on edge

Royal Ascot got under way yesterday with one of its most familiar figures missing after the passing away of legendary trainer Henry Cecil last week. Cecil, who holds the record for Royal Ascot winners with 75 beginning with Parthenon in 1970, died on June 11 after a long and courageous battle with cancer aged 70, but in spite of his illness he had dominated the last two renewals thanks to the exploits of his wonder horse Frankel. Frankel will not be present either, having retired to stud after bowing out with his 14th victory in 14 starts in the Champion Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot last October, but Cecil’s widow Jane, who has been given his training licence will have several runners during the week. AFP

Chess Puzzle solution: ... Bf4+, KxNh3, g1=N+, QxNg1, RxRa5 (Black threat of check mate with Rh5 is unstoppable)

Kep girl wins over disability H S Manjunath

‘T

ry not to associate bodily defect with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason.” Charles Dickens’ unforgettable words in his classic novel David Copperfield.

For a little girl from Kep, a nagging problem with her hip and knee was no solid reason at all to give up her love for tennis. She kept ignoring the defect as a hindrance.

Her mental strength has now won over her disability and Meas Toukna is ready for a normal life after going through a successful surgical procedure a couple of weeks ago to release the contracted muscles that restricted her movement.

The problem traced back to her formative years as a secondary effect of an injection, but even with that noticeable discomfort, her determination to do well in tennis only kept growing. The spotlight was clearly on her when she won the U14 girls singles event at a national level tournament in Phnom Penh recently.

Moved by her passion at one end, ordeal at the other, the Tennis Federation of Cambodia stepped in to arrange medical attention for her.

Raised by a single mother after a very young Toukna lost her father, the family could not afford the cor-

U14 girls tennis champion Meas Toukna hits a ball during a game in Kep.

rective surgery she needed all these years. But thanks to Dr Jim Gollogly, who offered to do the operation free

PHOTO SUPPLIED

of charge at his Children’s Surgical Centre in Phnom Penh, Toukna’s life has taken a turn for the good.

The TFC took care of Toukna and her mother’s transport, food and stay expenses.

“The actual operation was done

by Dr Soum Ratha. The muscle that was causing her trouble in her hip and knee has been released. Now she will have to start stretching those muscles and I think she can start playing tennis in a couple of weeks as any normal girl,” Dr Jim Gollogly told the Post yesterday.

TFC secretary-general Tep Rithivit said the bottom line for the Federation was to take good care of their players.

“This is a case in point. I was personally touched by her determination and passion for the game. We had to focus on her ability to play tennis and get this problem out of the way.

“I thank Dr Jim Gollogly and Dr Soum for making this possible. I hope Toukna gets back to the court like any other girl of her age soon and pursue tennis with greater verve,” he added.

Several students of the Tennis Academy of Kep sent Toukna get well soon messages and coach Sokphal Ngo-Sisowath expressed the hope that this brave little girl could get back to her best in two months time to defend the title she won in Phnom Penh.

Toukna has now won the most troublesome first set of her tennis life.

Omega Pharma pin Tour hopes on Mark Cavendish British sprint great Mark Cavendish will spearhead Belgian team Omega Pharma’s hopes for stage wins in the upcoming Tour de France after they announced their team line-up on Monday for the race that begins on June 29.

Cavendish, who has won 23 stages in the Tour since 2008, will rely on his faithful lieutenant Gert Steegmans to set him up for stage victories in the three week race.

The team’s target for the

28-year-old Isle of Man born Cavendish is a big one from the outset.

“One of the principal goals is for him to don the yellow jersey after the first stage,” said a team director.

Omega Pharma will also have high hopes that world timetrial champion Tony Martin will also collect stage wins in the time-trial legs.

“We have for sure one of the best teams,” said team manager Patrick Lefevere.

“Mark can count on a strong group built around him. For the team it will also be important to show their class at every opportunity.

“With seven stages set up for sprinters, a team time-trial and two individual time-trials, we can be prominent in half the stages in the Tour. And that is before you take into account the riders like Sylvain Chavanel and Niki Terpstra who are capable of playing a role in the stages with mid level climbs.” AFP

From June 16 and running through to June 27, for the first time and as second nation in Asia ever, Cambodia has the honour to be chairman of the 37th yearly convention of the World Heritage Committee.

In the eight to 16 pages strong reports published in Khmer and English version of the Post, our newspaper will give insights into how Cambodia's UNESCO chairmanship will contribute to a robust future of the national tourism industry and the conversation of our World Heritage Sites such as Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear During the convention the Kingdom will host more than 1400 delegates of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee coming from 190 different countries and more than 200 members of the international press.

The 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 the important series of meetings, including the Siem Reap closing ceremony on June 27.

This is not only a chance for travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants, banks, telecoms and all kinds of providers to highlight their companies in the special reports but all companies that are proud of Cambodia.

For the special occasion the Post will increase its production by several thousands and distribute the papers to the international guests. Advertisers will be offered special discount rates for inclusion in both publications on June 14 and 28.

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

6

United Nations

Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

World Heritage Convention

Omega Pharma’s Mark Cavendish of Britain celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 197km 21st and last stage of the Giro d’Italia cycling race from Riese Pio X to Brescia on May 26. REUTERS

23

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Football

Midweek double header in the Metfone C-League

AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa makes his address at the NTC opening ceremony yesterday. photo SUPPLIED BY FFC

An estimated 2,000 people attend the inauguration of the new National Training Centre for Cambodian football at Takeo province’s Bati district, about 40 kilometres from Phnom Penh. photo SUPPLIED BY FFC

AFC chief pledges support for football development Dan Riley

C

ambodian football was given another kick in the right direction yesterday as AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa pledged support from the regional and global governing bodies to help continue the development of the sport in the Kingdom.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the National Training Centre in Bati district, Takeo province, yesterday morning, the AFC chief said: “I would like to assure you that FIFA and AFC are committed to support the Football Federation of Cambodia in their efforts to take the Cambodian football to a higher level.”

The Bahraini Royal added he was “honoured and happy” to represent FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the in-

auguration of centre, “where the footballing dreams of thousands of young Cambodians will take shape.”

According to FFC officials, the construction of the facility cost approximately $3.3 million, with partial funding coming by three contributions from the FIFA Goal Project.

“I believe the beginning of this project also signals the start of a new era for Cambodian football and will boost the federation’s efforts to develop grassroots and youth football,” added Sheikh Salman.

The centre features two full-size football pitches as well as three buildings housing changing rooms, dormitories, a canteen and a laundry room.

Along with a reported 2,000 people in attendance at the ceremony were invited dignitaries including Prime Minister Hun Sen, ASEAN Football

Federation president Sultan Ahmad Shah, AFC vice-president Prince Abdullah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah, and FIFA Executive Committee member and Football Association of Thailand president Worawi Makudi, as well as FFC president Sao Sokha.

“I would like to place on record my sincere appreciation to the Football Federation of Cambodia president Sao Sokha, who played a key role in purchasing the 15-hectare land for this National Training Centre and is spearheading the development of football in Cambodia,” the AFC president told reporters.

“I would also like to thank the Prime Minister of Cambodia, His Excellency Hun Sen, and his government for supporting football because without their assistance it would not have been possible for FIFA, the AFC or the

FFC to build a training centre of this magnitude.”

On Monday, the FFC received $120,000 from Vietnamese bank BIDC to help host the 2013 Mekong Region Youth U21 International Football Tournament, also known as the BIDC Cup. FFC president Sao Sokha collected a $220,000 cheque from BIDC director Veang Van Han during a ceremony at the Phnom Penh Hotel with the understanding that $100,000 of the total would go towards the National Training Centre.

The third edition of the biennial competition will be staged at Olympic Stadium from November 8-11 and is to feature six teams from the Mekong region and two from Japan. Teams have yet to be named. ADDITIONAL REPORTING

BY YEUN PONLOK, CHHORN NORN & THE-AFC.COM, TRANSLATION BY CHENG SERYRITH & IN SOPHENG

Tehau dreams of Barca after landmark goal Jonathan Tehau struggled to articulate his joy after becoming the first player to score for Tahiti at a high-profile international tournament in his side’s 6-1 loss to Nigeria at the Confederations Cup. Ranked 138th in the world, Tahiti are making their first

appearance in a competition of this level and, despite the margin of defeat in Monday’s game, they celebrated Tehau’s 54thminute goal like a victory.

With the score at 3-0, Tehau converted a back post-header from a corner before leading his team-mates in an imitation

of the kayak-paddling celebration performed by Marama Vahirua, their one professional player.

The midfielder, who also works as a delivery driver and plays alongside his twin brothers Lorenzo and Alvin, as well as cousin Teaonui, said his

Tahiti midfielder Jonathan Tehau (centre) celebrates with team-mate Steevy Chong Hue after scoring against Nigeria during the FIFA Confederations Cup. AFP

mind had gone blank when the ball hit the net.

“I didn’t think of anything. I just celebrated the goal with my friends,” said the 25-yearold, who also scored an own goal later in the game.

“It’s just huge. Already, coming here to Brazil, and then scoring the goal, I’m very happy for me, for my family, my friends and my team-mates.”

Tehau said he hoped the goal would transform his life and when asked to name his ideal club, he replied with a grin: “Why not dream? Barcelona.”

For Vahirua, Tehau’s goal represented all that Tahiti could have hoped for.

“For us, we’ve won,” he said.

“Nobody saw us scoring a goal; nobody but us. From the start, I told my team-mates to believe in ourselves.

“Football is never an exact science. We might be amateurs but, in our hearts and our heads, we have to act like professionals. We’re proud of ourselves.”

Tahiti were backed by the vast majority of the meagre crowd inside Belo Horizonte’s Estadio Mineirao, who booed

Nigeria’s players throughout and celebrated enthusiastically when Tehau scored.

Meanwhile, Japan are favourites to beat Italy in the Confederations Cup tonight because of their Italian manager and the fact they have had more rest, according to Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli.

He believes Japan’s Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s familiarity with his compatriots might cause Italy problems.

“Japan will have the slight edge, I think, because they have an extra day of rest,” Prandelli said.

“Plus, Alberto knows us very well; he knows how we work.

I expect him to prepare a trap for us.

“From tonight, we will begin planning for the Japan game.

I trust that he will come up with an interesting strategy against us,” Prandelli was quoted as saying on fifa.com.

AFP/REUTERS

Tonight’s fixtures Brazil v Mexico – 2am Italy v Japan – 5am

Two Metfone C-League clashes play out at Olympic Stadium today, with sides eagerly eyeing advances up the table. Build Bright United will look to make it three wins in a row and draw level on points with fifth placed Kirivong Sok Sen Chey when they take on Asia Europe University, who can pull themselves out of the relegation quagmire with all three points. That 2pm kickoff will be followed by a 4pm game between National Police Commissary and Svay Rieng.

Police can leapfrog Kirivong into fifth with victory, while Svay Rieng will maintain their second spot regardless of the result but will look to cut league leaders Boeung Ket Rubber Field’s advantage down to a single point. DAN RILEY

Late winner as Australia seal World Cup berth

Australia secured their place at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil yesterday with a late strike from Josh Kennedy firing them to a tense 1-0 win over an under-strength Iraq at Stadium Australia. It was an unconvincing victory in front of a sell-out 80,000 crowd, but ensured the Socceroos will appear at their third consecutive World Cup, alongside Japan who are already through from Asian Group B qualifying. AFP

Dutch teens jailed for kicking official to death

A Dutch court found six teenage footballers and a player’s father guilty on Monday of beating an amateur linesman to death, an incident that shocked the nation and prompted soul-searching over soccer violence and race.

Linesman Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, was attacked by the soccer players – mostly of Moroccan origin – while he was officiating at an under-17 match at Almere, near Amsterdam. Nieuwenhuizen was kicked repeatedly by the youth players, who were 15 and 16 years old at the time, and the adult who had been on the sidelines. He collapsed hours after the match and was taken to hospital where he went into a coma and died the following day.

The incident was seized upon by the anti-Muslim party of Geert Wilders who said the death was “not a football problem, but a Moroccan problem”. The adult was jailed for six years and the minors received sentences of between 12 and 24 months’ youth detention. An eighth suspect was acquitted. REUTERS

Martinez takes over as new coach of Valladolid

Former Levante boss Juan Ignacio Martinez has been named as the new boss of Spanish top flight side Valladolid, the club announced.

A statement on the club’s website realvalladolid.es on Monday said that Martinez had signed a two-year contract.

The 48-year-old will succeed Miroslav Djukic, who left to join Valencia earlier this month.

Martinez enjoyed an extremely successful two-year spell with Levante, leading the club to their highest ever league finish of sixth in 2011-12. That also saw Levante qualify for European football for the first time. AFP

24

THE PHNOM PENH POST june 19, 2013

Sport Brumbies hand Lions first defeat A Ian Ransom

British and Irish Lions' Owen Farrell kicks for goal in the tour match against the Brumbies in Canberra yesterday. The Lions lost 14-12. AFP

rock-solid Brumbies, shorn of the heart of their first-choice team, soaked up enormous pressure to secure a famous 14-12 victory over a stuttering British and Irish Lions side in Canberra yesterday to hand the tourists their first defeat.

Centre Tevita Kuridrani scored the match’s sole try in the first half and Jesse Mogg slotted three penalties for the hosts, who held on grimly in a frenetic finish to delight more than 21,000 fans at Canberra Stadium.

While the Brumbies players celebrated a famous victory over what was effectively a Lions second team, the tourists’ management will have to act quickly to lift spirits ahead of Saturday’s first test against Australia in Brisbane.

With a hastily assembled backline stitched together by flown-in replacements, the Lions trailed 8-3 at the break after putting in their worst first half of the tour with a raft of botched lineouts and handling errors.

Replacement flyhalf Owen Farrell kicked the tourists to within two points with nine minutes to play, but the Lions slumped to their first non-test tour match loss since being defeated by the New Zealand Maori in 2005.

“Incredible for the team; thanks for the support guys,” Brumbies skipper Peter Kimlin told the roaring home crowd.

“We definitely came into the game with a clear gameplan.

We spoke about the workrate around the field and I think that helped today.”

The Brumbies were switched on from the start and could have doubled their score but for a lack of polish when finishing off moves and some errant kicking.

Former Wales winger Shane Williams, making a onematch cameo after flying in from Japan, was denied a dream opening try in the third minute when he was dragged into touch just shy of the line.

The Brumbies hit back immediately, however, through bullocking centre Kuridrani, who danced around debutant winger Christian Wade and fullback Rob Kearney

on the left wing to score two minutes later.

Stunned, the Lions proceeded to bungle a succession of lineouts, with captain Rory Best’s throwing regularly offbeam, and flyhalf Stuart Hogg slammed a gettable penalty into the post at the end of the opening quarter.

Emboldened by the tourists’ struggles and a baying home crowd, and fired up by a linebreak from Kuridrani, the Brumbies pushed to the line on the right wing but were let down when rising flanker Colby Fainga’a failed to offload to Henry Speight, who had a clear run at the line.

Prior, who missed his opening two shots at goal, handed the kicking duties to Mogg, who put the Brumbies up 8-0 with a penalty.

Hogg got the tourists on the scoreboard with a penalty but the Lions trudged off the sodden field after playing their worst half of the tour.

The malaise was to continue after the break with ill-discipline creeping into their game.

Mogg slotted two further penalties to put the Brumbies

A FIVE STAR HOME FIRST-CLASS CONDOMINIUM IN PHNOM PENH Pearl within Diamond Island Never before, Never after Deluxe standard, the future of Phnom Penh

Excellent and invaluable location Located at the prime section of the Diamond Island A luxurious river-view for the elite Starting from 180m2 to 350m2 per unit with one elevator each Great ease and worry-free with a five-star hotel service and a 24-hours Extensive support facilities The largest shopping center; spacious parking lot; Supreme sky club, et Ease and comfort with intelligent safety facilities Internationally designed and adorned with top-class furniture Worldwide procurement of carefully selected materials Create an elegant, cozy and high quality life!

Hotline

up 14-3, the second a gift after frustrated Scot Ryan Grant manhandled fellow prop Scott Sio’s head.

Hogg trimmed the deficit but then hit a post again with another before Lions coach Warren Gatland lost patience and unleashed a rash of substitutions.

With reserve scrumhalf Conor Murray and Farrell directing traffic, the Lions played with renewed purpose and quickly capitalised with two Farrell penalties to reduce the lead to two points with nine minutes to go.

However, the Brumbies showed huge grit to dig in and soaked up the final minutes of pressure with a determined pick-and-go defence.

“I think the forwards should stand up and take a lot of the heat,” Best said pitchside.

“We were very confident and we just didn’t turn up tonight,” the Irish hooker said.

“You have to give massive credit to the way they played . . . we let our standards drop tonight. We didn’t want to lose the momentum that we’ve gained on this tour.”

REUTERS