Banker turns English teacher and loves it

Last Updated on 25 January 2013

By Stuart Alan Becker

 

When Ashley Irving worked for the prestigious Rothschild Bank in Sydney, earning a massive salary and enjoying a lot of status in the community, he still wasn’t happy with all the stress that comes naturally with corporate finance.

On vacation at Ayer’s Rock in Australia he met a group of three English teachers from Argentina. They were so happy and fun, he decided to visit them in Argentina and the trip changed his life. He walked away from corporate finance and made his career in the teaching of English.

He absolutely loves it.

Today Irving works as principal at the Australian Center for Education (ACE), a purely English language school and the largest one in Phnom Penh.

“We belong to IDP education based in Melbourne. The main business lines are placing students with universities in most English speaking countries,” Irving said.

Purely an English language school, ACE offers the IELTS test and variations including academic English, general English, English for young learns and programs for kids.

Irving says the communicative method is used.

“We get them talking. To learn language they use the language; the focus on kids is getting them to use language, reading and speaking.”

At ACE, every term is 10 weeks, 45 hour courses and cost about $200 to $230 per term depending on the level.

“We are affordable but not cheap. People who come in are serious. The families spend money and they want something for their money. If it wasn’t working it would not come back.”

One of Irving’s own early teachers had been profoundly influenced by Professor Noam Chomsky of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and his work in linguistics and language acquisition.

“He wore a T-shirt that said Chomsky is My Hero.”

ACE’s general English course is available to ages 16 and up, with levels from beginner to upper intermediate.

“We test reading and grammar and use that to establish their level and place them in appropriate course, and have courses running from 6:30 in the morning until 8:30 at night.”

Even though he’s now the principal and therefore the administrator, Irving loves teaching English and remains passionate about it.

“If you are giving out positive energy, they enjoy it and you get it back tenfold, from people in the room. Some days you go home dancing. The best teachers are nice people, they talk to you, and you put them in front of a class and they light up.”

ACE is located on Street 214 in Kampuchea Krom. They also have a school in Siem Reap. Irving invites anyone to take a placement test for the $5 fee, which students get back when they enroll.

Irving has been here in Cambodia for the last eight months and loves his job.

“My only regret is not doing it 10 years earlier,” he said.

Between the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap schools, ACE has about 8,500 students.

The ages are 8 to adult, and most of the students are ages 17 to 21 and more than 95 per cent Khmer students.

“English is the mandated language of ASEAN, so from the top down English is important. The Khmer s are all keen from the start. We’ve been here 20 years and we’re well known. They come to us for English and once they are there, they are fun to be around.”

When you smile at somebody here, Irving says, they smile back.

“The levels of cynicism are much lower, which is great fun. The teenagers are open and they’ll come and talk to you. It is a privilege, so the need the break down barriers doesn’t exist, because they already assume you’re worth talking to.”

Irving studied applied mathematics at Australia’s La Trobe University and worked for many years for National Mutual Insurance as an actuary, dealing with statistics and probabilities.

Following his term as a corporate banker, his whole life changed when he met the teachers from Argentina.

Returning to Australia after time teaching English in Argentina and Brazil, Irving went to work at Sydney’s Holmes College teaching international students from around the world.

He later became director of study at Access Language Center at Sydney and managed the teaching center for the Adult Migrant English School Service (AMES) in New South Wales.

“To learn a language is just sheer hard work. Work, review, go to class, be prepared to fail, be embarrassed, it’s hard, for a teen or adult, and for somebody working full time it is really hard.”

ACE employs 120 teachers both expats and Khmer.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Alan Becker at stuart.becker@gmail.com

 

 

PM Hun Sen chastises RCFA for unprofessionalism

Last Updated on 25 January 2013

By Vong Sokheng

 

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday blasted unnamed senior military officers for breaking RCAF regulations and urged the Ministry of Defence to improve both its training and its level  of professionalism.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Chinese-Cambodian Friendship Infantry Institution — a new facility at Kampong Speu’s Combined Arms Officer School Thlok Tasek — the premier said there were reports that unqualified officers had bribed their way to higher ranks.

“What we are interested in at the moment is irregularities in the promotion of military officers that were not conducted in a good manner,” he told the gathering of about 1,000 newly graduated soldiers.
The soldiers returned recently from a Chinese military academy. At the new facility in Phnom Sruoch district, young soldiers will receive quality training from Chinese advisers to improve their knowledge and skill so  they can replace retiring officers.

Calling for stricter regulation and enforcement of laws already in place, the premier also suggested the Defence Ministry “conduct a study into the establishment of sub-decrees and Prakases about the training of RCAF to keep them in order and effective.”

“Some senior military officials have not respected the law on the statute of RCAF and general procedure,” Hun Sen said.

His suggestion was given concurrent to a National Assembly debate that took place yesterday over a long-dormant draft law to create an oversight body called the Supreme Council of National Defence.
The council would be given the right to monitor the military and take disciplinary action against officers.

It would also be responsible, more generally, for safeguarding the nation’s territorial integrity and would have the power to evaluate whether to declare a state of emergency.
In the law that passed yesterday – with 85 of 97 lawmakers present voting in its favour – King Norodom Sihamoni would serve as head and Hun Sen as deputy president.
The members of the council – enshrined in the constitution two decades ago – are the minister of Defence, minister of Interior, head of the Council of Ministers, minister of Foreign Affairs, Finance minister, and general-commander of RCAF.

That composition drew the ire of opposition lawmakers, who said during yesterday’s debate they were concerned over the heavy presence of the ruling party on the council.
“We think that the members and deputy president would all be from the CPP, therefore it would not guarantee for the neutrality,” said lawmaker and Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann. “I would request for amendment of the composition and will provide to the power for the King to elect the members.”

Such criticisms, however, did little to sway the vote.
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, who is also a lawmaker and would be among the members once the law goes into affect, defended the structure during the five-hour debate.
“The law did not name the members, just the title, therefore if another political party comes to take the power in the government, they would sit in this composition,” he argued.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com

My Academic Publication at the University of Science, Malaysia (USM)

Dear friends,

It is my pleasure to share my brief impression regarding to academic papers during my PhD journey at Malaysia. Honestly, when I worked at Cambodia, I didn't know what are academic publication and research paper. Fortunately, I have received USM fellowship award to study at USM, and I was trained by many experts how to write academic papers for publishing in Journals and Book Chapters. Therefore, I have to increase my capacity building to publish in high impact factor journals such as ISI and Scopus.

First step, I must publish in low quality journals (without impact factors) like Peer Reviews Journals (Open Access Journals) and Indexed Journals (Google Scholar, Ulrich's Periodical Directory, Open J-Gate, EBSCOhost, Gale's Academic Databases, AMICUS, Canadiana, Library and Archives Canada, Lockss, PKP Open Archives Havester, and ProQuest).  

I need to cope with various academic publication environment. Next step, I will publish in Scopus and ISI journals only. During one year of my doctorate studies, I have published 5 articles (4 published and 1 under review process). If you want to read them, please access at following links:

1. Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com.my/citations?hl=en&user=I70xug4AAAAJ

2. Academia Edu: http://usm.academia.edu/SamRany

3. ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam_Rany/?ev=hdr_xprf

Have a nice day!

All best wishes,

Sam Rany

Government Tells Unions to Agree on Minimum Wage Demands

 By Phok Dorn and Colin Meyn - January 23, 2013

The government on Monday re­quested that manufacturers look at raising the minimum wage for garment workers, but only after divided trade unions agree on what that wage should be.



At the moment, union leaders are demanding that the current $61 per month minimum wage be raised to between $93 and $150, a 52 percent and 145 percent hike, respectively.

“After discussions, those present at the meeting agree in principle to discuss raising the minimum wage for workers,” the Ministry of Labor said in a statement after a meeting between manufacturers and unions on the issue.

“The meeting requested all un­ions meet and raise a joint re­quest for the minimum wage to be discussed with the employers to reach a resolution,” the statement says, adding that union leaders should submit their request to the government before the next meeting at the ministry on February 26.

Yesterday’s meeting followed a speech from Prime Minister Hun Sen on Decem­ber 12 in which he called on manufacturers to up sal­aries in Cambo­dia’s garment factories in order to keep workers in the country.
The last time the minimum wage was increased was in July 2010, when it was raised from $50 to $61.
Ken Loo, secretary-general of the Garment Manufacturers Asso­cia­tion of Cambodia, said prior to Monday’s meeting that demands from many of the unions were “unrealistic.”

“We can’t expect 50 to 60 to 70 percent [increase in the minimum wage]. The Royal Government an­nounced a 20 percent salary in­crease [for civil servants], so I would presume that that would be a good starting point,” he said.

Jill Tucker, chief technical adviser for the International Labor Organiza­tion’s (ILO) Better Factories Cambo­dia program, said that the ILO would mediate discussions between the various trade unions—which represent some 300,000 workers.

Sam Aun, president of the CPP-aligned Cambodia Labor Union Federation, said that $93 would be a fair figure, while Ath Thorn, president of the nonaligned Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said that he would stand behind raising the minimum wage to $150.

“I think that workers can live on a minimum wage of $93 per month because they also get their bonus, rent, and transport allowances and add overtime to their salary,” said Mr. Aun. But Mr. Thorn warned that if the wage hike was too modest, workers would likely continue to protest.

'Hostage' standoff at Acleda bank branch ends with five arrests

Last Updated on 24 January 2013

By Kim Yuthana, Sam Rith and Chhay Channyda

 

 

 A suspected hostage situation that began Tuesday night was no more than an elaborately staged attempted heist of an Acleda Bank branch, police discovered late last night after apprehending the so-called kidnappers following a 30-hour standoff.

Five men allegedly involved – including the acting branch manager and three other employees – were arrested by police yesterday in Kampong Cham province.

According to provincial police chief Chhay Kimson, the alleged bank robbers had fabricated the hostage situation – with two suspects, one with a gun, masquerading as meth addicts – as a bizarre ruse after plans to rob the small bank branch in Stung Trang district’s Beak Anlung village took a turn for the worse when police caught wind of a situation at the bank.

“Really, there were no hostages,” Kimson said late last night. “All of them are perpetrators. It is really an internal plan. We confiscated their K-54 [pistol].”

Until nearly midnight last night, police believed that two men had taken control of the bank at around 6pm Tuesday evening, taking three employees hostage, and initiating a standoff that lasted through Tuesday night and well into the next.

During the protracted negotiations, the supposed hostage-takers first demanded crystal meth, then that police loosen the ring of some 200 security personnel encircling the bank, and finally, two motorbikes for making good their escape.

After getting the motorbikes at about 10pm, police said, three men were seen fleeing into the darkness of a nearby rubber plantation, where they ditched the bikes, scattered and were later apprehended by security forces.

Upon arresting the three men – and questioning acting branch manager Sim Kimthath, who had been brought in as a person of interest, and branch employee Mat Ly, who had “escaped” the bank early Wednesday morning claiming to have been held hostage – police finally ascertained the truth of the matter, said Kimson.

Ly, he said, cracked under questioning, admitting that an injury where he had been struck in the face had actually been staged to lend his story authenticity.

Kimthath admitted to planning the heist to pay down a sizeable debt, said an unnamed provincial police officer.

The confessions, Kimson said, confirmed inklings of suspicion that the men were in cahoots that had been raised earlier when he overheard a voice – ostensibly a hostage’s – say from within the room where the men were holed up, “Don’t tie me too tight”.

One other suspect was Nou Tola, also known as Gem, 28, a soldier stationed at a border checkpoint in Preah Vihear province, and the only one of yesterday’s five alleged  bank robbers who was not employed by Acleda, said another unnamed officer. The final two suspects’ identities could not be ascertained as of press time.

Throughout the entire day, police and Acleda Bank representatives were convinced that two meth-addled men, one armed, were holding two bank employees hostage, refusing food, declining an offer to leave with the bank’s 57 million riel (about $14,250) in exchange for the hostages, and repeatedly demanding that crystal meth be delivered to them.

In the end, even the number of people inside the bank turned out to be untrue, said Kimson.  After Ly’s so-called “escape”, he said, there were only three men left inside.

Over the course of the day, police acquiesced to the suspected captors’ demands, first providing methamphetamines to the men inside around mid-afternoon, then sending for more to be delivered from Phnom Penh by Ministry of Interior police forces.

When roughly 25 black-clad anti-terrorism police showed up around 4pm, a Post reporter inside the bank overheard one of the suspects say: “If they shoot at us, we shoot back”.

Negotiations between the anti-terrorism police and the men broke down around 5:30pm, and at the request of both the assailants and Acleda representatives, police withdrew further from the premises, giving the men some breathing room, said Acleda Executive Vice President Prom Visoth.

“Our staffers have been detained in a room where we keep the money, but only a small amount of money,” he said at the time. “Police can’t do anything. The robbers want only drugs. They didn’t want money, but the police have no drugs for them.”

Visoth added that he had offered to let the suspects take the 57 million riel when they made their escape, but they declined.

Before learning that the branch had fallen victim to an inside job, Visoth called the incident a lesson for Acleda about the importance of security, saying that while most Acleda banks have armed police, the especially small Beak Anlung branch did not.

“In general, our banks have armed forces that we request from the national police providing us security, but at this office there is no police or security,” he said, noting that the branch handled little money, and sent what little it did handle to a district branch every night.

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To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Yuthana at yuthana.kim@phnompenhpost.com, Sam Rith at newsroom@phnompenhpost.com
and Chhay Channyda at channyda.chhay@phnompenhpost.com

Freedom of information law dealt blow

Last Updated on 24 January 2013

By Meas Sokchea

 

 Discussion of a long-awaited freedom of information law was shot down by the National Assembly yesterday, with ruling party officials claiming the draft version violated the constitution.
Drafts floated by the Sam Rainsy Party had been repeatedly rejected by the National Assembly, though legal experts had been pushing for such legislation for years. Monitors had pointed out frequently that without public access to information, corruption will remain rampant.
Yesterday, CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun, who is president of the Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Media said the draft proposed by the SRP was not suitable for debate.

“The draft law [as it stands] contrasts to the constitution and abuses sovereignty of King’s institution,” Vun said, declining to elaborate on the problems.
The SRP maintained the draft had no such failings, and SRP spokesman Yim Sovann accused the ruling party of stonewalling a law that could prove damning for corrupt officials.

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Cambodia's 'worst year’ for land disputes

Last Updated on 24 January 2013
By May Titthara and Shane Worrell

More than 200 people were arrested while defending their land in 2012 – a year human rights groups described yesterday as Cambodia’s “worst” for land disputes.

Of the 201 people arrested – a figure that more than doubled the 2011 total – 29 were imprisoned, mostly on charges of destroying property, faking documents and encroaching on private property, said Chan Soveth, deputy head of the land rights department at rights group Adhoc.

“Two thousand twelve was the worst year for residents being arrested as they tried to save their homes,” he said, adding that disputes themselves had also soared.

The comments came as heads of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, the Housing Rights Task Force, Adhoc and the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee called on the government to take measures to end forced evictions and resolve land disputes.

A joint statement released by the organisations said more than 700,000 people had been affected by land grabbing and forced displacement since 2000, including 51,000 in 2011.
“In Phnom Penh, at least 145,000, or approximately 10 per cent of the city’s population have been evicted since 2000,” the statement said, adding that 40,000 had been under immediate threat of eviction at the end of 2011.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said forced evictions had decreased in 2012, but the fact 611 families had fled from disputes last year suggested conflict hadn’t.
“We’ve noticed that actual evictions decrease in the lead-up to elections,” he said.

Recommendations put forward by those involved in yesterday’s press conference included that the government end forced evictions, demarcate state and private land, release imprisoned Boeung Kak lake mother Yorm Bopha, make the economic land concession (ELC) review process transparent and prioritise systematic land registration for poor communities.

Soveth said more than 1,000 people involved in disputes had been arrested since 2007, many as a result of the government cracking down on protests against ELCs.

“Often the court sentences these people without properly investigating.”
Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of NGO Forum, said it was essential that disputes were resolved and villagers’ rights protected.

“Currently, landlessness is estimated at between 20 and 25 per cent of the total population.”
Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the government was doing a lot to help residents with land issues, including deploying students to demarcate land and issue land titles.
“This is a historic strategy, one that is very important for Cambodia,” he said.

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To contact the reporter on this story: May Titthara at titthara.may@phnompenhpost.com
Shane Worrell at shane.worrell@phnompenhpost.com

Time to invest in people (Cambodia)

Last Updated on 07 December 2012

By Pamela Cox

For more than a decade, Cambodia has sustained impressive economic growth.

The World Bank expects real gross domestic product to increase by 6.6 per cent this year – a figure to be envied in today’s fragile global economy.

At this pace, Cambodia can rapidly become the industrialised and productive economy it aspires to be.

Is this the future that Cambodians can rightfully look forward to?

The answer is yes, but only if Cambodia invests in its most precious resource – its people – to enable each individual to realise his or her potential and productively contribute to the nation’s economy.

Until now, much of Cambodia’s investment has focused on infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing – priority areas during the early stages of the country’s economic development.

But with economic progress, it has become increasingly clear that these efforts are not enough to help the country achieve equitable, sustainable growth and, most important, reduce poverty.

Today, despite the nation’s economic achievements, roughly 20 per cent of Cambodians – that’s 2.8 million people – are still poor.

Nearly 40 per cent of children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition, and 28 per cent in the same age group are underweight.

Over the past decade, workforce skills of adults improved at a slower rate than in other East Asia countries, and the proportion of skilled workers among earners stagnated.

When the economy is booming, it’s tempting to turn a blind eye to such statistics.

But for the sake of Cambodia’s future, these are the figures we must confront, and this is where the World Bank can help.

Ending poverty, and building shared prosperity, are central to the Bank’s mission. 

Investments in human development, particularly in the areas of health and education, need to be a priority in Cambodia to create opportunities for all, especially the poor and vulnerable.

Interventions in these areas work hand in hand to build a country’s human-resources pool even before schooling begins.

Growing evidence shows the importance of adequate nutrition and health care during early childhood, to lay the foundation for intellectual progress and life-long learning.

The government has taken significant steps towards improving access as well as the quality of education, and 96 per cent of children aged six to 11 now go to primary school.

The average test performance of primary- and secondary-school students has improved, and higher-education enrolments increased fourfold between 2001 and 2011.

The World Bank is supporting health and education in Cambodia.

With the government and our development partners, we are financing health equity funds and school scholarships, having provided 2.5 million health-care treatments for poor people since 2009 and scholarships for 63,000 poor secondary-school students since 2005.

But much more needs to be done to improve the coverage, quality and governance of these sectors.

Although Cambodia’s economy is growing, employers report a mismatch between the skills university graduates bring to a job and the skills the labour market demands.

A recent World Bank study found that 22 per cent of foreign employers in Cambodia identify skills as a severe constraint to businesses.

This means many Cambodians earn less than they could if they had adequate education and skills.

For the country, this leads to lower productivity, limiting Cambodia’s potential to attract investment and improve living standards for all.

As a global knowledge and financial institution, the World Bank works with governments and a broad array of stakeholders gathering best practices and providing solutions for the most difficult development issues countries and communities face.

It draws from the knowledge and experience of other nations, and is able and ready to assist, inspire and inform Cambodia’s efforts to achieve its development goals.

In Indonesia, for example, the World Bank supported a social assistance program designed to address three lagging Millennium Development Goals – maternal health, child health and universal education – using a successful, community-driven approach.

Communities themselves took charge and allocated block grants targeting 12 health and education indicators, enabling 1.6 million women and children to receive nutrition counselling and support; helping 365,000 children receive immunisations; eliminating 185,000 cases of underweight children; and providing assistance to about 380,000 poor school students.

Tajikistan also has a high percentage of underweight children resulting from malnutrition exacerbated by the 2008 food-price shock.

The World Bank supported a community and basic health project to provide food packages and micro-nutrient supplements to about 50,000 women, infants and children.

By mid-2011, the project had trained 1,000 primary health workers and 300 community volunteers to deliver education on breast-feeding, good nutrition and the care of sick children.

Delivering these results requires a tremendous, co-ordinated effort by governments, donors, the private sector, civil society and others.

During my visit to Phnom Penh this week, I discussed with the government and our development partners how the World Bank can support Cambodia’s development strategy, to ensure all Cambodians can participate in, and benefit from, their country’s future prosperity.

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Pamela Cox is the World Bank vice-president for East Asia and the Pacific.

Xayaburi Dam: How Laos Violated the 1995 Mekong Agreement

Sun, 01/13/2013 - 8:45pm

By: Kirk Herbertson

 

 On November 7, 2012, Laos officially began construction on the controversial Xayaburi Hydropower Project, the first mainstream dam proposed for the Lower Mekong River. The process has not gone smoothly. Construction activities began almost two years before the official announcement. Vietnam and Cambodia called for a delay in construction because concerns over the dam’s transboundary impacts remained unresolved. Laos never conducted a comprehensive analysis of the transboundary impacts, instead insisting that the dam was engineered to be environmentally sustainable. The Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) Secretariat disagreed with many of Laos’ claims, but its advice went unheeded. Although the dam is going forward, its risks remain unknown.

The Xayaburi Dam was the first significant test for the Mekong Agreement, a treaty signed in 1995 by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. The treaty is intended to promote shared use and management of the river basin. Instead of cooperating with neighboring governments, however, Laos began implementing the Xayaburi Dam while Cambodia and Vietnam voiced concerns about the project’s transboundary impacts. Thailand remained silent through much of the dispute, but quietly financed the project and agreed to purchase its electricity. By November 2012, Laos’ and Thailand’s implementation of the project had advanced so far that Cambodia and Vietnam had little leverage left to raise concerns.

Laos insists that the Xayaburi Dam complies with the 1995 Mekong Agreement. Few others have questioned this claim.

In a new report, we examine the requirements of the Mekong Agreement in closer detail. On its surface, the text of the Agreement is often ambiguous. In an effort to seek greater clarity, we examine the requirements of the Mekong Agreement in its entirety. We also examine: (i) the historical record of the negotiations that describes what the parties intended when they drafted the Agreement; and (ii) international law that describes the meaning of the words that were carefully placed in the Agreement. In doing so, a clearer picture of the Mekong Agreement emerges. We find that Laos has misinterpreted the Mekong Agreement and failed to comply with several of its key requirements.

The full report is available below, but key findings are summarized here.

Laos is required to seek agreement with its neighbors before beginning the project.

To balance the rights of upstream and downstream countries, the Mekong Agreement requires all four governments to make a “good faith” effort to reach agreement on whether a project goes forward. Instead of trying to reach agreement on the Xayaburi Dam, Laos claimed that it only must consider comments of the other governments. Laos made no efforts to compromise on its position or to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

Laos must provide other governments with opportunity to evaluate the project’s impacts.

The MRC’s “prior consultation” is the process where the four governments try to reach an agreement. The primary purpose of the prior consultation is to provide the governments with an opportunity to evaluate the project’s transboundary impacts. Yet for the Xayaburi Dam, Laos did not provide neighboring governments with an opportunity to evaluate the project’s transboundary impacts. In particular, Laos did not assess the transboundary impacts before starting the prior consultation in September 2010.

Laos is not permitted to implement the project while consultations are still underway.

International law and the Mekong Agreement prohibit the governments from implementing a project while the governments are still discussing it—this is part of the obligation to negotiate “in good faith.” Laos and developer Ch. Karnchang began implementing the Xayaburi Dam in late 2010 before the Mekong governments even met to discuss the project. Later, Laos incorrectly claimed that “preparatory work” was allowed under the Mekong Agreement while the consultations are underway.

Laos is required to study the project’s transboundary impacts before consultation can take place.

Under international law, governments are required to prevent significant harm to other countries, which includes setting aside enough time to assess the project’s transboundary impacts. After failing to assess the Xayaburi Dam's transboundary impacts in 2010, Laos refused to delay project implementation after Cambodia and Vietnam requested these studies during the prior consultation. Instead, Laos claimed that untested technologies proposed by consulting company Pöyry were sufficient to mitigate any harm.

Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand have a right to extend the prior consultation’s timeframe.

The default timeframe for the prior consultation is six months, but under international law the downstream governments have a right to extend it. Laos claims that the Xayaburi Dam's prior consultation ended automatically after six months. During this initial six month period, Laos failed to provide the information that other governments needed to evaluate the project’s impacts. This undermined the primary purpose of the prior consultation. Laos also began project implementation during this initial period.

Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam have a right to seek compensation for any harm caused.

Laos has an obligation under international law to stop the project immediately if it causes harm to neighboring countries. Downstream governments Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam can seek compensation for any harm that the dam causes. Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam will have difficulty seeking compensation, however, because there is insufficient baseline data at this time to measure how the Xayaburi Dam will change the Mekong River. All three countries now face the difficult task of closely monitoring the impacts caused by the dam.
The Xayaburi Dam has set a dangerous precedent that could undermine future cooperation. In 2013, work might advance on two other Mekong mainstream dams—the Don Sahong and the Pak Beng Dams. Unless reforms are made quickly, disagreements over the Mekong dams could escalate into a conflict with serious economic and political implications.

Attached files: 

 

Click here to download the full report

More information: 

 

• Please visit our Xayaburi Dam webpage for more information.

Cambodian economy expected to grow 7 pct in 2013: official

Xinhua | 2013-1-14 13:02:20
By Agencies

Cambodia's GDP is projected to grow by 7 percent this year even though the global economy remains fragile and high risk due to persisting sovereign debt crisis in Europe and sluggish economic recovery in the United States, a commerce official said Monday.

"Through Cambodian government's deep reforms, Cambodia's economic growth has rapidly recovered from the global economic crisis and it has maintained annual growth of 7 percent last year and the same rate is expected this year," Ou Proum Virak, deputy director of the Commerce Ministry's Trade Promotion Department, said in a trade seminar.

He said the growth would come mainly from garment exports, tourism, agriculture and construction.

Meanwhile, he said global economy at the end of 2012 and in 2013 still faces high risks amid lingering sovereign debt issue in Europe and slow recovery of the US economy.

"These could be challenges for Cambodia either to increase external businesses or to attract foreign investment," he said.

Last Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that Cambodia is expected to register an economic growth rate of 6. 7 percent this year.

"A fragile global economic outlook, rapid credit growth, and potentially extreme weather conditions continue to pose significant risks," the IMF cautioned in the annual review of Cambodia's economic and financial conditions.

A symbol of Cambodia - Angkor Wat -

http://www.china.org.cn/travel/2013-01/14/content_27679522.htm

 Angkor Wat, a Hindu temple complex, was built in the early 12th century. As the most famous and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation - first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. Angkor Wat is on UNESCO's culture heritage list and has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag. [by sunway111/bbs.fengniao]

China eyes natural resources in Cambodia

The Irish Times - Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CLIFFORD COONAN

China’s influence in Asia is sure to keep growing in 2013, and two Chinese companies have set out their stall early, signing an €8.6 billion deal to build a new railway, port and steel mill in Cambodia.

As with investments in Africa, accessing natural resources is a big part of the motivation behind the spending.
China Rail Group will co-operate with Chinese-owned Cambodia Iron and Steel Mining Industry, to jointly build a 404km railway from Preah Vihear province to Koh Kong province in the southwest.
They will also build a seaport in Koh Kong to support the metal mining industry in Preah Vihear. A spokesman told local media construction should begin by July.

Chinese companies have invested heavily in Cambodia over the last 10 years in projects ranging from hydroelectric dams to agriculture.

Late last month, the Cambodian government gave the green light to construction of its first oil refinery. Sinomach China Perfect Machinery Industry Corp was given the go-ahead to invest €1.77 billion.

Cambodia: Open Letter to Prime Minister Mr. Hun Sen: Concern over the end of year crackdown against human rights defenders

OPEN LETTER - THE OBSERVATORY

CAMBODIA: OPEN LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER MR. HUN SEN

            Geneva-Paris, January 8, 2013

Re: Concern over the end of year crackdown against human rights defenders

Your Excellency,

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), expresses its deep concern about court decisions in late December 2012 that led to the wrongful sentencing of two prominent land and housing rights defenders and continued pattern of impunity in the high-profile murder of a trade union leader. The Observatory fears that such decisions were adopted during that time of year to avoid scrutiny by the international community and the media.

On December 26 and 27, 2012, Phnom Penh’s Municipal Court sentenced Ms. Tim Sakmony and Ms. Yorm Bopha, two prominent land and housing rights defenders, to prison terms. Ms. Sakmony was found guilty of “making a false declaration” - a charge totally unsupported by the facts of her case - and received a suspended six-months sentence for time already served. Ms. Bopha was sentenced to three years in prison for “intentional violence”, on the basis of questionable allegations, and despite the fact that no credible evidence was presented at her trial. After the verdict, Ms. Bopha was returned to Prey Sar Prison's Correctional Center 2 to serve her sentence.

The Observatory recalls that Ms. Yorm Bopha and Ms. Tim Sakmony were detained since September 4 and 5, respectively. Ms. Yorm Bopha, a pivotal figure in the protests against forced evictions in the Boeung Kak area of Phnom Penh, was detained for allegedly assaulting a person suspected of theft. Ms. Tim Sakmony, a leader in protests against forced evictions from the Borei Keila area of the capital, was arrested after the owner of land developer Phanimex lodged a complaint alleging that she had made a “false declaration” in a suit accusing Phanimex of inadequate compensation for persons evicted from land the company is developing.

In a separate case, on December 27, 2012, the Court of Appeals upheld the original sentence of 20 years in prison for Messrs. Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun, who were convicted for the high-profile killing of trade union leader Chea Vichea in 2004. It is widely acknowledged that their original convictions were based on coerced confessions and plagued by political interference, intimidation of witnesses, and other violations of international standards, which led to the decision by the Supreme Court to release both men from prison in December 2008. The Supreme Court also ordered a new trial by the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals finally retried the pair on November 7, 2012, in a swift hearing that was marred with irregularities and offered absolutely no new evidence of the defendants' guilt. Despite overwhelming evidence of the innocence of the two men, the Court announced that they were guilty on December 27. The two were immediately arrested and sent to serve the remainder of their sentences at Prey Sar Prison’s Correctional Center 1 in Phnom Penh. The Observatory fears that this parody of justice merely aims at protecting the real perpetrators of the murder of Mr. Chea Vichea.

The Observatory is deeply concerned about these new examples of political pressure being used to influence Cambodian's courts. Likewise, Mr. Mam Sonando, Director and owner of the independent FM station 105 (Beehive Radio) and President of the non-governmental organisation Democrats' Association, remains detained after the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh refused to release him on bail pending his appeal. An outspoken critic of the Government's human rights record, including serious and systematic violations of land and housing rights, Mr. Sonando was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 10 million riels on October 1, 2012.

Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Cambodian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Ms. Yorm Bopha and Messrs. Born Samnang, Sok Sam Oeun and Mam Sonando, and to put an end to the judicial harassment against them.

The authorities should also put an end to the judicial harassment of Mr. Chan Soveth, Senior Investigator and Deputy Head of the Monitoring Section for the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) - who was first summoned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in August 2012 to answer questions in relation to his human rights work. The hearing was delayed, and on December 24, 2012, Mr. Chan Soveth appeared before Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Investigating Judge. He was not charged, but the case remains pending.

The past year saw an increase in arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, judicial harassment of defenders, and even the killing of key activists with impunity, as recently recalled in a report published on December 10, 2012 by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO). The Observatory thus reiterates its call to the Cambodian authorities to put an end to any act of harassment against human rights defenders in Cambodia, in compliance with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties ratified by Cambodia.

We express our sincere hope that you will take these considerations and requests into account.

Yours sincerely,

Souhayr Belhassen FIDH President

Gerald Staberock OMCT Secretary General

Thailand: PAD asks Govt not to accept ICJ ruling

• Published: 8/01/2013 at 02:23 PM
• Online news: 

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has formally submitted a seven-point proposal for the government not to accept the International Court of Justice's(ICJ) pending ruling over the Thai-Cambodian border dispute.

The proposal was submitted by Panthep Puapongpan, a PAD core member, to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
In the first point of the proposal, the PAD asked the government to officially declare that the ICJ does not have the jurisdiction to interpret the 1962 judgement, which awarded ownership of the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia but left the 4.6 sq km area surrounding it in dispute.
The ICJ has scheduled for both countries to present an oral statement from April 15 to 19. The ruling is expected to be made in October.

The other points in the proposal are as follows:

- Following the declaration, Thailand would subsequently not be duty-bound to comply with the ICJ's injunction.  It would not have to withdraw troops or police from the disputed area, but push a Cambodian community out of the Thai soil.

- Thailand should then develop relationship particularly with countries which are members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to make sure that its territorial sovereignty would not be be infringed on.

- The Thai government must reiterate that other UN members cannot interfere in Thailand's internal affairs, citing  provisions in the UN Charter.

- Thailand must not return to be a member of Unesco's World Heritage Convention.

- The government should stop the Foreign Ministry's plan to hire academics with a budget of 7.1 million baht to campaign on state media for the Thai people to accept the ICJ's ruling, even if it could mean a loss of territory to Cambodia.

- The government should take action to expedite the release of Veera Somkwamkid and Ratree Pipattanapaiboon, members of the Thai Patriots Network, who have been imprisoned in Cambodia for alleged spying and border encroachment.

Mr Panthep said the PAD would consider taking action, which might be a mass rally, if the government did not respond to the proposal.

UNITED KINGDOM: University applications down

Guardian06 January 2013 Issue No:253

 

 The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has expressed concern about the potential impact of tuition fees, after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications, writes Peter Walker for the Guardian.

Data from UCAS showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candidates up to 17 December, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-year fall seen in earlier UCAS figures, the looming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to £9,000 (US$14,600).

A breakdown of the UCAS figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% and 0.5% for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

Full report on the Guardian site

UNITED STATES: Ratings at a price for smaller universities

The New York Times06 January 2013 Issue No:253

 

For a certain kind of European, Asian or Latin American institution, the release of the world university rankings each autumn is an exercise in humiliation. Though often long established, and with good local reputations, these schools lack the endowments, research facilities and sheer size needed to compete with US and British powerhouses like Harvard, MIT, Cambridge and Stanford, writes DD Guttenplan for The New York Times.

So when Quacquarelli Symonds, the London-based company behind the QS World University Rankings, announced “a new initiative that gives universities the opportunity to highlight their strength” by paying a fee for the chance to be rated on a scale of one to five stars, the business case was obvious. But so, say critics, was the potential for conflicts of interest. The fees had already been announced in 2010, but the initiative was not introduced fully until this year.

Ben Sowter, head of the QS Intelligence Unit, which oversees both the ratings and the rankings, said there was no favouritism in QS’s system. “Just because accreditation agencies charge the universities, that doesn’t mean they are biased,” he said.

Full report on The New York Times site
 

GLOBAL: A focus on skills increasingly links higher education with employment

Yojana Sharma06 January 2013 Issue No:253

 

The attention of education policy-makers and the international education community is moving away from raising literacy levels and increasing access to secondary and higher education, towards skills required by the workforce to promote economic growth.

This became increasingly evident during the past year in the richest countries. Recognition of the issue is also growing in emerging economies and middle-income countries, and is likely to be a major debate in developing nations as discussion on what should succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) takes centre stage in the next two years.

Higher education experts say that universities are coming under increasing pressure to ensure that their graduates are ‘employable’, although preparation for ‘employability’ is still only rarely incorporated in university courses, and the skills that could make a difference in finding employment and ways to deliver those skills are still not evident.

“There is growing awareness of the need to link education to employment,” said Nicholas Burnett, managing director of the Results for Development Institute in Washington, DC, and a former assistant director general for education at UNESCO where he was head of the Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report.

“The global recession or slowdown is provoking a reaction that there may be a problem on the supply side – that you’ve got all this unemployment because people don’t have the right skills,” said Burnett.

Deborah Roseveare, head of the Skills Beyond Schools Division of the OECD’s Education Directorate in Paris, said there was a shift towards looking at skills and their effective utilisation.

In richer countries, demographics change as more workers retire, and economic restructuring as workers become displaced by technology and globalisation, mean that “it is difficult to get back to [the stage] where the skillset can be used”, said Roseveare.

“Moving forward, we are working with individual countries on how they can improve skills,” she told University World News, “it is not just about a better match of skills and jobs but what kind of economic environment is needed to achieve a more high-skilled equilibrium.”

Major reports

A raft of major reports from international and regional organisations published in the second half of 2012 have referred to the skills agenda, with November’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report from UNESCO focused on youth and skills, and the World Bank’s just-published World Development Report 2013 focused on jobs.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released its report Improving Transitions from School to University to Workplace in November. And in the Arab World a large number of reports on education and unemployment followed the Arab Spring of 2011.

Jouko Sarvi, ADB’s education practice leader, said at the ADB report’s launch: “In addition to improving quality of higher education, an increase in attention is needed to improve relevance of higher education.”

“Higher education systems and institutions are under pressure to reform to provide adequate skills and knowledge for the evolving labour markets. This is increasingly important in countries which are moving towards middle-income country status and aspiring to become knowledge economies, increasing the demand for higher skills.”

Gerard Postiglione, a professor of education at Hong Kong University and a contributor to the ADB report, notes that higher education expanded rapidly in Asia; and when this happens misalignment with workplace needs grows. “The consequence of poor alignment is rising unemployment,” he told University World News.

Supply-side focus

But Postiglione also suggests there may be too much focus in Asia and internationally on the supply-side problem, or students and graduates. And there is no one-size-fits-all solution to aligning it with demand. “Each country has to look at each part of the labour market that is taking off,” he said.

Few of the experts in the many reports released recently are suggesting a reduction in the number of graduates being produced.

Instead, higher education must diversify, according to Postiglione, to provide the right mix of more vocational skills that serve the labour market, and higher-end research and science graduates that can fuel innovation for economic growth.

Consulting firm McKinsey & Company dissects the reasons behind what it calls the “twin crises of a shortage of jobs and a shortage of skills” in its report, Education to Employment: Designing a system that works, released late last year.

The McKinsey report suggests companies should become more involved in devising university courses to make graduates more employable.

But it also suggests that the shortage of employment opportunities is compounded by a lack of workplace training in the nine countries studied in the McKinsey report, including India, Turkey and Brazil.

The OECD also talks about teaching transferable skills and says education is “more effective” if learning and the world of working are “better integrated”.

Examples of such integration are still few and far between. When asked what “skills” they are looking for, companies tend to point to more generic, soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.

“The question is how do we know if society and its workforce as a whole have the level or mix of soft skills to function properly?” said Postiglione.

Developing countries

Major global initiatives to increase education participation in developing countries, such as the MDGs and EFA, have also seen a shift in thinking.

“In the past the focus was still on enrolment; now it is more on skills in both secondary and higher education,” said Burnett. The future agenda of the MDGs and EFA, post-2015, “will surely have things to do with economic growth and employment”.

UNESCO’s release in May of the UN system task team report on Education and Skills for Inclusive and Sustainable Development beyond 2015 notes that, “the most recent developments in the knowledge society and the subsequent changes in the world of work at the global level are raising skill/qualifications requirements for job entry and subsequently demand for a more knowledgeable and skilled workforce”.

This suggests a continued need for higher-qualified workers in developing countries.

But “in the past the focus was on delivering education; now it is on learning outcomes", according to Andreas Schleicher, advisor on education to the OECD secretary general, pointing out that now “accumulating knowledge matters a lot less”.

Much of that knowledge, Schleicher noted in a speech at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), in Doha, Qatar in early November, can be googled.

But “without the right skills, people languish on the margins of society, technological progress doesn’t translate into economic growth, and countries can’t compete in today’s economies”, said Schleicher.

More education is not enough

However, at a time when university enrolments have been rising around the world, Schleicher also noted that “more education doesn’t automatically translate into better skills and better lives”.

OECD Secretary General Ángel Gurría pointed out that in Egypt last year 1.5 million young people were unemployed, at the same time as 600,000 vacancies couldn’t be filled.

And the McKinsey report found that 53% of Indian employers were unable to fill entry-level vacancies mainly because new graduates lacked the right skills.

The European Commission in Brussels noted that while the European Union youth unemployment rate is close to 23%, some two million job vacancies cannot be filled.

“Europe needs a radical rethink on how education and training systems can deliver the skills needed by the labour market,” according to the Commission in its Rethinking Education strategy in November, intended “to encourage member states to take immediate action to ensure that young people develop the skills and competences needed by the labour market”.

“To unlock the full potential of education as a driver for growth and jobs, member states must pursue reforms to boost both the performance and efficiency of their education systems,” according to the European Commission.

But while the problem has been widely identified in all of these reports, concrete solutions are harder to come by. “As difficult as it is to figure out what skills matter, it is harder to figure out what this means for the design of education systems,” Schleicher admitted at WISE.

“We need to understand those skills that actually make a difference. We need to deliver those skills in much more effective and equitable ways,” said Schleicher.

But with a constantly shifting work environment, the skills that can “make a difference” are hard to pin down. “Perhaps the most important skill in the 21st century is to be adaptable,” suggested Postiglione.

CHINA: New academic misconduct laws may not be adequate to curb cheating

Yojana Sharma12 August 2012 Issue No:234

 

New laws to clamp down on academic cheating at China’s universities could come into effect later this year as the rampant problems of plagiarism, falsification, lying about credentials and research papers and other misconduct continue unabated in higher education.

But some experts say the measure will not be adequate to curb cheating, and others dismissed the release in March of the regulations for public consultation as a government ploy to placate a restive public that something is being done about misconduct. The consultation ends on 16 August.

Under the draft regulation to “effectively prevent and curb academic misconduct” in higher education, students and doctoral candidates will be disqualified if they are found to have committed plagiarism or fraud.

Degrees that have already been awarded will be revoked if misconduct is found to have occurred, and transgressors could face a ban on obtaining other degrees for three years.

The Ministry of Education released the draft law after China’s universities failed to crack down on plagiarism, despite being deemed responsible by the ministry for investigating and dealing with cheating.

The government is also concerned that the proliferation of cases is affecting the global reputation of China’s universities and research.

Shortly before the draft was released Yan Xijun, a deputy of the National People’s Congress, was quoted in official media as saying that “academic misconduct seriously impacts on the social credibility of scientific research and provides a hotbed for corruption.

“Academic cheating has widened from academic papers to the high-tech fields, which not only involves young students but also senior experts,” said Yan.

Problem of compliance

Yan said: “Although lots of measures have been carried out to enhance academic ethics, it is still [too] weak to curb academic dishonesty. Laws and regulations are needed to standardise academic fraud and a public supervision system is needed as well as an investigation department.”

However, Cao Xinglong, an assistant associate professor in the school of law at City College of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, said: “These so-called new laws are really not new. Similar laws have appeared in many regulations of the [Education] Ministry, but the ministry had little intention of carrying them out.”

Rather than issuing new laws, the government needed to ensure compliance, Cao told University World News. Instead, academia largely polices itself and the law plays little or no role.

Even top universities have been reluctant to act, although plagiarism and falsified data are clearly a problem, according to professors who have spoken out in recent years.

Punishments set out

The latest draft regulations set out punishments to be meted out, but do not define what constitutes plagiarism or fraud. For example, the State Council (roughly equivalent to cabinet) or provincial academic degree committees can revoke universities’ rights to grant degrees if multiple academic fraud cases are found.

Supervising professors of students who commit fraud can be suspended or removed from their posts.

The new regulations said institutions must “supervise original experiment data” and set up an independent investigation body to identify fraudulent activity, although not all powers will be in the university’s hands. “The legitimate rights of those suspected of academic wrongdoing should be protected,” according to the draft.

Xiong Bingqi, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was quoted in Chinese media as saying administrative punishment was not enough to root out rampant plagiarism and other misconduct. “To standardise academic norms is more important,” Xiong said.

New areas of fraud emerging

For example, there are areas that can be hard to pin down. Last month an international journal, Experimental Parasitology, retracted an article by He Guangzhi of Guiyang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The alarm was raised only because the email addresses provided for supposed peer reviewers appeared to be false.

The publisher, Elsevier, said in a retraction notice that it had launched a “full investigation” of the author and his published and ‘in review’ papers. “From this the extent of the fraud was determined.”

Moreover, more instances are coming to light where researchers or doctoral students in China have simply ‘lifted’ laboratory findings and published them as their own, before those who actually did the work could do so, according to other retraction notices issued this year by international journals.

Other high-profile cases have been revealed by Fang Shimin, an outspoken campaigner against academic misconduct, who highlights cases on the micro-blogging site Sina Weibo under his pseudonym Fang Zhouzi.

Fang has noted that a minuscule number of cases of academic corruption result in any kind of punishment, and most of these involve students rather than academics.

High-profile dismissals

In one highly publicised case, Xiamen University dismissed Fu Jin, a professor in its medical college who claimed to have a pharmacology degree from Columbia University but was found to have forged the qualification.

In another recent case Jun Lu, an assistant professor at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, was fired after he attempted to pass off as his own several articles in top English-language journals as well as postdoctoral experience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by an academic of the same name now at Yale University, the Shanghai Daily and the Beijing Times reported at the end of July.

But such sackings are unusual. And the two cases were revealed by Fang through his dogged investigations, rather than through university or ministry investigations.

The timing of the new regulations may be significant. Cao said that with a politically charged atmosphere in the country at present, “common people in China realise that academic misconduct is a part of the corruption of political activities – many academics are politically appointed”.

He added that the timing of the regulations was an attempt by the ministry to show that academic misconduct was a problem for universities to tackle rather than to do with government inaction or ‘government delinquency’.

Government-led anti-corruption campaigns are common at times of public dissatisfaction against the authorities, often as a way of appeasing the public and assuring them that problems are being dealt with, China experts said.

China: Regulation on academic fraud hopes to reduce plagiarism

Yojana Sharma06 January 2013 Issue No:253

 

new Ministry of Education regulation to punish academic fraud came into effect on 1 January, to clamp down on plagiarism and fabricating research data, as well as buying, selling or organising trade in academic degree theses, including all forms of ‘ghostwriting’ or buying of materials produced by essay mills.

According to the regulation, institutions can withhold graduate, postgraduate or doctoral degrees if plagiarism or fraud is committed in the writing of dissertations.

Degrees already awarded can be revoked and the students in question will be banned from applying for further degrees within three years, according to the official China Daily newspaper.

In addition the students, tutors and other college officials involved can be suspended, removed from their post or expelled from the university as punishment.

An earlier draft of the regulation, published when it was put out for consultation last July, also stipulated that institutions with “too many” fraud cases may have their licence to grant degrees revoked by the authorities.

The regulation, seen as part of a broader campaign to stamp out academic misconduct, which is harming the country’s reputation internationally, is being described in state-run media as the “first of its kind” in the country.

It comes after universities have failed to crack down on plagiarism in recent years. This is despite previous strongly worded Education Ministry circulars, sent to universities in 2009 and 2010, making them responsible for detecting and investigating academic fraud. Yet little action was taken by universities.

Nonetheless, the number of institutions introducing computer software to detect academic fraud has increased, with China’s state radio reporting last June that some 60 institutions had such plagiarism detection software, and another 550 institutions were using an academic research database developed by China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database, which would allow them to compare essays with published research.

But according to reports on the microblogging site Sina Weibo, ghostwriting services are already advertising special rates to produce dissertations that can “beat the software”.

Almost a dozen known essay mills, such as Hanlin Centre and Wenbo Research, continue to openly advertise ghostwriting services in China, and some offer “zero plagiarism” services.

Some experts say it will take a long time to crack down on plagiarism because the reasons for it are complex and rooted in a system that provides monetary reward to academics for publishing papers, and that protects higher level academics from being ousted from their posts.

Academics need to be trained in ethics and how to properly cite other people’s work, according to experts.

Zhao Guanyin, a professor at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told official China radio recently that the issue needed to be tackled in its entirety.

“The regulation makers need to think about all the reasons leading to academic fraud,” Zhao said. “Another thing is how to implement the regulations effectively. Without such implementation they would be useless."

Top 10 Law Firms in the Kingdom of Cambodia

Chambers and Partners - Home

1 Bun & Associates

THE FIRM Sources single out this firm as a market leader, highlighting its increasing appeal to foreign clients. The team's key areas of expertise include banking, foreign investments, real estate and commercial litigation. In the past year, it advised Minebea on business establishment and foreign investment regulations. Other key clients include CIMB Bank, HwangDBS Commercial Bank and Ajinomoto.

Sources say: "We found their service comprehensive and responsive, which enabled us to meet our deadlines. The team was very professional and dedicated."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Youdy Bun is "dynamic, committed and has an international outlook." He recently advised a major local company on the acquisition of a USD60 million brewery plant. His impressive client roster also includes several foreign banks operating in Cambodia. Antoine Fontaine is a popular choice among international firms, and is most noted for his work with French clients.

2 DFDL

THE FIRM DFDL's depth of resources and strong Indochina presence make the firm a popular choice for complex, cross-border deals in the region. With tax advisers on the team, it is able to provide clients with all-round advice that encompasses both legal and tax aspects. The firm is particularly well known for project finance deals. It was instructed by Export-Import Bank of China in a USD300 million hydropower project to be developed in Pursat province in Cambodia. Real estate is another area of strength; the team recently advised the Royal Group of Companies on the acquisition of Hotel Cambodiana.

Sources say: "Their cross-country presence works tremendously in their favour." "They are fantastic in Cambodia and have great regional expertise too."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Martin Desautels is well regarded for investment funds and project finance matters. He proves particularly popular with foreign banks. Commentators report: "He has been in the region for a long time and has  very deep knowledge and experience of the sectors and ministries here. He's also incredibly client-focused and ensures that we get the service we want from DFDL."

3 Sciaroni and Associates

THE FIRM This firm has a long and distinguished track record in advising foreign clients on their inbound investments. Commentators single out the team's strong relationship with the government as one of its greatest strengths. It is particularly active in the areas of property development, agriculture, telecoms and mining.
Sources say: "A top-tier, well-established firm."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Bretton Sciaroni is an adviser to the Cambodian authorities and is the first port of call for clients with government-related issues. Matthew Rendall is best known for his substantial expertise in property matters. Sources commend him for being "a solid practitioner who can pinpoint potential problems before they arise." 

4 BNG Legal 

THE FIRM Clients turn to BNG Legal for its robust foreign investments and company formation practices. Recent highlights for the firm include advising BHP Billiton on compliance with local regulations in areas such as taxation, insurance and labour. The team is also active in the IP arena, handling portfolio maintenance, licensing, anti-counterfeiting and enforcement matters. Its client base also includes Air France, Swift Resources and Leopard Capital.
Sources say: "They are quick to respond and are patient in sitting down with us and discussing the issues in detail."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Naryth Hem is a seasoned practitioner who advises both local and foreign clients on their business operations in Cambodia. One client notes: "He is adept at advising on reaching an agreement between foreign and local investors." Liam Garvey is another leading figure in the team. He is particularly highly regarded for his experience in commercial matters.

5 Bou Nou Ouk & Partners

THE FIRM Ban Nou Ouk & Partners is widely known for its solid litigation practice, particularly in regard to criminal law. It also offers a full range of services in the banking, finance, labour, taxation and real estate areas. The firm is also well versed in advising foreign investors, and has a strong Malaysian and Chinese client base in the garment and manufacturing sectors.
Sources say: "They have strong corporate and litigious practices, and are leaders for criminal matters."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Interviewees highlight Ry Ouk's overseas training as a key draw for international clients. They also single out his negotiating skills: "He's a very forthright negotiator who is not afraid to take a stand and defend it."

6 HBS LAW

THE FIRM This firm stands out for its extensive capability in litigious matters, including IP and criminal cases. Its commercial practice is another core strength. It also advises on banking, telecoms, property and infrastructure matters. The firm attracts both local and foreign clients, with the latter coming from China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.
Sources say: "HBS has a very strong contentious practice."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Clients take great comfort in the high level of commitment they get from managing director Ly Tayseng. He advises foreign investors on company formation issues, and also handles dispute resolution, including international commercial arbitration.

7 Sok & Heng

THE FIRM Sok & Heng was founded in March 2010 and has already secured a prominent position in the market. Sources underline the full-service firm's strength in advising international clients. Its recent highlights include advising WING Cambodia on various matters, including revising mobile network operator agreements and general corporate governance. The group also acted for Malaysian-listed company Golden Land in the acquisition of approximately 30,000 hectares of concession land.

Sources say: “The firm is professional, thorough and extremely knowledgeable in Cambodian law.”

KEY INDIVIDUALS Heng Chhay advises clients on corporate and commercial work, and is particularly highly regarded for property matters. Clients report: “Working with someone like Chhay is a breath of fresh air because he's truly informed about the laws and the frequent changes that occur within the legal system.” Khavan Sok is praised as "a shrewd negotiator and talented problem solver – he is able to articulate the laws in an easily comprehensible manner."

8 Sok Siphana & Associates 

THE FIRM This boutique excels in advising on international trade and corporate law. It is sought out by multinational firms for its expertise in the real estate, agriculture and tourism industries. It recently advised the Leopard Cambodia Fund on its investments in local projects. The team also acted on a joint venture between a Thai holding company and a Cambodian firm for the trading and manufacturing of agricultural chemical products.

Sources say: "The firm has extensive knowledge of the Cambodian market and is well versed in the local laws and regulations."

KEY INDIVIDUALS Seasoned practitioner Siphana Sok is lauded for his expertise in commercial matters. "He's among the top Cambodian lawyers, someone whom I respect enormously," a peer affirms. Sok's wealth of experience includes holding top posts in Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce, the International Trade Centre and a joint agency of the WTO and UNCTAD.