Tuesday 19 June 2012

បទ​បញ្ជា​សម្តេច​ហ៊ុន សែន​គួរ​តែ​ត្រូវ​ពិនិត្យ​ឡើង​វិញ


គោរព​លោក​ការីនិពន្ធ
ដោយ​សារ​តែ​បទ​បញ្ជា​របស់​សមេ្ដច ហ៊ុន សែន មិន​សូវ​មាន​តម្លៃ សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ ​ប្រជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​កម្ពុជា​មើល​ឃើញ​ថា​ ហាក់​ដូច​ជា​មាន​ភាព​អនាធិបតេយ្យ​សម្បើម​ណាស់ ហើយ​បទ​បញ្ជា​ទាំង​អស់​នោះ ពុំ​មែន​ហាក់​ដូច​ជា​គ្មាន​តម្លៃ​នោះ​ទេ ​និយាយ​ឲ្យ​ចំទៅ​ គឺ​អត់​តម្លៃ​តែ​ម្តង។ ខ្ញុំ​លើក​ឧទារហណ៍​ជាក់​ស្តែង ដូច​ជា​បទ ល្មើស​ព្រៃ​ឈើ បទ​ល្មើស​នេសាទ បទ​ល្មើស​ការ​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​អាវុធ​ខុស​ច្បាប់​ជា​ដើម ។ល។ ​និង ។ល។ ឯ​ស្តង់ដារ​ក្នុងការ​អនុវត្ត​ច្បាប់​វិញ​ហាក់​ដូចជា​មាន​លក្ខណៈ​ខុស​គ្នា ​ នៅ​តាម​តំបន់ និង​បាន​អនុវត្ត​ដោយ​រើស​មុខ។

ខ្ញុំ​សូម​លើក​យក​បទ​ល្មើស​មួយ​ជាក់​ស្តែង ​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធការ​ប្រើប្រាស់​កាំភ្លើង​ខុស​ច្បាប់ និង​បាញ់​បោះ​សេរី​ នៅ​តាម​ភោជនីយដ្ឋាន ហាង​ផឹក​ស៊ី​នៅ​ទូទាំង​ប្រទេស។ កន្លង​មក​បទ​ល្មើស​ជាច្រើន ​នៅ​តាម​បណ្តា​ហាង​ផឹក​ស៊ី ដែល​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​វាយ​តប់ នៅ​តាម​បណ្តា​ខេត្ត ក្រុង កន្លែង​ដែល​គ្មាន​ខ្នង​គឺ​ត្រូវ​គេ​បិទ តែ​បើក​ន្លែង​ដែល​មាន​ខ្នង គេ​បិទ តែ​មួយ​ប៉ប្រិច​ភ្នែក រួច​បើក​វិញ ហើយ​បើ​កន្លែង​ដែល​មាន​ខ្នង​ក្រាស់​គឺ​អត់​បិទ​ទេ ទោះ​ជា​បទ​ល្មើស​នោះ ជាក់​ស្តែង​ផ្អើល​ម៉ា​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ ក៏​ហាង​ដែល​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធនឹង​បទ​ល្មើស​នោះ​ មិន​ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​បិទ​ដែរ មិន​ដឹង​ថា​មកពីហេតុ​អ្វី? ដូច​ជា​ករណី​វាយ​ចៅ​ក្រម​នៅ​មណ្ឌល​គិរី លោក ហ៊ុន សែន បញ្ជា​ឱ្យ​គេ​ចាប់​ជន​ល្មើស ទោះ​ជាអ្នក​នោះ​គឺ​ជា​កូន​ប្រសា​ចៅ​ហ្វាយ​ខេត្ត​ក៏​ដោយ។

ចុះ​ករណី​នៅ​រតន​គិរី អ្នក​បើក​ហាង​ផឹក​ស៊ី​មាន​អង្គ​រក្ស ប្រើ​កាំភ្លើង ហើយ​វាយ​តប់​គេ​ស្ទើរ​ងាប់ ហេតុ​អ្វី​ក៏​មក​ដល់​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ​បែរ​ជា​ស្ងាត់​អត់​ទាន់​ស្រែក​មួយ​ម៉ាត់​ទៅ​ វិញ? ហើយ​ករណី​នេះ​ កើត​ចំកូន​តំណាង​រាស្ត្រ   គណបក្ស​ប្រជាជន​គ្នា​ឯង ​ដែល​ត្រូវ​ជា​ប្អូន​លោក ប៊ូ ថង សមាជិក​អចិន្រៃ្តយិ៍​ការិយាល័យ​នយោបាយ​មជ្ឈិម​បក្ស​ថែម​ទៀត ឬ​ក៏​ម្ចាស់​ហាង ​ដែល​ឲ្យ​អង្គរក្ស​ប្រើ​កាំភ្លើង វាយ​ក្បាល​កូន​តំណាង​រាស្ត្រ ប៊ូ ឡាំ មាន​ខ្នង​ធំ​ជាង លោក ប៊ូ ឡាំ? ដល់​ថ្នាក់​កូន​តំណាង​រាស្ត្រ ប៊ូ ឡាំ ក៏​គេ​ហ៊ាន​វាយ​ដែរ​ មិន​ឲ្យ​និយាយ​ថា​ ខ្នង​ធំ​ជាង​ម្តេច​បាន? ថា​វាយ ក៏វាយ​ចុះ គឺ​​មក​ពី​កូន​លោក ប៊ូ ឡាំ មាន​កំហុស​ដែរ តែ​ឋានៈត្រឹម​ថៅ​កែ​ហាង​មួយ​សោះ​ មាន​អង្គរក្ស មាន​កាំភ្លើង​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​យក​ទៅ​វាយ​គេ​នោះ បាន​កាំភ្លើង​ពីណា​ នរណា​ចេញ​លិខិត​ឲ្យ​ប្រើប្រាស់​? ហើយ​រហូត​មក​ទល់​ថៃ្ង​នេះ ហាង​នោះ​ នៅ​តែ​អាច​ដំណើរ​ការ​លក់​ដូរ​បាន​ទៀត​តើ​ហេតុ​អ្វី? ខ្ញុំ​នៅ​ចាំ​បាន​ថា លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ធ្លាប់​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​អះអាង​ថា អ្នក​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​កាំភ្លើង​ខ្លី លុះ​ត្រា​តែ​មាន​ឋានៈ​ពី​ថ្នាក់​វរសេនីយ៍ទោ ឡើង​ទៅ តែ​សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ​កុំ​ថា​ឡើយ​វរសេនីយ៍ទោ ព្រិន្ទបាល​ឯក​ក៏មាន​សិទ្ធិ​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ដែរ ។ ខ្លះ​អត់​មាន​ទាំង​ដោយ​ផង ករណី​ដូច​ជា កែន សារ៉ា មន្ត្រី​ខុទ្ទកាល័យ​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន ផ្ទាល់ ​ដែល​បាញ់​បោះ​សេរី ហើយ​ត្រូវ​សមត្ថ​កិច្ច​ចាប់​ដាក់​គុក​ កាល​ពី​អំឡុង​​ចូល​ឆ្នាំ​ខ្មែរ​នោះ​ជា​ដើម។ ការ​សរសេរ​នេះ​ពុំ​មែន​មាន​ន័យ​ ថា​ ផ្ចាញ់​ផ្ចាល​សម្តេច ហ៊ុន សែន ទេ តែ​ក្នុង​នាម​ប្រជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​ម្នាក់ គ្រាន់​តែ​ចង់​ជូន​ជា​ព័ត៌មាន​ថា សូម​សម្តេច​គួរ​តែ​ត្រួត​ពិនិត្យ​ឡើង​វិញ​នូវ​រាល់​បទ​បញ្ជា​របស់​សម្តេច ជា​ពិសេស គឺ​បទ​បញ្ជា​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​ប្រើ​កាំភ្លើង​នេះ។ សម្តេច​ធ្លាប់​នៅ​ចាំ​បាន​ទៀត​ទេ សម្តេច​ធ្លាប់​បាន​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា គណបក្ស​ប្រឆាំង ​បើ​ដឹង​ថា​ មាន​កាំភ្លើង​តែ​មួយ​ដើម អ្នក​ឯង​នឹង​អាយុ​ខ្លី! ចុះ​ឋានៈ​ត្រឹម​ថៅ​កែហាង​មួយ ហើយ​នៅ​ឯ​ខេត្ត​ទៀត តែ​មាន​អង្គ​រក្ស​ប្រើ​កាំភ្លើងខ្លី ហេតុ​អ្វី​ក៏​គ្មាន​ទោស? បើ​តាម​កាសែត​ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​កន្លង​មក ​ម្ចាស់​ហាង​មាន​ឈ្មោះ លី សុខ​ងីម ស្គាល់​ទាំង​ម្ចាស់​ច្បាស់​យ៉ាង​នេះ​ ច្បាស់​ទៅ​ហើយ ចុះចៅ​ហ្វាយខេត្ត​លោក​ ប៉ាវ ហម​ផាន រវល់​ធ្វើ​អី បាន​ជា​ធ្វើ​មិន​ដឹង មិន​ឮ​ដែរ ឬ​ក៏​ចាំ​ទាល់​តែ​សម្តេច​ស្រែក​បាន​ធ្វើ? វា​ចម្លែក​ដែរ នៅ​ទូទាំង​ប្រទេស បើ​មាន​ករណី​បែប​នេះ​ឋានៈ​ត្រឹម​អភិបាល​ស្រុក ​ក៏​គេ​មាន​អំណាច អាច​ឲ្យ​បិទ ឬ ផ្អាក​សិន​ដែរ តែ​នេះ​ស្ងាត់​ច្រៀប​ ទាំង​អភិបាល​ស្រុក ទាំង​អភិបាល​ខេត្ត ទាំង​តុលាការ ឬ​ក៏​ម្ចាស់​ហាង លី សុខ​ងីម នោះ​ មាន​បុណ្យ​ស័ក្តិ​ធំ​ជាង​ចៅ​ហ្វាយ​ខេត្ត?

 វា​អា​ក្រក់​មើល​ពេក​ណាស់ និង​បង្ហាញ​ពីភាព​កម្សោយ​ពេក ដល់​ថ្នាក់​ចៅហ្វាយ​ខេត្ត​មិន​ដឹង​ថា ​ធ្វើ​ស្អី​ថៅ​កែ​ហាង​មួយ​កើត វា​ខូច​ទាំង​តម្លៃ នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី​ថែម​ទៀត។  ប៉ុន្តែ​ថា​ចៅ​ហ្វាយ​ខេត្ត​ចុះអ៊ីចឹង ចុះ​តុលា​ការ​ខេត្ត​យ៉ាង​ម៉េច​ដែរ លោក​ព្រះ​រាជ អាជ្ញា យ៉ាង​ណា បាន​ជា​ស្ងាត់​ដែរ ខ្ញុំ​មិន​ជឿ​ថា​ ជន​រង​គ្រោះ​មិន​ប្តឹង​នោះ​ទេ ឬក៏​ស្តង់​ដា​រច្បាប់​នៅ​ស្រុក​ខ្មែរ ខុស​គ្នា? ដូច​ជា​ក្រុម​ដែល​ត្រូវ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​ចោទ​ថា​ ប៉ុន​ប៉ង​បង្កើត​តំបន់​អប​គមន៍ បាន​ត្រូវ​បញ្ជា​ឲ្យ​ដេញ​ប៉ផាប់​ចាប់ព​ភីង ដូច​ករណី​ស្ត្រី​នៅ​បឹង​កក់ និង​ទំនាស់​ដីធ្លី​ផ្សេងៗ​ទៀត​ជា​ដើម។

 ចំណែក​ឯក​ឧត្តម ស ខេង សូម​មេត្តា​ពិនិត្យ​ខេត្ត រតន​គិរី នេះ​ផង ចៅ​ហ្វាយ​ខេត្ត​មុនៗ មិន​សូវ​សម្បូរ​រឿង​អាស្រូវ​ដូច​សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះទេ លើក​លែង​តែ​ករណី​កាប់​ឈើ តែ​ឥឡូវ​ក្រោម​ការ​គ្រប់​គ្រង​របស់​លោក​ ប៉ាវ ហម​ផាន សម្បូរ​រឿង​ណាស់ ឃាត​កម្ម កាប់ចាក់​ក៏​សម្បូរ ចោរ​ប្លន់​ក៏​ញឹក មាន​អា​ប្លន់​មក​ពី​ខេត្ត​ក្រៅ​ពួនសម្ងំ​នៅ​ក្នុង​ខេត្ត​ក៏​មាន ហើយ​ពី​មុន​ល្បែង​ភ្នាល់​បាល់ ចាក់​កន្ទុយ​លេខ​អត់​មាន​ទេ តែ​ឥឡូវ​ចាប់​ផ្តើម​មាន​ហើយ មិន​ដឹង​ថា​តើ​លោក​អភិបាល​ខេត្ត​បាន​ដឹង​ឬ​អត់?
ដោយ​ កាន់ វិរៈ

Standards out for tourism officials


A tourist poses for a photograph at Angkor Wat, in Siem Reap province, earlier this year. Photograph: Sreng Meng Srun/Phnom Penh Post

Tuesday, 22 May 2012, Rann Reuy

Housekeeping and front offices at hotels around Cambodia are set to change as the country prepares to adopt regional standards that all ASEAN nations are trying to put in place.

The draft document on housekeeping and front-office standards, and related training courses, had been finalised by Tourism Ministry officials, Try Chhiv, director of the National Committee for Tourism Professionals, said.

The committee would wait until July, when ASEAN officials send copies of ASEAN’s standard documents, in order to ensure uniformity, he said.

The documents, implemented by trainers, trainees and employers, would become the standard for evaluating professional staff, Try Chhiv said yesterday.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the preparation of services in compliance with ASEAN standards was crucial for Cambodian tourism.

“I want Cambodia to go along with ASEAN,” he said.

Thong Khon said Cambodia did not yet have state-run professional schools for training, but staff were trained by private-sector partners.

Cambodia’s tourism sector employed about 400,000 people and would need twice that number by 2020, Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said.

Cambodian military integrates with Microsoft Lync

Thursday, 31 May 2012, Stuart Alan Becker

The Cambodian Ministry of Defence has begun using Microsoft Lync, an instant messaging client that uses IP protocols, like those used by the internet, to integrate communications from radios to smart phones, enabling secure communications between commanders and troops via many different kinds of mobile devices.

General Manager Sampath Perera of Techenture Consulting, said his firm is proud to be helping the Ministry of Defence integrate their communications with security and speed.

“Basically if you take traditional military communication, you have radio, which is limited to a certain area. The general can be in another country, but with Microsoft Lync he can use his smart phone to talk with radio channels even on the battlefield,” Perera said.

The system runs with Microsoft Lync Server software on computer hardware owned by the client and has built-in high-level encryption, Perera said.

“The advantages are that you don’t really need to throw away the existing systems.  When you integrate the radio systems with Lync, communications are available anywhere in the world.”

Sri Lankan Perera, 28, has been in Cambodia for about four years. He says many other organizations including banks with multiple branches, mobile operators, government agencies and NGOs could benefit from such secure unified communications capability.

“The benefit for a customer with Microsoft Lync is that you can replace the traditional communications system. You can integrate a standard PBX telephone system, Yahoo Messenger, Skype and different applications. When they want to do a phone call they pick up the phone and use Skype. You can integrate all these things because Microsoft now owns Skype,” Perera said.

“The main benefit for business is they don’t need to invest in different devices for different channels of communications.  They need land phones, fax machines, separate emails, chat and instant messaging.  With link you integrate all devices, it saves costs and money on IP administration,” he said.

Giving the example of the Lync system capability using The Phnom Penh Post, Perera said, “If the operator at The Post rings your extension, it will ring your mobile phone. No matter where you are, we get your call to you. If you are a large organisation with many branch offices and a need to call from branch to branch, it costs money.  By using Lync, you can deploy IP communications.”

The cost of the system depends on the number of users, Perera says.

“If you have 30 to 50 users with standard Lync, then we are looking at somewhere like $5,000 for the deployment and that’s just for the software.  With the hardware it would total from $6,000 to $7,000.  The cost is based on the number of client access licenses,” he said.

Sok Siphana’s law firm joins ZICOlaw

Monday, 11 June 2012 Stuart Alan Becker

Lawyer and government advisor Sok Siphana has made his law firm, Sok Siphana & Associates, a member of ZICOlaw, a leading regional law firm based in Kuala Lumpur and focused on the ASEAN region.

ZICOlaw, named for its origins as Zaid Ibrahim & Co, is an integrated network of independent legal and related professional service providers in the ASEAN region with offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia and Dubai.

“We regard it as of paramount importance that we continue to improve and seek out the skills and knowledge base of the firm and this requires significant investment on our part,” Sok Siphana said.

Sok Siphana & Associates was established in 1995, before he left legal practice to serve as the Secretary of State for the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce. In 2009, he resumed his practice and reconstituted his law firm.

“We focus on three specific areas: legal works in relation to the business and investment in Cambodia; international consulting practice, and trade-related technical assistance,” he said.

Expectations exceeded at new dental hospital

 Dr Tith Hongyeou, of the Roomchang Dental and Aesthetic Hospital, speaks to the Post in Phnom Penh. Photograph: Stuart Alan Becker/Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 15 June 2012 Stuart Alan Becker

When Dr Tith Hongyoeu opened Roomchang Dental and Aesthetic Hospital in a new 10-storey building on Street 184 just off Norodom Boulevard six months ago, it was the realisation of a dream come true for a poor boy from Kampong Thom province who grew up tending cows and cutting grass under the Khmer Rouge.

What he’s most proud of is the fact that people no longer need to travel outside Cambodia to get top notch dental care. The American, Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian embassies have all acknowledged Roomchang as a safe place for their staff to get dental work done.

Dr Tith recently signed a contract with the Peace Corps, a US government volunteer service, that enables the young American volunteers in Cambodia to get their dental work done at Roomchang.

In an interview on Wednesday on the six-month anniversary, Dr Tith said Roomchang’s business had exceeded expectations with 150 patients per day, with 50 per cent of them foreigners. “We are the first dental hospital in Cambodia’s history, and we have a big team that can offer every kind of service to the customers. We guarantee that no customer needs to go overseas. We have a big capacity to treat the foreigners from overseas who come here because we have the highest international standard dental services, but we charge local prices.”

Among Dr Tith’s patients are the upper ranks of the Cambodian government, including Prime Minister Hun Sen himself.

Dr Tith says he’s grateful to the Cambodian leadership for creating the conditions for economic stability following a difficult past. He calls on all young Cambodians from the rural areas or the cities to focus on education and to come up with their own dreams.

“By passion they can make their dreams come true like me,” he said.

Dr Tith said his success was the result of a personal strategy of learning new things each day and constantly striving himself to become better. He’s a crusader against laziness.

“Today, I must be better than yesterday and tomorrow I must be doing better than today. Every day I learn new things. Many people are limited because they don’t want to learn new things. I can learn from people selling ice cream or cleaning the road, or people cooking food. Everywhere I go I learn everything.”

He said learning is the key to success in life.

“I have absorbed knowledge that I can utilise and transfer it into development in dentistry. I can learn from the construction worker, electricity from electrician, plumbing, so I can build a hospital.

“You must learn new things every day and you must make it happen. Don’t just talk. Do it. As you start to do it, you will make it true.”

Within Roomchang, Dr Tith is proud of the latest technology, including a centralised suction and compressor system from Germany, dental chairs and X-ray machines from Italy and Japan, as well as a CAD/CAM system from the USA.

“All the material we are using here is the highest standard of material in the industry.”

With 21 dentists and a total of 80 staff members, Dr Tith says he takes pride in taking on the complicated cases personally.

Revenue has increased 40 per cent since opening in December. Next year, 10 additional dental chairs will be added on the fourth floor.

“Presently we have 26 dental chairs.”

The investment in the latest imported dental equipment at Roomchang cost $2.5 million.

Dr Tith says dental treatment at Roomchang costs about 20 per cent of what it costs in the United States or Australia, which puts Cambodia on the map for what he calls dental tourism.

“One root canal in the United States costs about $1,000 and our fee is only $200,” he said.

“The living cost and labour costs are lower here, so we can maintain the fee, but we use the same equipment and material, and in many cases we have better equipment and better material.”

Dr Tith takes hygiene very seriously, with as many disposable products as possible: disposable gloves and single use materials.

He uses the highest graded sterilization systems for the equipment including antiseptic solutions, ultrasonic cleaners, clean water washes and finally a “type B autoclave” which is the highest standard disinfectant procedure.

“We are completely in the high standard, the same as in UK, US or in Germany. Because we are health professionals, we do it thoroughly and step by step.”

The 75 foreigners per day who go through Roomchang are managed through appointments with about eight patients per dentist. Most foreigners are European along with Americans, Australians and citizens of the United Kingdom.

“We welcome to all the tourists who plan to visit Cambodia to save money. For example if they spend $20,000 in their home country for dental work, they can have it done in Cambodia for $4,000.

“We are happy about that. We can provide high quality with the local price. We have a strong policy to offer the maximum benefit to the patient, for the long term predictable result.”

Interestingly, more foreigners have gum disease than Cambodians, which Dr Tith thinks comes from a combination of a diet with fewer vegetables and colder weather, which makes bathing less frequent.

“When foreigners live in Cambodia for two or three years, there is less gum disease,” he said.”With a vegetable-based Asian diet, you have to chew more and the chewing helps to improve the dental structure.”

With a two-pronged approach, for Cambodians and foreigners, Dr Tith says some patents even with difficult dental problems might not need additional treatment for ten to twenty years.

Dr Tith says for Cambodians who have never seen a dentist, he cleans the teeth, does the treatment that is required and tells them to brush after every meal.

“Gum disease causes the most destruction,” he said. “And gum disease happens with everybody, even if you are rich.”

“I feel the public awareness in Cambodia is improving and people need better quality of life, a quality healthcare system and a quality education system. We guide people to improve their quality of life. We are the light for them. They know they have a good dental service,” he said.

In Kampong Thom at the age of six, young Tith started working in the fields, tending cows and cutting grass. He finished high school in 1989 and went to dental school in Phnom Penh in 1990.

“I found that standard of dental education and care was very low. I saw that I could transform this low standard to modern dental healthcare.

“From 1996, I started to travel, to Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, taking short six months courses. In Vietnam, I studied root canals. I went to Malaysia for oral surgery training and to Germany for a two year program.”

In September, Dr Tith will return to Germany for another study program.

CIMB eyes expansion in Cambodia


 CIMB Group chief executive Nazir Razak speaks last week on the sidelines on the CIMB ASEAN Conference in Kuala Lumpur. Photograph supplied 

Monday, 18 June 2012, May Kunmakara

CIMB Bank Cambodia will look to expand into the Kingdom’s fledgling capital market, as well as into its maturing microfinance sector, Nazir Razak, the chief executive of Malaysia’s second-largest bank, CIMB Group, says.

The relatively limited scale of Cambodia’s banking sector, coupled with the more than 30 banks that experts say already overcrowd the space, would push regional banks such as CIMB to diversify their services, Razak said last week on the sidelines of the CIMB ASEAN Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

“We are playing a long-term game. As [Cambodia’s] capital market develops, CIMB wants to get involved as well. We want to look at other deposit-acquisition opportunities, possibly including micro-finance,” Razak said. “We we will look at other avenues to make a bigger impact on the Cambodian market.”

CIMB opened a bank branch in Phnom Penh in late 2010. By the end of next year, it should have 10 to 12 branches, Razake said.

Cambodia must continue to invest in its human resources and technology for the banking sector to catch up with regional standards, Razak said.

Given the the size of the Cambodian market, domestically owned banks would also need to eventually look beyond their borders to find economies of scale, he said.

Malaysian banks such as CIMB, Maybank and Public Bank have done as much in the region, even with a population of 28 million that earned US$8,363 per capita in 2010.

Cambodia’s 14.7 million people brought in slightly more than $900 per head last year, according to Ministry of Economy and Finance data.

Malaysia’s Maybank became an incorporated subsidiary in Cambodia in April, betting on what Maybank CEO Abdul Wahid Omar said was a low banking-penetration rate in the country.

Although the numbers are disputed, a World Bank report released last month showed Cambodia at the bottom of the list in terms of bank use in the Asia-Pacific region.

Only four per cent of Cambodians had formal bank accounts, and just one per cent saved money at a formal financial institution, it said.

Razak noted the sector’s low penetration rate, but agreed with most industry insiders on the need for smaller banks to consolidate.

“My view is that it’s fine if the central bank wants to proliferate the number of licences, but over time the right thing to do is to have consolidation.

“To have fewer, bigger banks is better for the customer as well. You have bigger, safer banks. Banks enjoy economies of scale, which allow them to place their products more efficiently.”

Although Razak did not give a time frame for consolidation, he said the market would most likely end up with about 10 banks.

Attempted murder rap to be appealed

 Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov (l) is escorted outside a court in Phnom Penh in 2008. Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom Penh Post

Former Phnom Penh municipal police chief Heng Pov is appealing his conviction for the attempted murder of Thong Uy Pang, who was the owner and publisher of the Koh Santepheap newspaper.

Kao Soupha, Heng Pov’s defence lawyer, said the Court of Appeal will hear the 55-year-old’s case on June 28.

The crime occurred in 1998 outside a Phnom Penh pagoda, where Thong Uy Pang had travelled to observe an annual commemoration for his deceased mother.

Heng Pov allegedly sent gunmen, including his bodyguard, to ambush Thong Uy Pang. In the shooting, Thong Uy Pang only suffered a minor injury.

“Until now, my client Heng Pov has been charged with eight different criminal cases by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court,” his lawyer told the Post yesterday. “And this month’s appeal is just one” of the cases.

Heng Pov is serving more than 100 years in prison on convictions for multiple crimes, including the assassination of Judge Sok Sethamony.

His attorney said that for the attempted murder of Thong Uy Pang, the court sentenced Heng Pov to 18 years in 2009.

Press reform looks to self-regulation

Thursday, 14 June 2012 Chhay Channyda and Joe Freeman



A high-ranking Cambodian official wants to create a press council that would act as a self-regulating body with the power to field complaints as well as sanction reporters and their media organisations.
Senior minister Om Yin Tieng, head of the Anti-Corruption Unit, endorsed the idea yesterday at a joint workshop between Cambodia and Sweden on press freedom and ethics. Local reporters and editors from a variety of radio stations and newspapers attended the event.

“We don’t want the court to judge,” Om Yin Tieng said, although he said the court would not be taken completely out of the equation.

The new body would not replace incitement and disinformation laws that have been used to put journalists in prison.

Om Yin Tieng said the council would be along the lines of the Cambodian Medical Association, with its authority limited to withdrawing licences, issuing fines, and ordering corrections and apologies.
Although Om Yin Tieng was unclear when or how this new group would operate, the existing model is Sweden’s Press Council, which was established in 1916 and is the oldest of its kind in the world.
The Press Council’s ombudsman, Ola Sigvardsson, flew in to lead the one-day workshop.

He said about 300 complaints a year came to his office, and he rejected roughly 250 of them. If he wants to uphold a complaint, he sends it to the Press Council for approval. Newspapers, magazines and their websites then have to publish the decision.

Although he is unfamiliar with laws governing the press in Cambodia, Sigvardsson said a free and unrestrained media environment was necessary for the Press Council to work.
“Self-regulating must not be confused with self-censorship. That’s when you don’t write sensitive stories about people in power,” he said.

Journalists in attendance warmed to the idea of a Press Council in Cambodia.
“Before [going] to court, we want readers, listeners to react to the working group,” Om Chandara, president of the Khmer Journalists Friendship Association, said. Sek Barisoth, president of the Cambodian Journalists’ Council of Ethics, said it was a good idea but needed to be supported by reporters to work.

Cambodia to cede two villages to Vietnam




Monday, 18 June 2012 Meas Sokchea

Cambodia would have to give two villages to Vietnam if it wanted to retain another two deemed the territory of the Kingdom’s eastern neighbour by the former French Indochina colonial administration, a government minister said yesterday.

Last year, the Cambodian government announced it was speeding up the process of demarcating its borders with Vietnam and Laos, which were renegotiated in 1985, six years after Vietnam ousted the Khmer Rouge.

Va Kimhong, senior minister in charge of the Cambodian Border Affairs Committee, said the government would have to compromise to keep Thlok Trach and Anlung Chrey villages, in Kampong Cham province’s Ponhea Krek district, as part of the border demarcation process.

“We have still kept both the villages the same, but we have an obligation to find any area in Kampong Cham province to give back to Vietnam,” he said. “That is what we call a compromise.”

Va Kimhong did not specify which villages would be given to Vietnam in exchange for retaining the territory, which includes Anlung Chrey, the home town of National Assembly president Heng Samrin.

But Sean Penh Se, president of the NGO alliance Cambodia Border Committee, said from France yesterday that any exchange would be unacceptable without consulting those who stood to lose land from such a deal.

“As I know, the map that France has kept [for us] has [Ponhea] Krek [district] belonging to the Khmer,” he said. “There has never been such an exchange, like an exchange of bread and oranges. [We] must have agreement from all people, because that land does not belong to Mr Va Kimhong and Mr Hun Sen.”

Alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian territory stirs strong passions in the Kingdom and has been a pivotal issue in all of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party’s election campaigns.

Party president Sam Rainsy lives in self-imposed exile in France after receiving more than a decade in jail terms in Cambodia for pulling up a border demarcation post and publishing a Google map to support his claim of Vietnamese encroachment.

SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said yesterday the Vietnamese claim was based on an unacceptable 2005 supplementary treaty to the 1985 Treaty on Delimitation of National Boundaries between the two countries.

“I think Va Kimhong is very wrong. According to the names of the villages, they belong to Cambodia, and since the beginning, we did not agree with the additional treaty since 2005,” he said.

Ros Va, 71, and Chum Chin, 71, residents of Po Preuk village, which neighbours the two villages in question, said they believed the villages were inside Cambodian territory but had been used as hiding places by Vietnamese soldiers during the war with the US.

“Those villages really are Khmer land. It is not confusion,” Ros Va said.

Heng Samrin could not be reached for comment yesterday, but senior Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the National Assembly president had lived in Anlung Chrey village for close to 80 years.

“I have gone [to Heng Samrin’s village] often; it is next to the border. Samdech Heng Samrin has already declared that since he was born. He has lived there since a long time ago,” Cheam Yeap said.

High school sweet hearts: Will it last until marriage?

Wednesday, 13 June 2012 Phearun Chey and Kimsour Song


Tun Meta and Kong Naikeang got married five years after meeting one another in high school.

Their love grew for one another swiftly after they first met, and they decided to continue their Bachelor’s degrees together. After graduating in 2009, they married – an exception to recent trends that show few couples make it to marriage after they transition from studying.

“I always thought about the problems we would face, but you can’t predict everything,” Meta said, who now works as a shipping assistant at Jing Jing Factory in Phnom Penh. “Sometimes we argue, or talk about how we haven’t started a family, or we’re under pressure from society about how we’re not traditional enough.”

Samchan Sovandara, a psychology lecturer at Royal University of Phnom Penh, said that young couples face three main challenges.

The first is money. Unlike the past, young couples need to save up themselves if they want to get married; they can’t rely on their families.

Another obstacle is the young psyche. Many young couples discover that their feelings of love are fleeting, and get bored quickly – which leads to break up or divorce.

Finally, Professor Sovandara said, young couples’ parents don’t have the same modern mindset – therefore, it’s hard for them to agree to a wedding.

So how many young couple do end up staying together once school ends?

Samphoas, who did not want her real name revealed, said that her lover from high school broke her heart once they graduated. After six years of relationship bliss, her boyfriend broke up with her and is now married.

“Don’t have a relationship while studying, because it’s too hard facing all the problems coming from school, families, and the relationship itself,” Somphoas said.

Twenty-five-year-old Yang Kong, a fresh graduate from Technology Institute of Cambodia, said, “I don’t believe many young couples are making it once they graduate – young Cambodians should try to have a permanent job before a lover.”

Chan Krim, 55, a land broker, said that she’s witnessed young heartbreak – and it’s not pretty.

“When their heart is broken,” she said, “I see that their personalities and their academic performances drop sharply.”

But Professor Sovandara thinks that 50 per cent of young lovers have a chance at a successful relationship once school ends. He attributes this success rate to the individuals, instead of outside factors.

“The longer you are with your partner, the less you are able to forget him or her,” he said. “This is what we call ‘long term memory’ – a good way to find love is to spend a lot of time being happy with your partner.”

“Young people in this modern society will tend to overlook the older generation’s culture, and are choosing their own lovers.”

Meta said that the love he has for his wife is the most important part of life.

“When we love each other, we can share our feelings – sadness or happiness – and a feeling that we can help one another through,” he said.

For this week’s Constructive Cambodian, Professor Sovandara weighs in to advise that having a relationship while studying can work out successfully.

He says that for success, the couple needs to focus on prioritising: they need to figure out together how to sustain their relationship, and maintain a healthy balance between work, life and love.

Youth corner: Sok Try

Dear Sam Rany,

Thank for your answer in the May 23 issue of LIFT regarding how to stay green with my bike in Phnom Penh.

So far, I’ve found my own solution to keep my solar-powered bike. Luckily, I have found a parking place nearby. Now, if I want to, I can carry my battery to a charging point. Of course, difficulties still remain. It’s hard to take out the battery in the rain and the box containing the battery is fragile.
Most importantly, I’m saving money on gas and I’m not emitting any gas or noise pollution.

It’s nice to drive so silently.

I’m getting up to a five-hour drive after charging the battery for six hours.

Regards,

Sok Try

Monday 11 June 2012

Letter to editor: Sam Rany, Phnom Penh Post


Dear LIFT,

I had great pleasure in reading Mr Lim Sovannarith’s feedback, position and valued comments about my letter on May 30, 2012. I highly appreciate his fascinating insight into academic research activities, and I recognise some crucial problems that could impact Cambodia’s academic freedom. I support the development of research in the social sciences in our universities. However, I still believe that there are many obstacles facing students conducting this research in particular. The main problems could be impacted on the validity and quality of research findings including human resources, lecturers or academicians’ research capacity, facilities, library resources and financial support. I’ve observed that most universities select only outstanding students to write their thesis in accordance with institutional capacity, while some universities have required all students to write their thesis without thinking about the ratio between students and supervisors as well as their institutional capacity.

Ultimately, I would like to ask some questions: What are the consequences of this academic\ crisis? How many lecturers hold PhD degree in each university? What facilities can offer resources to research students? How many academic papers and textbooks do lecturers publish per year? Why do most universities select so few students to write a thesis?

Sam Rany

Thursday 31 May 2012

Letter send to editor: Feedbak Sam Rany


Dear LIFT,

I am writing to respond to Sam Rany’s letter from the May 23, 2012 issue that attempted to legitimise the ban by the Royal University of Law and Economics on certain graduate thesis topics.

As far as academic freedom is concerned, I was shocked when I read Sam Rany’s letter that tried to justify RULE’s unacceptable ban. The three justifications he used were (1) to prevent graduate students from facing difficulties when doing their thesis on the stock market, because of their limited English proficiency; (2) to avoid the situation that these students will not have supervisors with sufficient qualifications and expertise on the subject-matter; and finally (3) as the result of (1) and (2), to avoid having potential findings of the research that can be misleading, thus negatively causing ‘internal backlash’.

My position is the ban is not in any way appropriate in the academic world.

First, limited English proficiency amongst graduate students across Cambodia is a common barrier in their academic life. Banning research topics that are to be written in English is no solution to this problem. A possible solution one can imagine of is to allow the students to write their thesis in Khmer.

Secondly, graduate students should work on a thesis topic to be supervised by a supervisor who has adequate expertise of that chosen topic. If a university is not able to provide academic support for students to work on certain areas, the university should instead guide those students to work on their research for which the university could provide support.

Thirdly, while research generally generates findings for implications and applications of certain matters, it does not work like math. In a natural society, there can be many studies on one same topic and these studies can also reveal different, and sometimes contradicting, results, if they are accurate at all. Yet that society will not collapse. Rany’s concern about negative internal backlash to be caused by some inaccurate research findings is nothing but groundless.

If Rany’s proposed justifications for the ban are possible at all, I would like to pose a question — why was the ban made for only certain thesis topics as all of Rany’s justifications will apply to virtually all research topics or areas?

Sovannarith Lim
Teacher Educator, Department of English Royal University of Phnom Penh

Sunday 27 May 2012

Letter to Editor: Sam Rany


Dear LIFT,

Having read your article “Should university take stock in your thesis?” (LIFT 121, May 9, 2012), I would like to contribute my personal comments in response. Last February, most mass media and social communication networks had broadcasted and discussed Royal University of Law and Economic’s official announcement prohibiting their students from pursuing certain research topics for their graduation thesis. At that time, some scholars and civil societies considered this as controversial, citing political motivation as a violation of academic freedom. However, I think there are legitimate reasons behind RULE’s ban on certain topics that need to be considered. To begin with, Cambodian students will face many problems with their English proficiency because most documents related to these subjects are written in English. For example, the stock market is a new economic phenomenon in Cambodia. Most universities are lacking library resources with updated documents, textbooks and modern facilities. Students cannot access internet services to download e-books and academic journal papers.

Also, Cambodian universities have a shortage of qualified academics on these subjects who can supervise students’ theses in conformity with international standards. RULE doesn’t have research university status in Cambodia because of the constraints of low public financial support and incentives. Finally, research findings on these banned topics could be wrong, due to the lack of available resources, thereby leading people and organisations to believe information that’s false. Some findings, which may not be true, could cause a negative internal backlash, as well as disturb social stability and even breach confidentiality.

Sam Rany

Sam Rany is a graduate of law at RULE and currently a PhD Candidate at the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Educational Studies.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052356339/LIFT/letter-to-the-editor.html
 

National University of Battambang Engages in International Smart City Project in Greece

Dr. Sam Rany, Vice-Rector who is a representative of H.E. Sok Khorn, Rector of the National University of Battambang, recently spearheaded a...