the khmer news

[Muzik Chart] First top contenders of 2011!

2011-12-01T14:00:00.000+08:00

After greeting the new year of 2011 few days ago, it is time to greet the first top contenders of 2011. This week we have strong new contenders like TVXQ! and Secret ranking high in the charts and qualified among this week's top contenders. Front runners, IU and GD&TOP, are having an advantage of having more than one song qualified this week, can they win Muzik Chart? Well, lets take look at this week's top contenders below.

Credit: Kim Tan Meng
Chart Sources: Bugs, Mnet, Dosirak, Soribada and Monkey3

Forex Open Trading on the Forex market(Forex Newstoday)

2011-09-23T14:45:00.000+08:00

Forex Open Trading on the Forex market involves substantial risks, including complete possible loss of funds and other losses and is not suitable for all members. Client should make an independentu jdgments as to whether trading is appropriate for him/her in light of his/her financial condition, investment experience, risk tolerance and other factors. As a world-leading forex company that has received numerous awards for growth, technology and entrepreneurship More Here

Forex Open Trading on the Forex market(Forex Newstoday)

2011-09-23T14:43:00.000+08:00

Hwang Mi Hee Seoul Moto Show

2011-03-22T11:57:00.000+08:00

Hwang Mi Hee (황미희)
Birthday: January 21, 1982
Height / weight: 174cm / 51kg
Body size: 35-24-35
Hobbies: Movies, music, reading, exercise
Motto: Practice makes perfect
Favorite Car: Porsche, Bentley

Ny Molika Khmer Actress

2011-03-22T11:55:00.000+08:00

the best dress show, also one famous of Cambodia...

Sokun Therayu Khmer Male Singer

2011-03-22T11:54:00.000+08:00

what you dream? the best dream of the future is want to be more popular

Hong kong Actress Vivian Chow Wai Man

2011-03-21T22:56:00.000+08:00

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin, 남쪽 한국 여배우 최 Yeo 진

2011-03-21T22:54:00.000+08:00

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin took some photoshoot for "Story of Woman". Choi Yeo Jin or Choe Yuh Jin is also a model.

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin

South Korean Actress Choi Yeo Jin

한국어 섹시한 레이싱 걸이 황 미 희, Korean sexy Racing Girl Hwang Mi Hee

2011-03-21T22:52:00.000+08:00

Korean Actress Han hyo Joo, 한국어 여배우 한 hyo 파이팅

2011-03-21T22:50:00.000+08:00

Korean Actress Han hyo Joo (한효주) - Vogue Magazine 2009 Covere

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos

2011-03-21T22:49:00.000+08:00

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos. Jeny is a typical thai girl, she looks very pretty and beautiful. Watch her sexy photos...

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos

Typical Thai Girl Jeny Tianposuwan Photos

You have known thai girl?

2011-03-21T22:47:00.000+08:00

Giving you solutions to everything you need to know about the Information on Thailand’s Tourism

asian girl say that...

2011-03-21T22:44:00.000+08:00

You should be responsible what you are doing !!!!!

Khorm Chanchakriya Khmer Star

2011-03-21T19:26:00.000+08:00

Candy Khmer Star

2011-03-21T19:24:00.000+08:00

Chhaiy Lidalane Khmer Singer with New Hair Style

2011-03-21T19:22:00.000+08:00

Chhin Sovanpanha Khmer Singer

2011-03-21T19:20:00.000+08:00

Heng Maradi Khmer Sexy Star

2011-03-21T19:19:00.000+08:00

Kong Chansreymom Khmer New Actress

2011-03-21T19:17:00.000+08:00

Meas Soksophea Khmer Singer

2011-03-21T19:14:00.000+08:00

Border vendors trade concern

2011-03-21T19:01:00.000+08:00

Eav Sroh cuts fruit at a market stall in Aranyaprathet, Thailand, on the Thai-Cambodian border earlier this month. Some say trade has been steadily declining since violence erupted at Preah Vihear in February. Photo by: Cheang Sokha

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:01Cheang Sokha

Poipet, Banteay Meanchey province

OFFICIALS from Cambodia and Thailand say it is business as usual along their border despite the clashes that broke out in early February, but a month later many vendors in the area beg to differ.

Last month’s hostilities were just the latest in a series of clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops along the border near Preah Vihear temple.

Tensions in the area have been heightened since 2008, when UNESCO listed the 11th-century structure as a World Heritage site for Cambodia over Thai objections.

After the recent violence erupted, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged trade between Cambodia and Thailand to continue.

High-ranking officials from Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province and Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, west of Preah Vihear, recently told The Post that the fighting did not affect business between the two countries.

“The trading of goods is proceeding as usual. There is no sign of a drop” in business, said Winai Wittayanugool, vice governor of Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province.

He claimed that more than 10,000 Cambodians make their way into Thailand’s Rung Cloeur market everyday.

“Business operation is [as] usual, and there is not anything cutting off the relationship between the two countries,” he added.

Authorities in Sa Kaeo and Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province have regularly contacted each other when anything has happened along the border to resolve the matter, he said.

His counterpart across the border, Banteay Meanchey Deputy Governor Chhum Vannarith, also said that the exchange of business and trade has not changed and local farmers from Cambodia are exporting rice, corn, cassava and fruit to Thailand.

“Before we were concerned that the border fights between the two countries will affect the people, but we have cooperated and talked to avoid disputes and the situation remains normal,” he said.

But that is not how some vendors see it. Sam Sary, whose wife sells clothes at Aranyaprathet’s Rung Cloeur market near the border at Poipet, said that business has been steadily declining since the fighting resumed in February. Thai businessmen have decreased both the amount of goods they import and export from Cambodia.

“It is difficult to make business here now. The selling is not so good,” he said.

“The people still fear more fighting, that it might erupt anytime.”

Another vendor, 21-year-old Phal Sreysal, who sells second-hand coats to Thailand, said that for almost a year orders have dropped to 2,000 to 3,000 coats a week from 5,000 to 6,000 a week.

“The Thais have dropped their buying recently,” he said.

“We now sometimes face difficulty with money transferring. Since we’ve have border problems, business has been quite difficult,” he said.

The big question for these vendors is whether the violence in Preah Vihear could eventually make its way to Banteay Meanchey, further hurting business.

One vendor, Sam Sary, seems to think not.

“I don’t think the fighting will spread out to this area as this is the international border gate,” he said.

Open licensing would help to cut corruption

2011-03-21T19:00:00.000+08:00

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:00Steve FinchHits: 152

WHEN India conducted an auction for 3G wireless licences last year, generating close to US$15 billion in revenues for the country, the process marked a drastic improvement on licensing for 2G services that took place in 2008.

Although convoluted – the process required 183 rounds of bidding over 34 days – last year’s auction was considerably more transparent than the earlier 2G process in which the IT and Communications Minister A Raja is alleged to have dished out cheap licences to favoured businesses and individuals. He resigned last November and is under investigation for corruption.

In the wake of the 3G licensing scandal engulfing Deputy Prime Minister Nhek Bun Chhay and the manner in which many businesses licences are distributed here, Cambodia should take note.

The main difference between the two processes in India was that last year’s auction – a transparent process in which companies were required to openly stake their claim to a licence – replaced the notoriously opaque “first-come-first-served” transactions.

It is the latter system of licensing that unfortunately remains the norm in Cambodia.

And it’s a system responsible for the recent allegations against the Deputy Prime Minister, mismanagement in the telecoms sector, the possibility licence revenues are not reaching state coffers and the perpetuation of a culture of graft that threatens investment and undermines the economy.

If Prime Minister Hun Sen is to lead a serious effort to tackle corruption, a problem he acknowledged last week in identifying the need for a “well-regulated environment for business”, then there would be no better place to start than licensing procedures.

Licensing represents the front line of interaction between the state and the private sector, and is therefore highly prone to acts of corruption. And for a country like Cambodia, negative repercussions as a result are substantial and wide-ranging.

Cases in which licences are distributed for the personal gain of the issuer almost always result in lost revenues for the state, a situation Cambodia can ill-afford given the miniscule government budget.

India’s 2G scandal is likely to have cost the country about $7 billion in lost licence fees.

How much money has Cambodia lost in the past due to its own under-regulated and opaque licensing system?

Although senior politicians in Cambodia continue to congratulate themselves on passing recent anti-corruption legislation, measures such as this have thus far remained largely antidotal. They do not address the root cause of corruption before it can take place.

By switching to an open bidding process to allocate operating licences for sectors such as telecoms, mining and energy, Cambodia would eradicate the possibility for the kind of corruption related to licensing documented in major sectors of the economy.

Every time a licence is issued in this country in murky circumstances, a precedent for impropriety is laid for the business concerned and the cycle of graft begins again.

Cambodia could break this cycle without too much difficulty. Just ask India.

Royal ears for young writers

2011-03-21T18:59:00.000+08:00

British author Sue Guiney pictured during a workshop with children at Siem Reap-based NGO Anjali before the children read out their stories in front of an audience.

Sue Guiney, author of Cambodian-based novel Clash of Innocents.

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:00 Nicky McGavin

CHILDREN and teenagers from Siem Reap’s Anjali House read aloud their poems and prose in front of an audience including Princess Norodom Bopha Devi last Friday night at Van’s Restaurant in Phnom Penh.

Their stories were brought to light following a creative writing programme set up at Anjali House by British writer Sue Guiney and Cambodian national Boris Van.

Their partnership was established in London, after Guiney launched her novel set in Cambodia, Clash of Innocents, published by Ward Wood Publishing.

Over the course of five days, Guiney introduced the kids to poetry and short-story writing using the themes “my life and family” and “my dreams”. Guiney followed up the children’s work through her blog, and the results were presented last week at Butterflies Restaurant near Wat Bo in Siem Reap.

The children read a selection of their own works published in a special magazine. As they read, their own photographs from a previous project were screened to provide a backdrop and a frame for their words.

“The project helps us to get a real insight into the kids’ lives and where they’re coming from,” said Sam Flint, director of Anjali.

Richard de Groot, a German volunteer who has been working with the young adults at Anjali for the past year said: “They’d never encountered a form of expression like poetry before. But they loved getting their ideas and feelings down on paper. Sue showed them how to organise their words and ideas, and they had a lot of fun. They are all learning English at school, but this gave them the opportunity to work with words and the language.”

The children’s work invoked their fears of war and conflict, their ideas of love, and traditional legends and stories. The results were impressive, and demonstrated a sophisticated grasp of metaphor and rhythm. They were, in a word, inspiring.

Friday’s event in Phnom Penh was organised with the help of Boris Van and his father Tuon Van. Princess Norodom Bopha Devi may have especially enjoyed the story about the princess who saved Cambodia.

Surrealist night to remember at Sofitel

2011-03-21T18:58:00.000+08:00

Emmanuelle Becquemin and Stéphanie Sagot perform as the duo La Cellule.

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:00Post Staff

TWO surrealistic performances by French avant-garde duo La Cellule will be staged at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra on Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26.

Dishes, table settings and kitchenware will take on a new guise in their act, playfully called Do Disturb, which they will perform in Sofitel properties in Beijing, Manila, Phnom Penh and Hanoi.

Using a cocktail party as their framework, artists Emmanuelle Becquemin and Stéphanie Sagot transform bunches of flowers into giant headpieces and unveil silver domes to reveal a mini grand piano on a plate.

This whimsical subversion of famed French hospitality and table service will charm guests, who become a part of the performance as they are surrounded by waiters wearing edible hats. Energising and laugh-inducing, this evening will bring art to the table in a way never seen before.

“La Cellule have the distinction of being simultaneously humorous and thought-provoking,” said the Sofitel General Manager Didier Lamoot. “This event will turn le service à la Française on its head – a cocktail party cleverly re-invented and re-imagined, and a night to remember.”

The pair who are appearing under the auspices of the French Embassy have performed at art festivals across Asia, South America and in Paris, among other engagements.

Students offered 50 Aussie scholarships

2011-03-21T18:57:00.000+08:00

Australian Ambassador Penny Richards with Health Minister Dr Mam Bunheng.

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:00Sarah Macklin

MORE than 50 Cambodian students will be offered scholarships to pursue their master’s or doctorate degrees in Australia this year, the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia, Penny Richards, announced last week.

Applications are now open for the Australian Leadership Awards and Australian Development Scholarships to support their education costs overseas. The closing date is May 31.

Over the last 17 years, 440 students from Cambodia have been awarded the scholarships, with many returning to take up positions of leadership in all sectors, said the ambassador.

“Study has covered a broad range of areas, including health, agriculture and rural development, infrastructure and law and justice,” said Richards.

“We have more than 40 alumni working in the Ministry of Health, one of our four main areas of development cooperation with the royal government of Cambodia.

These include reducing rural poverty, improving health services, supporting infrastructure for growth, trade and travel, and promoting access to justice, she said.

Health Minister Dr Mam Bunheng said: “I hope that the 2011 Australia Awards will provide great opportunity for Cambodian people to absorb new skills, knowledge and experiences and also to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.”

Labour firm under scrutiny

2011-03-21T18:56:00.000+08:00

Women stand on the balcony of the T&P Co Ltd training centre in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district where a 35-year-old trainee died earlier this month. Photo by: Pha Lina

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:02Matt Lundy and Mom Kunthear

A 16-YEAR-OLD Kampong Thom woman who was trained at labour recruitment firm T&P Co Ltd was sent to Malaysia in December, a local rights advocate said yesterday, contrary to the company’s reports that she had been released from its training centre earlier this month.

Moeun Tola, head of the labour programme at the Community Legal Education Centre, said a delegation from CLEC visited Sorm Sophary’s village in Kampong Thom province’s Stung Sen district yesterday to confirm the trainee’s return. He said multiple villagers – including Sorm Sophary’s sister, cousin and next-door neighbours – said she was underage while training at T&P and was sent to Malaysia on December 31.

“When we checked in the village, the girl named Sorm Sophary was not [there],” said Moeun Tola. “The villagers told us that [she] called her parents a week ago and told them she was in Malaysia.”

Sorm Sophary was named among five women that were released from T&P following allegations of forced detainment leveled against the company. Last week, the CLEC found that two of the women – Yorn Srey Leab and Sok Phal of Kampong Chhnang province – had their ages changed from 17 to 21, as well as their names, on T&P documents to make them eligible for work abroad.

The only trainee to be publicly released in front of local authorities was Srun Channang, a 23-year-old from Kampong Cham province, on March 11.

A T&P labour trainer, who declined to be named, said yesterday that she didn’t know who Sorm Sophary was or her whereabouts. However, a T&P broker who recruited the 16-year-old, and who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said she had already flown to Malaysia.

Mounting controversy about the Kingdom’s labour recruiters has caused Prime Minister Hun Sen to order an investigation into their practices, according to a Facebook update on Friday from Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith.

He said Hun Sen had ordered the Anticorruption Unit to investigate complaints against “social labour office[s]”, following reports in the media.

Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said he wasn’t aware of those orders.

Keo Remy, spokesman of the ACU, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The United Nations’ International Labor Organisation weighed in on the T&P controversy on Friday, issuing a statement that said there is “a pressing need for legislation in Cambodia for better regulation of recruitment agencies”.

“The Ministry of Labour is aware of this and ILO is currently providing technical assistance on the development of rules and regulations on operation of private recruitment agencies and pre-departure orientation,” the statement read.

In a letter to the National Assembly last week, opposition lawmaker Son Chhay called on Labour Minister Vong Sauth to explain the lack of oversight into recruitment firms’ practices.

Mathieu Pellerin, a consultant with rights group Licadho, said yesterday the labour ministry has had “a track record until now of closing their eyes to abusers” in the recruitment industry. However, he said there are many levels of government “that are implicit in the [illegal] practices of recruitment agencies”.

“You’ve got the Ministry of Interior issuing passports with wrong ages,” he said. “I mean, we had cases of [migrant workers] 15 or 16 years old, and they have passports saying that they’re 21.” Additional reporting by David Boyle

From a victim of the Khmer Rouge to being a crony of a ruthless Khmer Rouge dictator: Kith Meng

2011-03-21T14:39:00.000+08:00

Kith Meng, who as an orphaned child slept with pigs on a farm in Thailand, is now known as a sharp and sometimes ruthless businessman in Cambodia. Source: The Australian

Royal Group's joint venture with ANZ has done well. Source: The Australian

Royal connections

March 21, 2011
Sian Powell
The Australian

BACK then, he was a skinny little kid, looking for his family in a nation devastated by the Khmer Rouge. He had been forcibly separated from his parents in a distant commune years before, later discovering they had starved to death. After the fall of the brutal regime, he and an older brother somehow made it to Phnom Penh. It was 1980. Kith Meng was maybe 11 years old.

Thirty years later, with a decade living, learning and working in Australia under his belt, followed by a meteoric business ascent in Cambodia, Kith Meng is a power to be reckoned with. Chairman and chief executive of the Royal Group, the largest privately owned conglomerate in Cambodia, he has his fingers in many of the nation’s growth industries – fast food, television, telecommunications, insurance, rail and banking. The group recently negotiated a $US591 million loan from a Chinese bank to restructure its debt and buy new technology. On paper he is a multi-millionaire, possibly even a billionaire. And he has the ear of Cambodia’s famously xenophobic and strong-arm prime minister, Hun Sen.

Slight, and beautifully dressed in a white shirt, navy suit and polished black shoes, Kith Meng is courteous and affable. Yet he has been viciously uprooted not once, but many times. From the day he was born in September 1968, his life was shadowed by war. His father, Kith Peng Ike, was a “class enemy”, a well-off businessman, feared, hated and targeted by the Khmer Rouge communists who were fighting to rule Cambodia.

When Kith Meng was a little boy, the Khmer Rouge finally came to power and forced all bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, clerks and educators, officials and technocrats out of offices and into the countryside, with the idea of setting up an agrarian utopia. Arbitrary executions and torture were routine. He remembers being kicked out of his home in Kandal province, near Phnom Penh, in 1975 and, with his mother and father, being made to walk 300 kilometres to a commune where the family was separated. “The parents go with the parents, the children with the children,” he says. “We were split up.”

After the Khmer Rouge regime, Kith Meng and older brother Kith Thieng (now vice-president of the Royal Group) struck out on their own and eventually made it to Thailand. “They put us in a pig farm at Suan Plu,” he says, shaking his head. “We slept with the pigs ... we no longer existed; we had no state, nothing.”

In 1980, they were found in a refugee camp and brought to Australia by their elder brother Sophan Kith. Kith Meng went to Melba secondary school in the outer suburbs of Canberra, where life wasn’t easy for a Cambodian boy with little English. “In Canberra, it’s very cold. You deliver pamphlets to earn your living; you walk. You feel you are very alone. I worked for an Indian restaurant as the dishwasher and I cleaned a fruit market on Sundays. I mowed lawns.”

Today he has Australian citizenship, a house in Canberra and relatives who live there. He visits occasionally. Sophan Kith returned to Cambodia and in 1991 his two younger brothers joined him. They began work catering for the UN and their company had a franchise to sell Canon copiers. Still in his 20s, Kith Meng took control of the Royal Group when Sophan Kith died from hepatitis. Now the president of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce, he carries the title of “Neak Oknha”, granted by royal decree to generous donors. He works long hours and rarely takes a holiday. He is known as a sharp and sometimes ruthless businessman, an early mover, a risk-taker and an operator who takes full advantage of his close connection to Hun Sen.

These days, Cambodia is considered to have significant business potential. Entrepreneurs appreciate Cambodia’s ease of doing business, its liberal trading regime and its relative political stability. It is a member of ASEAN and has joined the World Trade Organisation.

Yet there are significant drawbacks. Infrastructure is minimal and Cambodia ranked equal 154th out of 178 countries

in last year’s Transparency International corruption perceptions index. Kith Meng says Cambodia has a different culture and that the term “corruption” is difficult to define. “You have to remember that Cambodia is recently developed.”

“Before, there were problems with the formation of government. Yet the Australian government isn’t really stable [either],” he says, in reference to the independent MPs whose support is so necessary to Julia Gillard’s government.

The Royal Group has strong links to Australia. It has a joint venture with Toll Holdings – called Toll Royal – which last year won the concession to run the Cambodian railways, and another joint venture with ANZ bank, named ANZ Royal, which has flourished in Cambodia for five years. The Royal Group is the junior partner in both cases. No one from either firm will talk about Kith Meng.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, has tried to negotiate with Kith Meng and the Royal Group to stop Cambodians being thrown out of their homes on newly purchased land. “He’s a cutthroat business operator,” he says. “That’s the reality. He doesn’t entertain any of the suggestions we make. He’s willing to do what he has to do to get what he wants. He doesn’t hesitate.

“He’s quick on his feet, trying to do many things at the same time. He’s very aggressive. He’s stamped on many people’s toes, and probably worse than that. It is fair to say his connection with Hun Sen and the government is not just friendly relations. There are business interests in being close to the government.”

Kith Meng says he does often travel with Hun Sen, representing Cambodia’s interests abroad, but the suggestion that he sits in on cabinet meetings makes him laugh. He denies having much influence with the PM: “I’m just a businessman. He knows me and I know him. He’s the leader of the country. Of course we must know him and respect him.”

The suggestion that he, Kith Meng, might one day stand for office also makes him laugh. “No, I like what I’m doing. Leave politics to the politicians.”

He is happy to have helped shape booming Cambodia, now a nation with solid economic growth, a thriving business community and a prosperous, harmonious populace. Kith Meng smiles again. “I feel that I have contributed something to the country and to the people. I am very proud of what I have achieved here, to be able to develop a company that gives jobs to the people. If my parents were here, they would be happy.”

Asia up close: Cambodia

2011-03-21T14:38:00.001+08:00

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - At the Russian Market, find handloomed silk scarves and silver jewelry. (Credit: Basil Childers/Associated Press)

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA - More than a million visitors go to see the ancient temples at Angkor Wat each year. (Credit: Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press)

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA - Monks walk around a pond at Angkor Wat. (Credit: Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press)

Announcing Miss Cambodia Canada 2011

2011-03-21T14:38:00.000+08:00

L’APCQ a le plaisir de vous informer que les votes de Miss Cambodgienne Canada 2011 pour la catégorie « Choix du public » débutent dès ce soir (10 mars 2011). Vous êtes invités à voter pour votre candidate coup de coeur. La gagnante de ce sondage sera couronnée « Miss Cambodgienne Canada 2011 – Choix du public » le 9 avril 2011 prochain, lors de la soirée du Nouvel An khmer organisée par l’APCQ. Veuillez noter que cette catégorie est totalement indépendante des 3 finalistes: le « Choix du public » peut faire partie des 3 finalistes, tout comme il peut ne pas faire partie des finalistes. Être gagnante de ce concours n’assure pas une place parmi les 3 finalistes. Cliquez ici pour plus d'information.

The APCQ has the pleasure to inform you that votes for the Miss Cambodia Canada 2011 « Public’s Choice » category begin this evening (March 10th 2011). You are invited to vote for your favorite candidate. The winner of this poll will be crowned « Miss Cambodia Canada 2011 – Public’s choice » on April 9th 2011, during the Khmer New Year organized by the APCQ. Please note that this category is totally independant from the 3 finalists: the « Public’s Choice » can be among the 3 finalists, or could as well not be part of the 3 finalists. Winning this poll does not guarantee a place among the 3 finalists. Click here for additional information.

2011-03-20 : BayonTV Cha Cha Cha Game Show

2011-03-21T08:54:00.000+08:00

Arts Festival Review: O Cambodia

2011-03-19T21:00:00.000+08:00

Singer Him Savy (centre) and the Tre So Band are core figures in O Cambodia, a response to the brutality of Pol Pot's regime. Photo / Supplied

Saturday Mar 19, 2011

There was no questioning the sincerity of this project, a response by two Cambodian and two New Zealand composers to the appalling abuses of the Pol Pot regime. Alas, the deeply moving message of O Cambodia fell upon far fewer ears in Thursday's concert than it should have.

The programme, played without the interruption of applause, opened with Chinary Ung's In Memoriam for vocalising piano trio.

It was technically testing for NZTrio, but cellist Ashley Brown was totally at ease with singing and playing simultaneously.

The strenuousness and utter concentration conveyed by the musicians assisted a certain sense of catharsis, with momentum provided by Ung's textural and harmonic ingenuities.

The First Strike composer Him Sophy performed alongside his colleagues. Based on Sophy's own horrific experiences, the piece worked best when restrictive rhythms were swept away by Keo Dorivan's remarkably free-flowing flute solo and the beautifully inflected voice of Him Savy.

Jack Body's O Cambodia gave the evening its title and embraced all manner of subtleties.

Framed by a cleverly deployed Khmer Rouge anthem, in one episode Him Savy's delicate vocals were set against intricately orientalised violin and cello.

Body had harsh governmental stipulations barked over a megaphone at times against chords recalling his earlier composition, Turtle Time. Ever the optimist, the composer saw to it that brutality melted into lyricism as Savy dealt out the sweetest of jungle parables over the chime of piano.

Gillian Whitehead's The River Flows On again grew from the personal - the story of a young Cambodian woman. A folkish passage, played against a projected image of a green rice field, was perhaps overly fulsome, but Whitehead's more open style of composition allowed a spaciousness in which the narrative could unfold.

Finally, a radiant Him Savy emerged from behind music stand and microphones to sing a salute to the healing power of dance.

This was the ultimate message of the evening. Art may not be a cure for the horrors that inspired O Cambodia, but it is certainly a solace and, more importantly, a vehicle for all-important prayers.

BayonTV Ideas Corner

2011-03-19T12:17:00.000+08:00

2011-03-19 : BayonTV Morning News

2011-03-19T12:12:00.000+08:00

US, Cambodia discuss 'dirty debt' repayment

2011-03-19T00:00:00.000+08:00

Cambodian farmers carry rice in a field in Kampong Speu province, south of Phnom Penh in 2010

PHNOM PENH — Cambodian and US officials held talks on Thursday to explore ways of settling a decades-old "dirty debt" of more than $400 million, both sides said.

The low-interest loans from the US were given to the government of General Lon Nol after it came to power in a US-backed coup in 1970.

Cambodia says the money helped pay for a devastating bombing campaign on the country by US forces targeting Khmer Rouge guerrillas in the early 1970s.

Prime Minister Hun Sen last year called for the "dirty debt" to be cancelled, but the government softened its stance after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in November that Washington was willing to discuss alternative ways for Cambodia to repay the sum.

A Phnom Penh meeting between US Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Joseph Yun and Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was the first step in that direction, the US embassy said in a statement.

During the talks, Hor Namhong asked the US to lower the interest rate on the loans from three percent to one, foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said.

Phnom Penh also requested that 70 percent of the debt be converted into development assistance for Cambodia, he said, without giving further details.

The remainder of the amount would be paid to Washington, he added.

"Our real wish is that... we want it to be cancelled. (But) we have to find common ground that we all can agree on. We cannot resolve it if we stick to a point that they do not agree with," Koy Kuong said.

Yun did not talk to reporters after the meeting but the US embassy said the US hopes "an agreement can be reached soon".

"Such an agreement would enhance Cambodia's creditworthiness and ability to access international capital markets," the statement said.

By the end of 2009, Cambodia's debt to the US totalled approximately $445 million, it added.

Washington was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol's regime until it was toppled by the Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Officially, the loans were to develop the country's agriculture sector and boost commodities exports.

Ai Shinozaki in yellow light room

2011-03-18T23:57:00.000+08:00

I can say Ai Shinozaki is an amazing girl.Suggest on her cute face and the big packages she has.The words Amazing really deserve for her.

Hitomi Tsuji in blue plaid skirt

2011-03-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

Hitomi Tsuji in short blue plaid skirt.

Ayaka Wakamatsu in hotel room

2011-03-18T23:53:00.000+08:00

One kind of girl that I really love to see is drop lip girl.Ayaka Wakamatsu is that kind.Lets see she is in the hotel room today.

Haruka Mori sexy in white lingerie

2011-03-18T23:51:00.000+08:00

Haruka Mori crawling in bedroom in sexy white lingerie.

Yua Saito on the beach

2011-03-18T23:50:00.000+08:00

Now a day Japanese beach are dangerous because the Tsunami attack.And I really regret for all Japanese.RIP
Today we will see Japanese beach in the past that very beautiful and off course the girl is beautiful too.Lets see Yua Saito on the beach.Wish Japanese beach return to peach soon...

Syoko Akiyama mix

2011-03-18T23:48:00.000+08:00

Sexy in different dress and places.Lets see Syoko Akiyama mix set.

Minami Matsumaka skinny girl on sofa

2011-03-18T23:45:00.000+08:00

Hi all.This post for whose love skinny girl like Minami Matsumaka but me.

Rubbing Shoulders With the First Lady

2011-03-18T23:21:00.000+08:00

First Lady Michelle Obama greets guests during the International Women's Day reception in the East Room of the White House. Photo appears courtesy of whitehouse.gov

Chen Sokha (L) and Oun Sreyna (R). Photo appears courtesy of A New Day Cambodia

2011-03-17
Radio Free Asia

Two young women travel from the dumps of Cambodia to the White House.

Two Cambodian teenagers who had formerly scavenged the garbage dumps of Phnom Penh have reversed their fortunes and were honored with a visit to the White House to meet with First Lady Michelle Obama on International Women’s Day.

Chen Sokha, 16, and Oun Sreyna, 18, were notified of the surprise invitation to the U.S. president's mansion while preparing to take part in a women’s conference with the Chicago-based A New Day Cambodia (ANDC), a non-governmental organization supporting their education.

Chen Sokha was orphaned in Svay Rieng province at the age of six and forced to scavenge for recyclable materials after moving to the Cambodian capital.

She labored in Phnom Penh’s Stung Meanchey garbage dump for a few cents a day until she was rescued by ANDC in 2007.

These days, Chen Sokha studies English and mathematics in the sixth grade at the ADNC center in Phnom Penh.

Chen Sokha was recently selected as the Cambodian representative for a documentary entitled “10X10” about educating 10 girls in 10 countries around the world. Her participation in the film had caught the attention of the Women of the World Summit organizers, who invited her to the U.S. to attend the conference.

It was during a stop at the ANDC headquarters ahead of the summit that she was notified of her invitation to the White House. According to Annette Jensen, executive director of ANDC, the two girls were asked to meet the First Lady because of their participation in the conference.

“I was speechless when I met her—First Lady Michelle Obama—because I was extremely excited. I never thought in my life that I would be able to meet her, so I nearly cried,” she said.

‘I was so excited’

Oun Sreyna, who now attends Norton University in Phnom Penh as a first year student with her older sister, said the chance to visit the United States was something she never would have imagined when she was rescued from the Stung Meanchey dump eight years ago.

“Initially, I did not realize that I would able to visit the U.S. When I was asked by the organizer to take a picture for a visa application, I was surprised and wondered, ‘Where am I going?’ Then she told me that I was being invited along with Sokha.”

Once in the United States, Oun Sreyna said she received the other surprise news—an invitation to meet with the First Lady.

“I was so excited, but I did not know what I should say when I met her, because [U.S. customs are] so different from Cambodia,” she said of the International Women’s Day event, which also included several other teenage girls from around the world.

“We were standing in line when First Lady Michelle Obama came out and shook hands with us. She met and spoke in a friendly manner with us one by one.”

Oun Sreyna said that despite her nervousness, she managed to speak to Michelle Obama and present her with two Khmer silk scarves, one on behalf of Chen Sokha.

“She thanked us and said she was so happy to receive the gifts. I told her that I was very excited to be able to meet her—especially when she hugged me.”

Perils of scavenging

The Stung Meanchey garbage dump was closed by the Cambodian government in 2009 and reopened as Choeung Ek Dump further outside of Phnom Penh.

But children from impoverished families still scavenge the site for plastics, glass, tin cans, and other recyclable goods to sell, hoping to earn as much as U.S. $10 a month.

Dangers abound in the dumps for children who pick through the toxic heaps of trash, often barefoot and shirtless.

The waste is damp and unstable and bulldozers rumble through the site throughout the day. Children show up at local clinics suffering from bruises, rashes, and cuts, while others who are not so lucky have been crushed under the machines and the heavy bins they drop off at the dump.

While it is illegal in Cambodia for children under the age of 18 to perform such treacherous work, the law goes largely unenforced.

Solving the problem of the dumps will not be easy—by locking scavengers out, the government would be denying them a living wage, but allowing them to continue puts their lives at risk.

Reported by Naline Pea for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Chivita. Written in English by Joshua Lipes

Comedy - Ku Preng Men Prort (Part 01)

2011-03-18T12:48:00.000+08:00

In Cambodia, Gambling on the Rain

2011-03-18T09:17:00.001+08:00

Rain clouds pile up over the clock tower of Battambang's colonial-era Art Deco market.

A group of veteran rain bettors crowds along the edge of a rice paddy in Battambang just after dawn, watching the clouds. They are likely to remain there until late afternoon.

A homemade device used by Vandara's rain gambling house to measure rainfall. When water spills up from the 60-ml test tube and into the metal dish, it is usually considered to have rained. Vandara and his wife use the receptacle to approximate the amount of rain that would soak through 13 sheets of tissue paper.

By Julia Wallace
The Atlantic

Betters deploy superstition, amateur meteorology, and networks of sources to win big on the weather

BATTAMBANG, Cambodia - There is a tribe of men here who stare at the sky. They do it patiently, devotedly, obsessively, for much of Cambodia's six-month monsoon season, standing in rice paddies or perched on rooftops, scrutinizing the shifting clouds from daybreak to sunset, waiting hours for the moment when they burst.

Although gambling on rainfall is a casual pastime in other parts of Cambodia, Battambang, a city of crumbling French colonial buildings that snake along the sleepy Sangke River, elevates the hobby to serious business. It boasts the largest and most sophisticated rain betting market in the country, complete with bookies, near-professional gamblers, and thousands of participants. As the clouds shift, networks of dedicated sky-watchers call in information from as far as Pailin, a remote frontier town on the Thai border.

The rain-betting day is divided into three segments: 6 am to noon, noon to 2 pm, and 2 pm to 6 pm. A bet, starting at $2, yields a pay-out if it rains during the chosen time period. Betting on rain during the typically dry mornings is riskier, but offers a massive payoff. But it's relatively safe to assume that it will rain before 6 pm at the height of the wet season, so winning bets on the third segment of the day bring in paltry returns.

But because gambling is illegal in Cambodia, the bustling rain betting networks are entirely underground, and its participants are perpetually skittish about the prospect of crackdowns. Most people interviewed for this story refused to be named, citing the regular bribes they were already paying to both the terminally corrupt Cambodian police and to local journalists--who can be nearly as bad, extorting money from lawbreakers in exchange for not publishing articles about them.

One recent steamy morning, about 30 veteran rain bettors stood on the edge of an electric-green rice paddy on the outskirts of the city, peering intently west. Despite the heat, they had bundled up in military jackets against the wet postdawn mist, sucking their morning tea from plastic bags. Nearly everyone clutched a walkie-talkie or two, pausing every now and then to bark into the handsets or listen intently to the garbled transmissions.

Some of these men amount to futures traders, betting against rainfall hitting a certain spot at a certain time. Others make straight bets, or a combination of the two. And a handful of the youngest ones are scouts for the clandestine betting houses in the city center.

Their eyes were all fixed on the one cloud in the sky, probing it like a Rorschach blot, trying to calculate what it meant for the day's profits.

One of the gamblers, a retired soldier dressed in camouflage fatigues and brandishing what might be the biggest walkie-talkie in the clearing, proclaimed himself the Minister of Meteorology.

"We bet because we know the way of the rain," he said. "Just like the way of the cars, the rain has a way it needs to go. So if there is a cloud over there, it is likely to hit the betting area, so we should be careful."

He pointed at the fluffy, innocent-looking cloud far off in the distance. "You can see that dangerous cloud over there."

As he spoke, more men pulled into the clearing on motorbikes and crowded around. One of them passed around a bag of fried pork buns.

"It's not about money--it's about honor and reputation and believability," the "Minister" explained. "If you want to bet, you just say, 'I want to bet.' If you lose, you can just bring the money tomorrow."

He estimated that some 80 percent of Battambang residents place rain bets at some point during the season. With about 30 betting houses scattered around the city and its outskirts, it's a believable assessment.

"It's a very popular game," he said. "We play broadly and openly here. In Phnom Penh, they play but it is not out in the open like this."

The others, clearly on edge, signaled him to stop talking to me, nervous that he was speaking too freely. One warned, "Don't say too much-if the government hears that they will start to crack down on us." The Minister, nodding, walked away.

Sar Thet, the police chief of Battambang province, explained that although his officers try to take a hard line against rain bettors, the market is so diffuse and deep-rooted that there's little they can do. He denied, dubiously, that police accept or solicit bribes from bettors.

"Rain betting has existed for a long time and has now become the custom," he conceded. "Police do not support betting on rain, but it has also become a custom to them after so long."

It's unclear when rain betting first took root in Cambodia, but Ros Chantrabot, a prominent historian here, believes it was likely introduced by Chinese immigrants.

"In Cambodian history, we don't see any evidence of rain betting, just of praying for rain," Chantrabot said. "It must have originated from China, as only Chinese-Cambodians play it, and it's culturally very Chinese."

Vandara, 43, who has run a rain-gambling house out of his mobile telephone store in the city's Chamka Samrong commune since 1997, says the large concentration of ethnic Chinese in Battambang explains the game's immense popularity there. As he tells it, rain betting originated among tea farmers in China's Guangdong province, many of whom immigrated to the area after the Chinese Revolution.

A glass case of rhinestone-encrusted phones is on permanent display in front of Vandara's shop, but nobody pays much attention to them. The action all takes place in a dark corner inside, where Vandara's wife sits at a desk piled with stacks of Cambodian riel and Thai baht, six burbling walkie-talkies, and dozens of betting slips.

Vandara's office is a wooden platform five stories off the ground, where he perches with his 28-year-old assistant, Pheak. Here he spends most of his daylight hours sitting on the building's roof, watching the sky in order to set the house odds. They change approximately every three minutes, depending on the clouds. The men are surrounded by the tools of their trade. They use five walkie-talkies to communicate with men in the field and with Vandara's wife downstairs. Four cell phones keep them constantly in touch with sky-watchers on their payroll who are stationed in Pailin. Less frequently, they check the latest Internet weather reports. They smoke constantly.

Although all of the Battambang betting houses have their own techniques for measuring rainfall, there is only one official gauge of whether it has rained. By mutual agreement, this happens in an isolated and closely guarded mansion on the outskirts of town.

Although outsiders like me are forbidden from visiting the house, several bettors who had seen it described its elaborate procedure. A group of "watchers" monitor a stack of 13 layers of tissue paper on a table on the house's roof, which they must stay 3 meters away from at all times. If it rains enough to soak the tissues through so that water drips from them, it has officially rained and bets can be called in.

During my visit, rain broke just before 1 pm in a clear steady shower. Vandara's wife was glum. She had sold a lot of rain that morning, and lost a lot of money.

"Someone wins and someone loses every day," Vandara said with a shrug. "It's up to the odds, and up to the sky."

Additional reporting by Neou Vannarin

Kerry Kennedy's speech at Launching Events of the Kennedy Seminar on Human Rights Education in Cambodia (Khmer)

2011-03-18T09:17:00.000+08:00

Click on the article to zoom in

Leading Edge: Going with the grain at Golden Rice

2011-03-17T20:11:00.000+08:00

General Manager of Golden Rice, Chan Vuthy, is pictured with bags of the grain, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has previously called Cambodia’s ‘white gold’. Photo by: PHA LINA

Thursday, 17 March 2011 15:00Chun Sophal

General Manager of Golden Rice, Chan Vuthy, is pictured with bags of the grain, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has previously called Cambodia’s ‘white gold’. Photo by: PHA LINA

CAMBODIA is putting an increasing emphasis on agriculture as a pillar of future economic growth. Rice exports are expected to play a central role in developing this sector. Reporter Chun Sophal caught up with Golden Rice (Cambodia) Company’s General Manager Chan Vuthy to discuss plans to export more rice.

Cambodia has targeted exporting one million tonnes of rice per year by 2015. Last year we exported roughly 40,000 tonnes, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Is this one million tonne target achievable?

I believe Cambodia can reach the target of one million tonnes of rice exports by 2015.

We produce more rice than there is local demand for, and our ability to process rice is being developed.

However, we do face some challenges, such as logistical problems. We don’t know whether our transportation system and ports are able to support to export of such large quantities.

Our company is studying this problem. To support large exports, it is necessary for us [Cambodia] to have a better transportation system and ports.

How much rice does your company plan to export this year?

We aim to export 50,000 tonnes in 2011, to our existing market in Europe, and also new markets such as China, Hong Kong, and the United States.

Can you discuss how the company collects the rice it mills?

We send our staff directly to communities to survey and buy the rice they have. In order to collect the necessary amount, the company has built up communication with small rice miller networks in rural areas, to buy the rice they collect from farmers to us.

Currently, we cooperate well with 50 small rice millers, guaranteeing safety for our supply of raw materials.

We have strong competition with buyers from Vietnam and Thailand, because they dare to buy at higher prices than us, as their expenses for operation and processing are cheaper than us.

The government has announced Cambodia aims to double rice exports this year, compared with 2010. Do you think this is a realistic goal?

We agree with this prediction, as we see a tendency towards increased rice exports.

According to our survey, exports of rice will double compared to the previous year, as our country is rich in rice and has a growing number of millers.

We are making an effort to improve the ability to process rice at a higher quality than before, which will lead to more recognition from the international market – particularly Europe, which has lots of potential for buying Cambodian rice now.

What benefit did Golden Rice see from the government’s policy measures, introduced in August, to increase rice production and exports?

We have received benefits from export procedures from the government. Moreover, we share our experiences among government officials, such as our views related to markets, prices, and directions for the future of rice exports, and how this compares with countries in the region.

Additional benefits will not be obtained immediately, but over the long term, or in two to three years. We will have irrigation systems for supporting more production.

What are the obstacles to increasing exports?

Compared with our neighbours Thailand and Vietnam, in general our export costs are about 20 to 30 percent higher, including payments for exportation and transportation costs.

For our current exports, shipments to European markets go smoothly because we have experience there.

But the Chinese market is a new one and we face some difficulties.

I would like to stress that for the Chinese market we have two factors with clear limitations on exports – business and administrative factors.

With business factors, we need to negotiate with our customers before reaching mutual agreements to sign a contract.

As for administrative factors, we haven’t seen a precise way to export rice.

I would highlight that the governments of both countries have already agreed to a mutual policy, but haven’t seen clear procedures for actual implementation.

Do you think that authorities will be able to improve problems with export barriers?

In order to create a resolution to this problem, I think we have to work together.

Nowadays I see the government is trying to improve these matters, but exports are relevant to many institutions including transportation, customs and business.

I think if all these institutions work closely and make only one window for all kinds of exporting documents, it will be easier for costs, expenses, and time.

What conditions does your company rely on for stable rice exports?

We choose only customers who focus on quality as their priority, as in these sales ensure we receive a better price for our rice than we would from normal customers.

Forester cruises through rough roads

2011-03-17T20:10:00.001+08:00

Alas, Shiny doesn’t come as a standard accessory to the Subaru Forester. Photo by: PHA LINA

Thursday, 17 March 2011 15:00Simala Pan

SUBARU is a relatively new brand on the Cambodian market, but the Forester 2010 four-door 2.5-litre SUV has won four safety awards despite its simple interior design and symmetrical all-wheel drive.

Imported by Motor Image Group, the latest model has a lower-slung Boxer Engine and AWD that helps balance a low center of gravity with generous ground clearance.

As service advisor Vicheth Mao explained: “The Boxer Engine has built in balance while driving on curvy roads while the AWD and VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) delivers power effectively among all four wheels.”

The expert, who has more than 15 years experience in vehicle servicing, pointed out the Forester’s other unique safety functions. In case of a front crash, the lower engine is designed to slip backward without hitting the steering wheel or harming the driver. Besides, with eight airbags, the strong metal cage built inside the two rear doors can prevent injuries from crashes on all sides.

“Subaru’s focus is on everything to improve safety,” said Vicheth Mao.

However, the Forester is also designed to appeal to amateur racers. While the media kit says the car can reach 100 kilometres an hour in just seven seconds, Mao confirmed that he had reached that speed within just three seconds while demonstrating the model – rendering his clients speechless.

According to him, Subaru has also earned motoring awards for the best car in rough driving conditions, and wanted to reassure his client by driving to a bumpy sandy area at a construction area in Koh Pich. Even with the music player and air-conditioner turned off, the Forester silently moved forward with ease, making the driver and passenger feel as comfortable as if they were driving on a smooth highway.

“Even if one of the wheels is on sand while the other is on a smooth highway, the Forester will distribute power effectively among all four wheels.”

Priced between US$50,000 and US$60,000, the new Forester 2010 uses between 8 and 12 litres of fuel for each 100 kilometres. And the service interval is 4,000 kilometres between visits to the garage.

Entertainment features include high-definition audio, a seven-speaker premium sound system, iPod jack, Bluetooth, hands-free calling, enhanced rear vision for easier parking and ambient lighting for better night driving.

Graduating students thank PSE for last chance

2011-03-17T20:10:00.000+08:00

Soeurng Sovannaroath with PSE founder Christian and Marie-France des Pallières.

Thursday, 17 March 2011 15:00

Roth Meas

SOEURNG Sovannaroath, 26, is just one reason why the NGO Pour Un Sourire d’Enfant (PSE, or A Child’s Smile) exists.

From a poor family with eight siblings in Kampong Speu province, he set out to seek his fortune in Phnom Penh in 2004, four years after his father died and left the burden of feeding the family on his mother.

Like many others flocking from grinding poverty, he took menial jobs to survive – working as a parking lot guard for 30,000 riel (US$ 7.40), 60,000 riel as a garage worker or as a garment worker, because he had no skills nor education.

He asked for help from PSE in 2007 as he heard from friends it could offer him free training and skills. “I really wanted to learn like other children too,” he told an audience of 1,000 people this week.

“I couldn’t believe that an NGO offered me free food, free meals, free accommodation, and free vocational skills. I couldn’t believe I also had a chance like other teenagers to have an education,” said Soeurng Sovannaroath at his graduation ceremony from PSE.

Soon after he completed his training in hospitality skills last year, he gained a job as a receptionist at Phnom Penh’s Royal Inn hotel.

Now he, along with 293 other youngsters, have received their graduation certificates from PSE founder Christian des Pallières. Three years of vocational training – plus education in maintaining good health and hygiene – have paid off for these hard-working students.

The affection Soeurng Sovannaroath feels for des Pallières is evident, calling the founder “pappy” and his wife Marie-France “mammy” because they took care of him as if he were their own son.

Handing out certificates, des Pallières pointed out that many graduates had gained jobs soon after their training. However, he appealed for more help to aid the thousand or so children still learning at PSE.

So far, PSE has trained more than 2,000 youngsters in skills such as cooking, service, waiting and housekeeping, as well as mechanics, information technology, business, construction and gardening. However, PSE still has a big burden to provide homes for 450 children and provide 9,000 meals to children every day.

Des Pallières said he hoped private companies would judge PSE by the work of its graduates. He also announced new classes in film production, to broaden the experiences and chances for jobs for PSE children.

PSE was founded by des Pallières in 1996 after he saw Cambodian children scavenging among rubbish to find waste cans and paper to sell at the Stung Meanchey dump. His organisation has stopped children from having to do such risky work by providing food and accommodation, as well as vocational skills.

Hip-Hop Artist praCh Ly Joins ‘Freedom-to-Write’ Festival

2011-03-17T16:20:00.000+08:00

Photo: Courtesy of Prach Ly

Im Sothearith, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Wednesday, 16 March 2011

"The truth needs to come out and journalists need to do their part, writers need to do their part, artists and musicians need to do their part."

[Editor’s note: Cambodian hip-hop star Prach Ly has joined writers and playwrights at Brown University, in the US city of Providence, Rhode Island, for a three-day festival to celebrate the literature and culture of Cambodia, as well as free speech. “Khmer Voices Rising,” which is sponsored by the university, will include discussions and readings with writers from Cambodia, Vietnam and the US, among other events. Prach Ly spoke with VOA Khmer by phone from Providence on Tuesday.]

What do you think about the International Freedom-to-Write Festival?

They’ve invited journalists and writers from all around the world. And it is important because the freedom of expression, the freedom of speech, is lacking in Cambodia and also third world countries. But this year they are concentrating on Cambodia. One of the honorees or fellows they’ll honor this year is Tararith Kho.

Anywhere in the world, especially in Cambodia, writers and journalists need to express themselves, need the right to truth, and the truth needs to be told. If the people can’t speak out, if you can’t say a certain thing, then there’s no freedom, no sense of freedom. The truth needs to come out and journalists need to do their part, writers need to do their part, artists and musicians need to do their part. So freedom of expression is very important.

Why are you interested in participating in this festival?

I was asked to be here to headline the event. I am talking on four different panels and also doing a performance on Thursday at the end of the event. Again, I was censored in Cambodia and music was censored, even been banned. So I know how important it is to speak out and let your words be heard. If with censorship you can only go so far, if you can’t express your words, if the writers can’t write—I consider myself a writer too—and because my lyrics and my songs are very explicit in terms of storytelling, and if they censor and they said you can’t express certain thing, then I can’t do what I do, you know my freedom is gone. So, I feel that it’s very important to attend.

As soon as they invited me, I got on the plane and came right away. I am here now. Something like this with organizations around the world who help fighting for freedom and freedom of expression, freedom of speech, we need to keep on doing that, especially what’s happening in Egypt and also the domino effect that’s going on there. Everyone wants democracy; everyone wants freedom. That’s where it’s leading to right now. If you keep censoring people, you can’t say this, you can’t say that, and then you threaten them with death, and you know you threaten to kill them for exposing the truth, then you become a threat to yourself.

CAMBODIA: Trafficking maids to Malaysia

2011-03-17T16:19:00.000+08:00

A razor wire tripped Heng Hak's escape attempt from a rogue maid training centre in Phnom Penh (Photo: CLEC)

PHNOM PENH, 17 March 2011 (IRIN) - Investigations by NGOs in Cambodia have found that companies are recruiting girls as young as 13 to work in Malaysian households, confining them in overcrowded and unhygienic “training centres”, forging birth certificates to raise their age, and paying finders’ fees to brokers.

Hou Vuthy, a deputy director-general at the Ministry of Labour, said the government is moving swiftly to address the abuses and that “vast improvements” have been made.

He estimated it would take about three more years to fully control the recruiting companies, some of whom employed unscrupulous agents who “cheated” illiterate village residents. He stressed, however, that the government had already managed to eliminate the illegal recruiters.

Attention has focused on the burgeoning industry, and the firm T&P Co. Ltd. in particular, since one woman died at its “training” facility in suburban Phnom Penh and another broke bones in both of her legs while trying to escape from its third floor balcony.

She got entangled in the razor wire around the second floor, and then fell to the pavement, neighbours said. The three people who carried her off the street and comforted her while awaiting an ambulance were later summonsed to the local police station and interrogated by officers who accused them of colluding with the “trainees” to help them escape, neighbours said.

Tola Moeun, head of the Labour Programme at the Community Legal Education Centre, said the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection were more concerned with protecting the recruitment agencies than the welfare of the more than 20,000 Cambodians who had been recruited to work as maids in Malaysia.

He said that in most cases he had investigated, the maids were under 21, and many were under 18. He alleged that officials at the commune level were falsifying birth certificates so that passports with false dates of birth could be issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Labour Ministry’s Vuthy admitted this had been happening, saying his office had no control over local officials and that it could not verify the authenticity of birth certificates that were delivered by the recruiting companies. He said, however, that the Ministry of Interior had cracked down on village and commune officials who forged documents. “That does not happen any more,” he said.

Government complicity?

MP and former minister for women’s affairs Mu Sochua has accused the government of complicity in trafficking.

“The Cambodian government has effectively legalized human trafficking,” Mu Sochua said. She also said the government was protecting the recruiting companies because some of its members might have financial interests in them.

Local media have reported more than 90 recruiting companies registered with the government, but Vuthy said there were 33, though they operate about 100 “training centres” in and around Phnom Penh. When asked if any companies were connected to the government, he replied: “It is legal in Cambodia for wives of politicians to run businesses,” but added, ownership is irrelevant because all companies must abide by the law.

Mu Sochua said some of companies brazenly violate the law. “The girls are being bought, documents are being forged; they are being imprisoned and abused in Cambodia, and then they are sent into an environment where there are no safeguards to protect them. Often their passports are confiscated and they are confined in households.”

The Cambodia Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) had warned in September 2010 that its investigation found severe cases of abuse at “training centres” in Phnom Penh and in Malaysia. Passports were being confiscated, maids were forcibly detained, and some were beaten, raped and tortured, Adhoc said.

Lobbying for legal age reduction

“This is probably just the tip of the iceberg,” said deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, Phil Roberston. “There is also an overland route for smuggling Cambodian girls into Malaysia through Thailand.”

He also warned that efforts to lobby the Malaysian government to lower the legal age of maids from 21 to 18 were a “recipe for disaster”. “Our research has found that the younger the maid the more vulnerable they are to abuse and exploitation,” he said.

Vuthy said reports in Malaysian media that the Cambodian government was lobbying for a reduction in the age were fabricated by recruiting companies attempting to pressure Kuala Lumpur. Neither the Cambodian government nor the Malaysian government would give into their pressure, he said.

Recruitment companies in Malaysia set their sights on Cambodia in 2009 after Indonesia announced a freeze on sending new domestic workers to Malaysia, following reports of extreme abuse there.

Cambodian maids are more vulnerable because of the language barrier, greater cultural differences, the extreme poverty many came from, and the distance between the two countries, Robertson said.

Roberston said efforts by the international community to train Cambodian officials about trafficking had had little success. “Some top level officials go to seminar after seminar, while lower level officials receive little or no information on what trafficking is and how to prevent it. There is also a bigger problem of corruption among government officials, which is what we are seeing in relation to these labour recruitment schemes seeking to send maids to Malaysia.”

Vuthy sees things differently. He said his ministry was struggling with a surge in demand and a lack of experience and resources to monitor the industry. It was only last year that it produced its first orientation manual for migrant workers, he said.

“We’re learning quickly,” he said.

Han Dong Qing - 韩冬晴

2011-03-17T16:15:00.000+08:00

Cambodia sets age limit for foreign husbands

2011-03-16T20:21:00.000+08:00

PHNOM PENH - MALE foreigners over the age of 50 have been outlawed from marrying Cambodian women in the country under new rules designed to crack down on sham marriages and human trafficking, the government said on Wednesday.

Foreigners who earn less than US$2,550 (S$3,263) per month are also barred from wedding local women, foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told AFP, but the restrictions do not apply to weddings taking place overseas.

Marriages between old men and young women are 'inappropriate", Mr Koy Kuong said, and foreign men who wish to marry nationals must earn a high salary to ensure that 'Cambodian women can live a decent life'.

'We are preventing fake marriages and human trafficking,' he said, adding that the government was aware of cases, documented by rights groups, where Cambodian women were sent into prostitution or 'used as slaves' in their husband's home country.

The Cambodian foreign ministry has sent a diplomatic note to all the embassies and consulates in the country informing them of the new regulations, which came into effect on March 1.

Kek Galabru, president of local human rights group Licadho, praised the government's intention to protect Cambodian brides. But she said the new guidelines 'go against Cambodian marriage law and international law' - specifically the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. -- AFP

Anna Nakagawa in bed

2011-03-16T20:18:00.000+08:00

Half blood Japanese girl Anna Nakagawa ready to make you have a sweet dream tonight.

Ayame Mizusawa play and bath

2011-03-16T20:15:00.000+08:00

Play for fun bath for clean after has some sweat Ayame Mizusawa take a bath.

Nozomi Mayu in hotel room

2011-03-16T20:13:00.000+08:00

Quite interesting when Nozomi Mayu playful girl is in this hotel room.

2011-03-16 : BayonTV Morning News

2011-03-16T10:50:00.000+08:00

2011-03-15 : TVK Daily News

2011-03-16T10:46:00.000+08:00

Riel deal for new bourse

2011-03-14T22:45:00.000+08:00

A money changer displays 500 riel notes in Phnom Penh on Friday. Reuters

Monday, 14 March 2011 15:01 Soeun Say and Jeremy Mullins

CAMBODIA’S stock exchange will require listings in riel but will initially allow dual currency settlements, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia.

“The issuing of securities shall be completed in riel and the quotation of securities in the [Cambodia Securities Exchange] shall be conducted in riel,” it said in a statement issued late last week.

Settlements between buyers and sellers, however, will be allowed in both dollars and riel during the first three years of the bourse’s operation, it said.

Government policy is to promote usage of the domestic currency in order to facilitate economic development, said SECC Director General Ming Bankosal. The dual options for settlements reflected the widespread use of the dollar, he said.

“We will use the riel, but we also recognise [there is interest in] widely using US dollars in the Cambodian securities markets,” he said yesterday.

The Cambodian economy is currently highly dollarised. The National Bank of Cambodia has estimated the greenback accounts for more than 90 percent of currency in circulation, but has also stated it is committed to dedollarisation.

Private sector officials said yesterday they were supportive of the decision.

ACLEDA Bank CEO and President In Channy said yesterday that initially allowing bourse settlement in either dollars or riel would invite more participation in the exchange, which is due to launch this July.

Banks currently more deposits than outstanding loans, meaning there was excess liquidity available which could be invested in securities, he said. “The stock exchange does allow small investors the great opportunity of owning a portion of … a large corporation,” he said.

Leopard Capital Managing Partner Scott Lewis said most countries – including neighbouring Laos – successfully used local currencies for listings. “The government has a clear policy to encourage use of the riel and I think it’s appropriate to list the stocks in riel,” he said yesterday.

Although there could be concerns over currency risk, the government does keep the riel in a fairly tight band against the United States dollar, he said. He also hoped companies would continue to be allowed to disclose financial results and complete accounting in dollars.

Leopard has two interests in the Cambodian exchange – it has a few companies in its portfolio that may list, and could also pursue opportunities to buy shares in some of the first companies to list.

Scott Lewis also stressed that it was important that companies were ready to float and the regulatory framework was in place for the exchange to succeed.

“If that takes six months or it takes three years, I’m indifferent. I’d rather have them do it right, and more time allows more companies to become mature and become listing candidates,” he said. “So I don’t think there’s any rush.”

Reika Sanada go to hotel

2011-03-14T22:42:00.000+08:00

I really love her eyes in last pic.Today Reika Sanada go to hotel and we will see her on the road and in hotel room.

Rui Kiriyama on grass

2011-03-14T22:41:00.000+08:00

Sayaka Isoyama red bra in kitchen

2011-03-14T22:38:00.000+08:00

What a cute!.Give her your love if you can't stop looking at her pics.Sayaka Isoyama red bra in kitchen

Haruka Mori on blue sofa

2011-03-14T22:36:00.000+08:00

Extra big! (Pics) of Haruka Mori on blue sofa.Lets see before bed time.

London’s East End Pride should be cancelled, gay campaigners say

2011-03-14T22:27:00.000+08:00

Next month’s East End Gay Pride should be cancelled because it will cause “community tension”, it has been claimed.

Some local gay campaigners say the march, in east London, will cause tensions between gay people and Muslims.

The march, to be held on April 2nd, has been organised by six friends as a response to anti-gay stickers plastered around the East End.

But opponents say it is an “emotional reaction” which “risks antagonising and scapegoating” Muslims.

They have also accused organisers of having “close links” to the English Defence League because some have Facebook friends who appear to be involved in the far-right group.

Read the letter here

The organisers have expressly barred political groups such as Unite Against Fascism, the English Defence League and the Socialist Workers Party from having a visible presence in the march.

Although the parade has been backed by local police and Tower Hamlets council, some local campaigners are calling for it to be cancelled.

An open letter signed by Out East chair Thierry Schaffauser and Terry Stewart of the Hackney Community Engagement Board claims that the Pride march may “divide our communities” or be used “to oppress other marginalised groups”.

Out East organises Hackney Pride and the letter has also been signed by Denis Fernando of Unite Against Fascism and the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils.

It says: “We believe that the most appropriate response to the stickers is to liaise with Muslim communities and others to create bridges and communicate with each other.

“We want both homophobia and Islamophobia addressed as a collective problem and not feed one against the other, we do not recognise these as distinct categories.

“We will refuse any attempt to divide our communities or take the risk that an LGBTQ event is used to oppress other marginalised groups, in particular LGBTQ Muslims who will be the most affected by this rising antagonism.”

In response, the organisers of East End Gay Pride said in a statement: “We can 100 per cent confirm that the EDL [English Defence League] or the SWP [Socialist Workers Party] have absolutely nothing to do with this event in any way, shape or form.

“This is wholly a non-political demonstration and purely a high visibility demonstration of the East End gay community. This is not an anti-Muslim march. This is not an anti-anything march. We have stated this over and over again, here and on our website. We simply want to say: ‘Hang on. You’re wrong. The East End is NOT a gay-free zone’.”

East End Pride has also received support from the organisers of Pride London.

In an opinion for PinkNews.co.uk today, chair Paul Birrell wrote: “The organisers of the event should be applauded for this fun and timely reminder of the East End’s LGBT community, not showered with abuse for simply wanting to show, well, a bit of Pride.

“The idea that being out and proud is somehow an assault on someone else’s views is used time and again by hostile governments to ban Pride.

“That some within London’s own LGBT community should use this argument – in what looks suspiciously like a case of sour grapes at not having thought of the idea first – is a source of shame.”

It has been suggested that the anti-gay stickers, which warn gay people to “fear Allah”, have been posted by the English Defence League to stir up tension between LGBT and Muslims.

PinkNews.co.uk reported on Friday that an Asian man had been arrested and released without charge after being found with the stickers in his possession.

Last month, the Muslim Council of Britain and the East London Mosque condemned the homophobic stickers.

Football Association accepts gay rights charter

2011-03-14T22:25:00.000+08:00

The Football Association and other sports bodies have signed a government charter for gay rights.

The charter calls on sports to stamp out homophobia and transphobia and ensure everyone is welcome.

Other signatories include the Lawn Tennis Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Rugby Football League, the Rugby Football Union and the Olympics organising committee.

Alex Horne, general secretary of the FA, said: “The FA and its stakeholders have worked hard over the years in providing football for all and ensuring that football stadia are open to everyone and are both family and LGB and T friendly.

“We’ve seen real progress over the last 20 years when it comes to tackling racism and that’s something football should be proud of. We remain committed to our long-term goal of removing all forms of discrimination, such as homophobia, out of the game.”

Equalities minister Lynne Featherstone urged other sports groups and individuals to sign the charter.

She said: “Sport should be about what you can do, not who you are. But too many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people feel that the sports field is not somewhere they can be themselves, and that prejudice and discrimination will mean their sexuality is always talked about more than their ability with a ball, bat or racket.

“Homophobia and transphobia has no place in sport and I’m delighted that so many sporting bodies are backing our campaign to stamp it out at all levels, from local parks to Olympic stadiums.”

This month, Swedish footballer Anton Hysen, the son of former Liverpool player Glenn Hysen, announced he is gay.

The UK has had just one openly gay top-level footballer. Justin Fashanu, who killed himself in 1998, suffered taunts and bullying over his sexuality.

Last year, the FA cancelled the premiere of an anti-homophobia video it had produced. Officials said they had more to do on the film, although they said it would be shown to match stewards as a training and education tool.

Other sports are better represented. England cricketer Steven Davies and Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas are openly gay.

Comment: Why are gay people trying to ban East End Pride?

2011-03-14T22:22:00.000+08:00

Paul Birrell, the chair of Pride London, argues that the organisers of East End Pride should be congratulated for showing that East London is out and proud.

East End Gay Pride, the first Pride event focused on the East End of London, is set for April 2nd. This follows a spate of homophobic literature being plastered around the East End and the event is the brainchild of a group of friends from the area.

In a sad reminder of the prejudice that Prides face throughout the world, the event has been denounced as confrontational, with the organisers facing a flurry of baseless and deeply personal abuse.

I had thought that the idea of Pride being too confrontational had long died: London’s long-running annual Pride event is nowadays one of the UK’s largest outdoor events and attracts participants and spectators from throughout London’s many different communities.

However, it seems that once that concept transfers out of gay-friendly central London, then a different logic is applied and such openness is deemed to be in some way unacceptable. This is nonsense. The East End of London has a long history of drag clubs and gay boozers and was even – briefly – home to London’s Pride event.

The organisers of the event should be applauded for this fun and timely reminder of the East End’s LGBT community, not showered with abuse for simply wanting to show, well, a bit of Pride.

Perhaps one of the most bizarre rumours floating around is that Pride is being used as a front for the far right. Leaving aside the admitted similarity in appearance between the far right and quite a few gay men – it’s the boots and cropped hair – the idea that the far right has decided to re-brand itself with a bit of Kylie and some rainbow flags is laughable.

The idea that being out and proud is somehow an assault on someone else’s views is used time and again by hostile governments to ban Pride – I’ve seen this argument used to force the LGBT community off the streets and into parks, away from public view. That some within London’s own LGBT community should use this argument – in what looks suspiciously like a case of sour grapes at not having thought of the idea first – is a source of shame.

Pride London has offered to help East End Gay Pride navigate its way through the Byzantine regulations on outdoor events. We’re genuinely pleased that the organisers are bringing pride – and, I’m sure, lots of fun – to the East End.

The open letter to the organisers of East End Gay Pride

2011-03-14T22:21:00.000+08:00

The open letter from Out East to the organisers of East End Pride

As a result of the recent homophobic stickers that appeared in Shoreditch, Stoke Newington and broader East London, you have decided to organise a Pride March event on the 2nd April. Out East, with other local LGBTQ community groups, has great concerns about this demonstration and we have decided neither to participate in the event nor to call our supporters to be part of it, and we think it important to express the reasons why.

Firstly, it is not clear who is behind the stickers and the police are still investigating that issue. However, what is clear is that the message of the stickers identifies Islam as the cause for this hate. There have been allegations that it is an attempt from far right groups to stigmatise Muslim people. Whether this is true or not, what will remain in people’s minds is that Muslim people as a whole group are the cause for homophobia. It may not be the intention of East End Gay Pride to endorse this message but having a short term response and an emotional reaction to these stickers risks antagonising and scapegoating Muslim communities. Out East refuses that LGBTQ rights or pride demonstrations are used to promote islamophobia even if not intentionally. Furthermore the council, the mayor, the East London Mosque and the interfaith community worked with local LGBTQ people to take a stand against homophobia and support the police. Neither yourselves or the majority of the media have highlighted this approach, leaving the wrong impression that the east end is actually in danger of becoming a ‘gay-free zone’.

Secondly, we have serious concerns about the close links that this event and some of its organisers have with the English Defence League. This ranges from one organiser stating they are supporting the event on the Facebook group, to inviting Facebook members with EDL logos as their profiles to participate, and some organisers having EDL friends on their profiles*. This has been further compounded by the fact that East End Gay Pride has banned anti-fascist group UAF from attending the event. In addition to this, East End Gay Pride organisers have made it clear that they don’t want the event to be political.

On the contrary, we believe that our response to homophobia can only be a political response and must therefore include all political groups who are working against all discrimination. Taking this political position automatically excludes far right groups who preach a message of exclusion and East End Gay Pride should make it clear that such groups, including the EDL, are not welcome at this event. Instead, the organisers of East End Gay Pride prefer to say that everyone is welcome as long as they don’t bring any political sign or banner. It is clear from comments made on Facebook and responses to articles referring to East End Gay Pride that EDL members will be tolerated if they carry no specifically political signage. If nothing is clearly done to prevent EDL individuals taking part in East End Gay Pride we have great concerns regarding the safety of all the participants, including LGBTQ people themselves who have been repeatedly the target of the far right.

*(Latte Labour blog, containing screen grabs of EDL presence http://lattelabour.blogspot.com/2011/03/east-end-gay-pride-update.html)

In addition, Out East believes that our response to homophobia must be political because homophobia is a system which is present everywhere and not only a hate feeling from particular groups or individuals. Homophobia is not caused only by one particular group but is part of broader society and has political roots. It is easy to portray other minorities (even unintentionally) as the cause of homophobia rather than, for example, questioning the lack of means to fight discrimination in a period of cuts in public services. Instead, we want to highlight the intersection between sexuality, gender, race and class oppression. Homophobia is fed by political practices and ideologies which in turn encourage individuals to commit discriminatory acts.

Thirdly, we believe that the most appropriate response to the stickers is to liaise with Muslim communities and others to create bridges and communicate with each other. We want both homophobia and islamophobia addressed as a collective problem and not feed one against the other, we do not recognise these as distinct categories. We will refuse any attempt to divide our communities or take the risk that an LGBTQ event is used to oppress other marginalised groups, in particular LGBTQ Muslims who will be the most affected by this rising antagonism.

We cannot disconnect this particular event from the more general trend in western countries to use LGBTQ liberation campaigns and feminism as a way to stigmatise migrants and Islam as a monolithic culture or Muslim people as uncivilised, barbaric terrorists or hateful invaders.

We applaud the work of Rainbow Hamlets, the Tower Hamlets LGBT Forum to which we belong. It is building meaningful open dialogue between all communities, so that each addresses issues of homophobia, transphobia, islamaphobia and racism in their own midsts. We, in common with Rainbow Hamlets, would like public meetings to happen in East London where LGBTQ and Muslim communities come together and discuss the issues of homophobia, transphobia, islamophobia and racism and how we can all fight together against all discrimination. We welcome working with the local councils in East London to facilitate the organisation of these public meetings by providing safe spaces in which to meet and link all of our groups and organisations together.

For all the reasons above, we call on you and the organisations supporting this event to cancel it with a view to working with the local communities of the East End to ensure active, inclusive responses are made to homophobia, which do not inadvertently contribute to community tensions.

We encourage all other groups who agree with us to co-sign this letter and those already involved to reconsider their support.

On behalf of Out East,

Thierry Schaffauser, Chair.

Terry Stewart, Hackney Community Engagement Board.

[Denis Fernando of Unite Against Fascism and the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils have also given their support to the letter]

Kyom Jea Neak Na 01

2011-03-14T12:43:00.000+08:00

2011-03-13 : BayonTV Daily News

2011-03-14T09:17:00.000+08:00

US state department official resigns after calling Bradley Manning’s treatment “stupid”

2011-03-14T06:47:00.000+08:00

US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has tendered his resignation after he called the treatment of Bradley Manning, the solider accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks as “stupid.”

Private Manning, whose Facebook profile lists him as being gay, is being held in solitary confiement on suicide watch at the Quantico marine base in Virginia. He is kept shackled at all times.

Mr Crowley made the remarks at an event held at MIT- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When asked about Wikileaks and the “torturing [of] a prisoner in a military brig,” he said: “I spent 26 years in the air force.

“What is happening to Manning is ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid, and I don’t know why the DoD [Department of Defense] is doing it. Nevertheless, Manning is in the right place.”

Mr Manning resigned after the comments were made public in a blog by the BBC’s Philippa Thomas who was in the audience. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she accepted Mr Crowley’s resignation “with regret”. She said that he had always been “motivated by a deep devotion to public policy and public diplomacy”.

A report by Amnesty International said that Private Manning has been held for “for 23 hours a day in a sparsely furnished solitary cell and deprived of a pillow, sheets, and personal possessions since July 2010″. He is forced to undress on a daily basis and is said to be in an almost permanent state of undress in order to prevent him from committing suicide.

An Unblinking Look at Cambodia’s Past

2011-03-12T12:18:00.000+08:00

International Film Circuit/Everett Collection

Thet Sambath, a Phnom Penh journalist, spent more than a decade trying to find and understand the Khmer Rouge cadres

March 11, 2011

It may be one of the most important films about Cambodia ever made. But very few people there have had the chance to see it — much less know it exists.

“Enemies of the People” tells the story of Thet Sambath, a Phnom Penh journalist who spent more than a decade trying to find and understand the Khmer Rouge cadres who helped oversee the murder or death of more than a million Cambodians when their radical Communist regime governed the country in the late 1970s.

For the most part, Khmer Rouge rank-and-file have denied crimes or played down their involvement, blaming superiors for forcing them to act. But in the film, which is scheduled to air on Channel NewsAsia Friday evening in Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Jakarta, followed by other screenings in Bangkok, Melbourne and elsewhere, Mr. Thet Sambath succeeds where other journalists and investigators have failed by convincing Khmer Rouge members to come clean about their crimes, providing a vital record for history — and a riveting and chilling film.

In one scene, a former Khmer Rouge cadre matter-of-factly describes how he and others personally butchered scores of people, often at night, and then cast their bodies into shallow graves. Some were killed by a nearby banyan tree, the man says; others were disposed of at nearby ditch by a dead palm tree. A genial neighbor describes how ponds bubbled afterwards as the water mixed with decomposing bodies.

In another scene, Mr. Thet Sambath asks one of the men to demonstrate how he murdered his victims. The man begs off a bit but then obliges, grasping a bystander by his face and running a blunt-edged knife across his throat, as the victim laughs awkwardly.

“Enemies of the People” follows in the footsteps of many acclaimed studies of Southeast Asia’s dark days of the 1970s, from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” to the most famous movie about Cambodia, 1984′s “The Killing Fields,” which starred Sam Waterston as a New York Times journalist covering the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime. It’s also in the tradition of soul-searching documentaries such as Errol Morris’s “Fog of War,” a 2003 release that relied on extended, candid interviews with the former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to prize out insights into the nature of guilt and remorse. With beautifully shot footage of the Cambodian countryside and tightly-edited portraits of the killers themselves, “Enemies of the People” works not only as a historical document, but also as a work of art in its own right.

The film isn’t known to most people in Cambodia, though. Mr. Thet Sambath and his filmmaking partner, Rob Lemkin, screened the film several times at a small German-Cambodian cultural center in Phnom Penh. But they say the government has declined to give a license for wide release in public cinemas or in more remote provinces where much of the violence occurred, and where many of the killers, never held accountable for their crimes, continue to live quiet lives. A number of former Khmer Rouge officials retain posts in the current government, headed by one-time Khmer Rouge member Hun Sen, who later defected — and isn’t accused of any crimes related to the group’s years in power from the mid-1970s to 1979.

Critics of the government say it just doesn’t want to dig up too much about the past.

“We want to go to a major cinema, that way more people would know about” what happened, Mr. Thet Sambath says. But he doubts there will be a wide release anytime soon.

Sin Chan Saya, director of the cinema department under the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in Cambodia, says the government has received a request from Mr. Thet Sambath but needs a more formal letter “for inspection.”

“The film is good and I am fond of it,” he said, but since it involves issues now under investigation by a United Nations-backed tribunal, it isn’t his position to decide whether it can be shown widely. “I will put it to my minister when there is formal permission request,” Mr. Sin Chan Saya said, adding that it remains unclear whether the filmmakers had full permission to make the film. “Who gave permission before shooting? What is the purpose of the film?”

“Enemies of the People” has drawn considerable notice outside of Cambodia, however. It won a special jury prize at Sundance last year and has opened to positive reviews across the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Thet Sambath’s technique involves unwavering, some would say obsessive, persistence in pursuing his quarry across Cambodia’s backroads, in some cases spending years to develop personal relationships with the killers and earn their trust. He makes clear he won’t judge them, or at least not openly—an approach that’s all more the surprising given that Mr. Thet Sambath’s parents both died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.

His aim, he says, is only to learn the truth — and understand why they did what they did.

“I am not on the side of the victims. I am not on the side of the Khmer Rouge. If I go to one side, of the victims, for my family, it is not the truth,” he said. He compares his quest to the work of historians who still can’t fully explain the rise and fall of Cambodia’s famous ancient city, Angkor Wat. “The Khmer Rouge will be the same if we don’t get them to tell the truth.”

Mr. Thet Sambath says he believes many former Khmer Rouge officials who are still alive want to open up, because they want the truth to be told, too. How deeply they feel remorse is less clear—they say they are remorseful in the film, and in some cases appear profoundly troubled by their past, but they also are quick to blame higher-ups who they say ordered them to kill.

That leads Mr. Thet Sambath to one of the highest-ranking Khmer Rouge figures remaining: The man commonly known as Brother No. 2, Nuon Chea, who was the right-hand man of the main Khmer Rouge leader, the late Pol Pot. Now in his mid-80s, he is facing trial at the U.N.-backed tribunal but it’s unclear whether he’ll tell everything he knows, or live long enough to do so.

He tells plenty in “Enemies of the People,” though, and some of the film’s most powerful and emotionally complex scenes depict the deepening relationship between Mr. Thet Sambath and the man accused of mass murder, as the journalist works to wear down his defenses. Like Mr. Thet Sambath, the film avoids making snap judgements, showing Mr. Nuon Chea in apparently tender moments with children and living in modest conditions in a wooden rural house before his arrest in 2007. The two men develop what almost seems like a father-son relationship.

In the end, Mr. Sambath gets his truth: The victims, Mr. Nuon Chea says, were enemies of the people that needed to be “solved” and killed, a horrifying admission but one that also offers some measure of satisfaction, since at least the truth is being told.

The documentary continues to make its way around the film circuit world-wide and is scheduled to run on Channel NewsAsia Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Singapore and Hong Kong (at 5 p.m. in India; 6:30 p.m. in Jakarta). It is slated to open in Bangkok and Melbourne in May and screenings are also scheduled in Wellington, New Zealand, this month.

Additional reporting by Sun Narin

Saki Seto stunning set

2011-03-12T12:17:00.001+08:00

The combination of Saki Seto's 2 or 3 dress the suitable word for this set is stunning

Haruka Sasaki the golden bra

2011-03-12T12:11:00.000+08:00

Haruka Sasaki wearing the golden bra in bed room.

Saki Yamaguchi sexy in black

2011-03-12T12:10:00.000+08:00

Saki Yamaguchi sexy in black in little light shiny room.Before go to bed I recommend this set for you to have a sweet dream to night.Bye bye.

Christian foster couple want ‘political intervention’ in gay equality laws

2011-03-12T10:04:00.000+08:00

A Christian couple who were barred from fostering because of their views on homosexuality are seeking a ‘political intervention’ in gay equality laws.

Eunice and Owen Johns, of Derby, have been advised by their lawyer Paul Diamond not to appeal the High Court decision because judges are having to interpret “bad law”.

Instead, they and Mr Diamond are seeking a review of equality laws and will begin lobbying MPs and ministers to support their cause.

The Johns were told by Derby council in 2007 that their application to become foster parents would not be approved because they had admitted they would tell children that homosexuality is unacceptable.

Last month, High Court judges Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beeston upheld the council’s decision and ruled that that the Johns’ views could harm foster children.

They also dismissed Mr Diamond’s claims as “a travesty of reality”.

Mr Diamond said in a Christian Legal Centre statement: “The courts are so set against religious freedom for Christians that an appeal is likely to only make matters worse.

“In recent years, there has been a combination of bad laws and a number of poor judicial appointments by the previous government.

“Where there are excellent judges they are restricted by bad laws. Unfortunately, there are also judges making law based on personal predilections. Parliament must remedy this situation as a matter of urgency.”

He added: “The British people have reversed silly laws in the past; the time is ripe for a review of the equality laws. It is time for the ‘Big Society’ to become a reality and to re-strengthen the communitarian institutions such as the church and other such bodies that can build this.

“Finally, the absurd ‘human rights’ agenda needs to be re-visited including the Human Rights Act.”

Mr Diamond and the Johns are to ask MPs to sign an ‘Equalities and Conscience Petition’ which calls on prime minister David Cameron to ensure that laws allow Christians to act on their consciences.

This week, Mr Cameron backed the High Court’s decision on the couple, saying: “This matter was decided by a court in the appropriate way and I think we should rest with the judgment that was made.

The prime minister said that he was a churchgoer but added: “I think Christians should be tolerant and welcoming and broad minded.”

Man arrested, released over East End anti-gay stickers

2011-03-12T10:03:00.000+08:00

An 18-year-old man was arrested and subsequently released last month in connection with anti-gay stickers posted around London’s East End.

The teenager was arrested on February 18th and taken to Limehouse Police Station. He was later released without charge.

Police first received reports of the stickers last month and around 70 have been spotted in east London.

They say: “Arise and warn. Gay free zone. Verily Allah is severe in punishment.”

PinkNews.co.uk understands that the man was Asian. He is understood to have been carrying the stickers at the time of his arrest.

However, sources say police are taking advice as to whether this is a criminal offence under the Public Order Act.

It is not clear whether the wording of the stickers – ‘gay-free zone’ – incites hatred based on sexual orientation under the law.

As the stickers have been placed on the walls of tube stations, the investigation is now being carried out jointly with British Transport Police (BTP).

Officers are examining CCTV footage in areas where the stickers have been reported and say enquiries are continuing.

Detective Superintendent Grieg Lloyd from the Community Safety Unit at Tower Hamlets said: “We are taking this matter seriously and while we have seen a recent drop in the number of stickers being put up, enquiries are still underway to find out who’s responsible and this is now a joint investigation with out colleagues at BTP.

“We urge the public to let us know if they see any further stickers on display as this may assist us in identifying patterns and tracing who is posting them.

“If anyone has information about these stickers they can call the police on 0300 123 1212, or in an emergency always call 999.”

Police say that despite rumours, there is no evidence that the English Defence League is involved.

Last month, the Muslim Council of Britain and the East London Mosque condemned the homophobic stickers.

Dilwar Khan, director of the mosque and the London Muslim Centre, said: “We stand together with our fellow citizens against all forms of hatred, including homophobia.

“We are committed to building strong and cohesive communities in Tower Hamlets, and our strength is that we will not let incidents of hate divide us.”

Interview: Genderqueer performer CN Lester

2011-03-12T10:01:00.000+08:00

“It didn’t matter what your genitals were, what mattered was: do you have a beautiful voice and do you look fabulous?”

Genderqueer performer CN Lester, who identifies as neither male nor female, talks to Paris Lees about sexual harassment, operatic androgyny and a mutual fear of going blind.

Paris: You set up the classical music ensemble En Travesti in 2008 with Anne Rebecca Laurent – tell me more?

CN: Rebecca and I both specialised in transgender themes in opera for our masters. She’s just this straight woman, but she loves anything in operatic history that’s to do with undermining gender roles so we got together with Phillip who was plays harpsichord. On the baroque opera stage it didn’t matter what your genitals were, what mattered was: do you have a beautiful voice and do you look fabulous in the costume?

I didn’t realise opera was so gender-bendery…

Classic FM gives you all these passive opera heroines who might lie down and die quite gradually, but the baroque opera heroines just don’t do that. They’re sorceresses and fighters and warriors and queens, and it’s kind of amazing – they kick arse. They might have been played by castrati who was dressed up as a woman, or by women who pretended to be men to get the roles…

Have you been picked up on the classical radar?

Early music doesn’t have the same cache as some grand operas, but this year we’re really focusing on widening our fan base and bringing more instruments in. We actually started as just two voices and a harpsichord, and now we’re doing it with 15 and an early music orchestra. I think next year we’ll maybe start thinking about making a record.

You’re performing at the Trans Media Watch MoU Launch at Channel 4 on Monday. Elaborate.

Well I’m really excited, and so is everyone in the company as we all feel very strongly about how trans history has been suppressed. Rebecca and I started our academic careers writing about it and the more the others get to know me the more they see how the day to day discrimination is so affected by media issues – and they’re fucking furious about it. Being able to participate in something which is so groundbreaking – the fact that people will be signing up to this memorandum – I’m just ecstatic. Obviously, things won’t change overnight, but it’s such a huge step forward. We hope to present a more historical perspective, to say that actually trans issues are not recent phenomena: transgenderism is not some affliction of the modern age, but just a basic human trait. People think classical music is really straight-laced and is just for white, straight, cis people but it never has been, it’s always been full of people that society marginalises and pretends don’t exist, but there we are, centre stage, to spread that message.

Does being trans harm your career?

Classical music, now, is very conservative. I can’t get chorus work because I wouldn’t be willing to wear female clothes or be a member of a women’s chorus. It’s difficult. I’ve actually experienced quite a lot of discrimination finding tutors and applying for courses, being held back by people who were so sure their transphobia was acceptable that they were quite open about it to people I knew. They didn’t see that they were in the wrong – they thought I was wrong for daring to apply. So it was very much “We don’t want people like that associated with us” and they were happy to put it down in writing. The person involved was eventually forced to resign.

What role do the media play?

It’s what we consume everyday – we’re bombarded with it. Whether we like the media or not, whether we chose to engage with it or not, other people are engaging and then their behaviour affects our lives. Women are still treated like second class citizens – add transphobia into that mix and it just explodes. The message that people are getting every day is either that trans people don’t exist, or, if they do exist, that they’re pathetic freaks who we shall laugh at. No wonder they don’t see it as a problem if they discriminate against us, I mean, who would care? If we’re not even afforded the basic decency of having people address us with the right pronouns or correct names, why would they have to be polite enough to offer us equal opportunities at work or in education? You know, you can’t even walk down the street without someone having a problem.

What harassment do you face?

I don’t take hormones, so the majority of people perceive me as a woman, but obviously a woman who is transgressing gender norms. So the street harassment I get tends to be sexual aggression from cis [non-trans] guys, like “Hey baby, how about one up the arse?” or “Suck on this darling.” Or trying to grope you in the street. Then it gets mixed in with the transphobia, when they’re not entirely sure if I’m female or male, that adds to that aggression and it just turns into “f**ing freak” or “faggot”. I think one guy even came out with “You f**king pervert.” I thought wow: you have no idea what I do in bed.

How do you deal with it?

You watch where you go. If you see a group of young guys coming you think: “I’m crossing the street and if they start yelling stuff I’m just going to put my fingers in my ears and think about music.” Feeling unsafe on the street is a big deal, but also I had to stop going to gay bars and gay clubs because I was just so sick of being groped by strangers. It was lots of “I can’t tell if you’re a man or a woman” but before you can say it’s none of your business, they’ve decided to grab your crotch to decide for themselves.

Some of the worst transphobia I’ve experienced has been in gay bars…

I don’t want to sound rude or like I have a problem with lesbians – but I’ve had some really terrible experiences in gay bars from strangers deciding that I’m a traitor to lesbians everywhere. It’s like: 1. I’m bisexual and 2. I’m not a woman… so! And strangers just deciding, especially when they’re drunk, that they can just come and commit acts of sexual assault because they don’t even think you get to the right to sit quietly and have a drink with your friends,

All the more galling when we’re the ones seen as perverts…

I know, especially this whole bathroom issue.

Which toilets do you feel safest in?

The disabled one, unisex. It really depends upon the day: if I’m not wearing any eye make up, the guys, if I go Goth, the ladies. If I use a women’s bathroom I get lots of “cha” and angry looks, but then if use the men’s I’m always quite worried that someone will take it a further than just being rude. I tend to do what a lot of trans people do – I try not to drink too much and I try not to use public toilets.

Any problems in shops?

Most places I’ve found to be really quite friendly, but there was one time in Topman where they were just so, so incredibly rude. I got a couple of things to try on and there were two assistant trainees on the door. I find it darkly funny in those situations, where you feel like saying: “Well if you’re counting up what side you’re going to put me on, do you not think I could do the same for you?” Especially when you get these guys who are shorter than you, with great big man breasts. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s ironic when they judge you on those stereotypical points. So anyway, they were sort of whispering to each other and one guy said “Oh you can’t use these changing rooms”. I asked what their specific policy for transgender customers was and he just gave me this look like I’d spoken in some bizarre language. They whispered a bit more, then one decided to fetch the manager. The manager also gave me this long considering look, up and down, spoke to the assistants – didn’t speak to me – and I asked again: “Do you have a policy for transgender customers?” He just said, um, um, um… more whispering, and then he said: “Well female customers can’t use this changing room”. I said: “Well I’m not female and would really appreciate you answering me the trans-customers question” and he just gave me this weird look. I didn’t lose my temper, but I did drop the clothes on the ground and said “Look, you’ve lost a customer” – and went off and bought lots of stuff elsewhere.

Shit…

It was very odd going to River Island afterwards because they were such sweethearts. They were like “Do you have everything in your size?” and “Can we ask you to buy more expensive things?” and “Ooh you look fabulous in that – you definitely ought to buy it!”

Did you complain?

I did, and they wrote a long letter of apology saying they are meant to have sensitivity training for all their staff and that obviously the gender that someone presents as is the gender they’re treated as. And that it shouldn’t have happened and that it’s not their position to decide if people are allowed to be one gender or another. They gave me a voucher – it was a genuine apology and a promise to increases sensitivity training in that store so it was a nice answer. But it brings you down when you can’t even do your capitalist duty and do some shopping without someone giving you a hard time for it.

It’s enough to keep you indoors…

Well…. I think we’re so f**king hard on ourselves anyway. I don’t know a single trans person who doesn’t spend every single day sort of going: “Am I OK, am I allowed to go out into the outside world, Oh God, Oh God, it’s all so tragic!” I sometimes even wonder what will happen if I’m in a terrible accident.

I wonder what’d happen if I go blind…

Please tell me that me your biggest concern about going blind is that you wouldn’t be able to check how you looked?

It’s my ONLY concern.

I know, what about my hair? What if I wasn’t dressed properly? I’d have to hire a personal stylist – it’s just so ridiculous.

I worry about war meaning they stopped making hormone tablets…

There’d have to be some stylish, 1940s-style like spy network. It would be amazing, like all these incredible trans women in Yves Saint Laurent trading black market hormones…

Back to the media, 2011. What would you like to see change?

One is just basic respect. There are style guidelines out there by the Gender Trust or Trans Media Watch with easy to follow instructions on how to talk about trans people. So don’t pretend you don’t know better, you know better. You don’t use derogatory language about black people, you don’t use derogatory language about Asian people – or at least you shouldn’t – so don’t use it about trans people. And the second thing is greater exposure, and not some cisgender person going to peer into trans people’s lives. I want more trans people talking for themselves. These are our lives and if you want to know about them, ask us, because we know best.

So how about trans people reading the news?

Perfect! There are all these trans people out there who are amazing journalists and political commentators, or incredible wordsmiths who write opinion pieces and articles. So don’t just have a story where it goes “They’re trans and they came out at this age…” or whatever. We’re not just one dimensional people – we have a lot to say.

‘Fraudster’ wanted for targeting gay men

2011-03-12T10:00:00.000+08:00

Police are hunting for a suspected fraudster who targets gay men after meeting them on the internet.

Matthew Attenborough, 30, who also goes by the name of Saul White, is wanted for fraud and deception by nine police forces across the UK.

Gloucestershire police arrived at the home of a 43-year-old man in Bishops Cleeve near Cheltenham on February 20th after Mr Attenborough, who had been staying with him for over a week, allegedly disappeared with around £600 in cash and credit cards.

The victim said they had met on a website and Mr Attenborough had said his name was Saul White.

He allegedly claimed he was a police officer from Avon and Somerset who was transferring to Gloucestershire and needed a place to stay while he found permanent accommodation.

PC Melanie Earnshaw, of Gloucestershire Police, said: “This man is finding his victims on the internet. Once he has got what he wants he will then move onto his next victim it seems in a completely different area of the country.”

According to the BBC, Mr Attenborough is wanted by forces in Bristol, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, London, Doncaster, Reading, Coventry and Cardiff.

Elton John backs Sheffield Eagles’ anti-homophobia rugby t-shirts

2011-03-12T09:59:00.000+08:00

Rugby team Sheffield Eagles are to wear t-shirts to oppose homophobia at a home game on Sunday.

Sports fan Elton John said he was “delighted” at the initiative, while gay sportsmen Gareth Thomas and Steven Davies also gave their support.

The strip, funded by the LGBT History Month and Pride Sports, bears the slogan “Homophobia: Tackle It!”.

The team will wear the strip to play against Widnes Vikings.

John said: “I am delighted to hear about Sheffield Eagles’ initiative.

“I feel that an enormous step forward is being undertaken when Rugby League recognises the diversity of human sexuality. I applaud all those involved in this initiative.”

The Eagles also received support from gay sports stars including Gareth Thomas, John Amaechi and English cricketer Steven Davies, who came out recently.

Davies said: “There may be added pressures in sports as the number of people that have come out is so small so it’s great that Rugby League is taking this step.”

Amaechi, who came out in 2007, said: “I am really proud to see Sheffield Eagles take such a proactive step to break stereotypes and embrace their entire fan base.

“It says something truly positive that it is rugby out of all our top sports and a team based in Sheffield in particular – a city I am proud to say I lived in – that are leading the way.”

In November, the Rugby Football League held a reception in parliament to launch a campaign to welcome gay fans and players.

Trans woman loses legal battle for breast implants

2011-03-12T09:56:00.001+08:00

A trans woman has lost her legal battle to have breast implants funded by the NHS.

The 59-year-old patient, known as C, challenged a decision by West Berkshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) not to provide the money but the Court of Appeal ruled today that the PCT was entitled to make the refusal.

C had received hormone treatment for breast growth since 1996 but had failed to grow breasts “appropriate” to her body size.

The PCT said it would not fund surgery carried out “purely for cosmetic reasons”

In May, the High Court ruled that the PCT was entitled to refuse funding for the treatment and today, three appeal judges backed the decision, Press Association reports.

C had argued that her emotional well-being was damaged by the refusal and that her human rights had been violated. She also claimed she was a victim of sex discrimination.

Her lawyer Stephanie Harrison said C thought of herself as a woman already but needed the surgery to become female “psychologically and physically”.

‘Gay couple’s row’ causes Heathrow bomb scare

2011-03-12T09:56:00.000+08:00

A gay couple allegedly caused a bomb scare at Heathrow airport yesterday during an argument.

Armed officers surrounded a 72-year-old man at Terminal 5 after police received a call claiming he had a bomb and “planned to blow something up”, reports the Evening Standard.

A source told the newspaper: “These allegations have to be taken seriously and precautions needed to be taken. Once the man at Heathrow was stopped and searched he was quickly ruled out.”

The source added: “Someone gave the man’s name and said that he had a bomb in his bag and was on his way to blow something up. He did not specify what.”

Today a man in his thirties was arrested on suspicion of making the hoax call. He is believed to be the civil partner of the older man.

Armed police and British Transport Police launched an operation in response to the call to try and stop the man before he boarded a train at Oxford railway station, but were unable to find him until he reached Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

Part of the building and terminal were evacuated and closed for over an hour at lunchtime yesterday while the man was searched. Police managed to find him before he passed through airport security.

Officers told the Standard that the younger man faces prosecution for wasting police time and making false claims about a bomb.

Gay icon and rugby star Ben Cohen to head new LGBT support foundation

2011-03-11T23:47:00.000+08:00

England rugby union star and gay icon Ben Cohen is planning to head a new foundation that supports gay charities and organisations.

Cohen, who is to leave Sale, announced on his website this week: “This summer I am heading The Ben Cohen Acceptance Tour to the USA.

“We are working with gay/gay-friendly rugby clubs holding events and dinners and spreading a message of acceptance and mutual respect for everyone and also raising money for my soon to be formed foundation, which will be supporting existing charities and organisations working within the LGBT community.”

PinkNews.co.uk understands that Cohen is preparing to officially announce his plans in the next few days.

The star was told last week that his contract at Sale will not be renewed.

He has said he will retire if he cannot find another Premiership club to join.

In August 2010, Cohen gave his support to Gay Sports Day, an event organised by GMFA, the gay men’s health charity, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and appeared on the cover of Attitude magazine in 2009.

US bill introduced to protect LGBT students

2011-03-11T23:46:00.000+08:00

A bill was introduced in both the US House and Senate yesterday to protect LGBT students from discrimination, including harassment “based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity” in public elementary and secondary schools.

The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA), introduced by Sen Al Franken and Rep Jared Polis, would help put an end to the abuse of LGBT students in American public schools by extending federal civil rights laws to cover sexual orientation.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is strongly supporting the bill and is calling for “swift action” from both chambers.

A school in Texas recently banned all extracurricular clubs in a bid to stop a gay-straight alliance forming to encourage understanding between students.

“The Student Non-Discrimination Act would have a profound impact in improving the lives of LGBT students in our schools,” said Ian Thompson of the ACLU.

“As a country, we must do a better job of protecting LGBT students and ensuring their right to an education free of intolerance and harassment.

“So many LGBT students face daily discrimination and, too often, violence in our schools. It’s time to make a positive difference in their lives. The House and Senate should make passage of this bill a priority.”

LGBT campaigners say that recent suicides of young gay students from across the country demonstrate the need for the bill that would protect students struggling with their sexuality.

Thirteen-year-old Seth Walsh was one of those students. He had endured years of homophobic bullying at school before he hanged himself in September, dying nine days later.

He left a note expressing love for his family and friends, and anger at the school for bringing them “this sorrow.”

Seth’s mother, Wendy Walsh, and close friends report that teachers and school administrators were aware that Seth was being harassed and, in some cases, participated in the harassment, but brushed aside her complaints.

“Seth was a wonderful, loving child, and I loved him for who he was. I can’t bring my son back. But schools can make a difference today by taking bullying seriously when students and parents tell them about it. It’s time for change. We have to create better schools for everyone,” said Ms Walsh.

Ms Walsh attended the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention on Wednesday and spoke in support of the SNDA at its introduction.

While federal laws currently protect students on the basis of their race, colour, sex, religion, disability or national origin, no federal statute explicitly protects students on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

The SNDA legislation would not only deal with discrimination when it occurs, but also help prevent it from occurring in the first place, supporters say.

2011-03-10 : TVK Daily News

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2011-03-11 : BayonTV Morning News

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US House will defend gay marriage ban

2011-03-11T06:09:00.000+08:00

The US House is to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans federal recognition of gay marriage.

Today, a five-member panel appointed by House Speaker John Boehner voted 3-2 on party lines to defend the law. The chamber is Republican-controlled.

Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Obama administration will no longer defend DOMA in court on the grounds that it violates equal rights.

Mr Boehner said earlier this week: “The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts — not by the president unilaterally.

”This action by the House will ensure the matter is addressed in a manner consistent with our Constitution.”

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said: “Apparently, the Republicans’ jobs plan is a full employment project for right-wing lawyers bent on defending discrimination.

“With today’s vote, Speaker Boehner has made clear that an anti-equality agenda trumps helping American families in tough economic times, including loving and committed couples who are legally married in their states.”

The decision by the president not to defend DOMA is as a result of two cases brought against the US government.

They were filed in Connecticut and New York by gay rights groups argued that the law was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs were five married same-sex couples and a widower who were all denied federal rights and protections because they are married to a person of the same sex.

The administration said the decision was made by Mr Obama himself, because he believes that the law is unconstitutional. However, a spokesman for the White House said that it is not a reflection of a change of the president’s position on gay marriage.

The president is still “grappling” with his personal views on the matter, however, he has consistently described DOMA as “unnecessary” and “unfair”.

New York man uses gay inequality to dodge jury duty

2011-03-11T06:07:00.000+08:00

A New York gay man dodged jury duty this month by saying he could not be impartial because he is treated as a second-class citizen.

Jonathan D Lovitz, a model and actor, was waiting to be called in with other jurors when they were asked whether they could be impartial.

He wrote on his Facebook page: “I raised my hand and said, ‘Since I can’t get married or adopt a child in the state of New York, I can’t possibly be an impartial judge of a citizen when I am considered a second class one in the eyes of this justice system.”

He was then excused by the judge.

Speaking to News Nation, he said: “It was such a spur of the moment thing. I was shaking, trembling. It just came out of me so spontaneously.

“I never intended to be an activist. . . I’m just a young gay man who saw some inequality in the state, in the country.”

Mr Lovitz added: “We have certain civic responsibilities, like paying our taxes and serving on juries. and I think everyone is obligated to participate.

“But when it’s your turn to say how you really feel, you need to say how you really feel.”

Legal experts say it is up to a judge to dismiss a member of the jury if he or she is considered unable to be impartial.

Government ‘will work with FA to encourage gay footballers’

2011-03-11T06:06:00.000+08:00

The government will work with the Football Association to encourage gay footballers to come out, equality minister Lynne Featherstone has said.

She was asked by Conservative MP Mark Menzies at Commons question time today what can be done to encourage a “welcoming atmosphere” in the sport, following cricketer Steven Davies and rugby player Gareth Thomas’ announcements that they are gay.

Ms Featherstone congratulated the sportsmen for coming out and added: “Obviously it is very important and we look forward to working with the Football Association to create an atmosphere and ambience where footballers also feel free to come forward and come out if they wish.

“Not just for the sake of the league and themselves but also for the sake of youngsters all over the country who should be able to play on any field of sport free of any kind of discrimination.”

This week, Swedish footballer Anton Hysen, the son of former Liverpool player Glenn Hysen, announced he is gay.

The UK has had just one openly gay top-level footballer. Justin Fashanu, who killed himself in 1998, suffered taunts and bullying over his sexuality.

Last year, the FA cancelled the premiere of an anti-homophobia video it had produced. Officials said they had more to do on the film, although they said it would be shown to match stewards as a training and education tool.

While Elton John, the chief of the Rugby Football Union and the gay Irish hurler Donal Óg Cusack backed the video, not a single footballer came forward to support it.

BBC World Debate programme asks ‘Is homosexuality un-African?’

2011-03-11T05:22:00.000+08:00

A BBC World News Debate will be screened next week on the topic ‘Is homosexuality un-African?’

The debate, which will not be broadcast in the UK but will be available to view online, features notorious Ugandan anti-gay MP David Bahati as a panellist.

Other panelists include gay activists Paula Akugizibwe and Eusebius McKaiser and former Botswana president Festus Mogae.

Last year, the BBC was heavily criticised for running an online debate titled ‘Should homosexuals face execution?’

The BBC Trust rejected significant numbers of complaints but admitted the language used had been “stark”. Then, in December, BBC News invited anti-gay extremist Stephen Green to comment on gay star Elton John’s surrogate baby.

At a screening of the debate at the Frontline Club in London, one audience member said he was “shocked” at the title of the programme.

Debate producer Ben Cashdan said: “We used that very deliberate title to force people to this kind of conversation.

“The question is: can you really say that homosexuality is not African? Because that’s exactly what Bahati argues.”

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. In 2009, Mr Bahati proposed a bill to punish ‘aggravated’ gay sex with the death penalty.

The public would also be required to report gay people to police or face punishment themselves.

Last month, a BBC Three documentary saw gay Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills travel to Uganda to explore attitudes to homosexuality.

He met gay people who had been attacked and driven from their homes, while Mr Bahati sent armed police after the production crew.

In January, one of the country’s best-known gay rights campaigners, David Kato, was murdered in his home.

Video: Glee attacked for using Gary Glitter track

2011-03-11T05:20:00.000+08:00

Gay-friendly comedy Glee has been criticised for using a track by convicted paedophile Gary Glitter.

In the episode, actress Gwyneth Paltrow sings a version of Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah) to a group of students during a sex education class.

Glitter co-wrote the 1973 hit and will receive royalties for the use of the song.

Children’s charities reacted angrily to the news. Kidscape said the inclusion of the song was “wholly inappropriate”.

The episode, titled Sexy, will be aired in the US next Tuesday. However, television bosses are considering cutting the scene when the show is screened in the UK, WENN reports.

Glitter, real name Paul Francis Gadd, served 27 months in a Vietman prison for molesting underage girls.

Founder of Fabulis/ Fab.com blames gay rights progress for failure of his gay social network

2011-03-11T05:19:00.000+08:00

Fab.com, the gay social network that launched originally as Fabulis, has closed after its founder said that advances in gay rights mean there is less need for a gay version of Facebook.

The website began as a sort of gay Foursquare-style game based around users’ Facebook connections. It then evolved to a gay version of Groupon.

But neither really took off despite millions of dollars of investment from influential angel investors and the Washington Post. The company will now reform as a Groupon clone centred around design enthusiasts.

Jason Goldberg, its founder, wrote in a frank blog post explaining the decision: “Gay rights progress over the past year had a positive impact on the gay community but a negative impact on the demand for our services.”

He added: “With developments like the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the court victories over California’s Proposition 8 gay marriage ban, the Obama administration’s tacit rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the anti-bullying ‘It Gets Better Project’ continuing to integrate gays into the mainstream, we saw a diminished need for a gay Facebook or a gay Yelp or a gay Foursquare or a gay Groupon.”

Mr Goldberg also admitted that he “couldn’t do the math” to turn Fab.com into a big business.

He added that there is a larger market for well-designed products, the focus of the next incarnation of Fab.com, than there is for a gay-orientated online venture.

While Fab.com managed to gain more than 140,000 registered users, other social networking platforms are growing much faster.

Dot429.com, a newly launched gay take on Linkedin, has started to gain traction and gay mobile networking applications including Grindr and BoyAhoy have grown significantly, particularly in the UK.

This week Grindr launched on the Android platform.

Writing on PinkNews.co.uk’s comment section, Mr Goldberg explained: “Grindr is the only true success story in new online gay services, and that’s because it’s about a critical need: hookups. But we didn’t want to be another hookup site at fab.

“I do not believe at this point that there is legitimate demand for a non-sexual social network for gay men that would garner more than 1M members. And if you can’t get to 10M members, it’s hard to build a significant business in this space.”

New York governor pledges ‘personal’ push for gay marriage

2011-03-11T05:17:00.001+08:00

Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat governor of New York, has told gay rights campaigners he will devote his “full attention” to marriage equality.

Speaking to campaigners in a closed meeting, he reportedly said: “For me, this is personal.”

According to the New York Times, participants in the meeting said the governor was “unexpectedly forceful and impassioned” about the issue.

He is to ask his most senior aide and secretary, Steven M Cohen, to oversee the administration’s efforts to bring about marriage equality.

Mr Cuomo is said to be cautious of moving too soon, as a bill was defeated on the Senate floor in 2009 after support was misjudged.

In a statement issued after the meeting, he said: “To me this is more than just a piece of legislation. This is about the lives of people who I have known for many years, who currently are without the rights to which they are entitled.”

He was elected last November and promised to campaign for gay marriage.

Five states – Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington DC – currently allow gay couples to marry.

California’s ban is under review, while Maryland is expected to be next to make the change.

2011-03-10 : BayonTV Morning News

2011-03-10T22:09:00.000+08:00

Video: "Who Killed Cheavichea

2011-03-10T21:54:00.000+08:00

US retailer Target fires back at Lady Gaga following row over anti-gay donations

2011-03-10T21:37:00.000+08:00

US retail giant Target has hit back at Lady Gaga after she walked away from an exclusive deal for the sale of her single Born This Way over the company’s controversial donations to political groups who back anti-gay policies.

Target, which has 1,743 stores across the United States, in the past donated to political groups including Minnesota Forward who have been accused of backing homophobic politicians and causes. As part of a deal to exclusively sell a special edition of the singer’s single Born This Way, described by Sir Elton John as the “new gay anthem”, Lady Gaga said that Target had agreed to review its political donations practices and “make amends” by donating to LGBT community groups.

Yesterday, Lady Gaga’s publicist confirmed that the star had ended her relationship with Target.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Target said: “We were very surprised and disappointed by the statements made by Lady Gaga’s organization related to her partnership with Target. Target remains committed to the LGBT community as demonstrated by our contributions to various LGBT organizations, our recently established Policy Committee to review our political giving and our respectful, inclusive workplace environment.”

When she originally announced the deal, Lady Gaga said: “That discussion was one of the most intense conversations I’ve ever had in a business meeting. Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they’ve made in the past … our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they’ve made supporting those [anti-gay] groups.”

Target voluntarily pays benefits to same sex partners, despite no federal requirements to do so.

Off The Rails star Brendan Courtney speaks out following homophobic attack

2011-03-10T21:35:00.000+08:00

The presenter of Off The Rails, Brendan Courtney, has spoken out after being punched in the face in what he believes is a homophobic attack in Dublin.

The attack which took place in the early hours after he left a night club made headlines in Ireland after the star appeared at the Irish Film And Television Awards sporting a black eye.

He told the Irish Independent: “I was walking home on George’s Street with a group of friends after a club night in Andrews Lane. It was about two or three in the morning.

“Some guy in his early 20s came up to me with a group of friends and punched me full force in the face. He ran off with his friends before we could get him.”

The incident is currently being investigated by the police who are examining CCTV footage recovered from the night.

Courtney added: “I felt very threatened. I have lived in Dublin city for a long time and I’d be very careful, but how do you prepare for someone running up to you out of nowhere and hitting you straight in the face? It’s absolutely disgraceful that in this day and age some people think it’s still acceptable to behave in this way.”

Last year, he revealed that he suffered from homophobic bullying while at school: “It was physical and verbal because I was obviously gay. But I’m a very forceful person and I just stopped going to school. Then I was caught and I said, ‘Sort them out or I’m not going back in’. I changed schools and I was really popular at the new one, I kind of reinvented myself.”

Facebook gay casanova con artist being hunted in Malaysia

2011-03-10T21:34:00.000+08:00

A gay casonova in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is believed to have conned nearly 200 young men of money and valuables after having sex with them following Facebook hookups.

The man is known only as ‘Alvin’ is understood to be HIV positive and has potentially infected a number of his victims.

193 young men in the city have told police that they were conned by ‘Alvin’ who stole money, laptops, wallets, credit cards and other valuables.

The incidents have come to light after one victim posted a photograph of the man onto Facebook and other victims recognised him.

Some of the victims claimed that they fell in love with him before he stole from them.

One who identified himself as ‘Lee’ told the The Star newspaper in Malaysia that he fell in love with the man, who stayed at his house for three days before stealing around £1000 of belongings including a laptop as well as his credit cards.

Another, ‘Kor’ said that the man: “said he loved me and wanted me to be his boyfriend,” before stealing his wallet. “‘I want him to be stopped before he harms more people.”