Thursday, March 31, 2011

Khmer accused of sorcery and killed

Cambodia: where fear, magic and murder intertwine

An average of three Khmer are accused of sorcery and killed every year.

In the midday swelter of early hot season, Pah Eang shivered and walked into a mountainous forest she'd once visited every day. She said she was scared. She hadn't been to this place, open and silent, in five months. Not since the killings and whispers of magic.

Pulling at her red sweatshirt, Pah dissolved into the Cardamom Mountains that ripple through western Cambodia, and began her search for a place that keeps this 22-year-old awake at night and plagues what's left of her family. Her path wound deeper until everything was quiet and the only mark of humanity was a bamboo-thatched hut in a clearing so idyllic the savagery of what had occurred there was difficult to imagine.

Last September, Pah's father and younger brother were killed around 1 a.m. in this hut. The father, Pheng Pah, 46, was stabbed to death while his son, Pah Broh, 15, had his throat slit. When the bodies were discovered the next morning, some villagers in this deeply rural community 25 miles from a paved road rejoiced. They said the father and son were "sorcerers" and had deserved to die.

The killings reflect a disturbing trend in rural Cambodia, where magic is a very real thing and the only way to silence it is through violence, and sometimes, death. An average of three Khmer are accused of sorcery and killed every year, and such witch hunts illustrate the growing chasm between increasingly urban cities and countryside mired in poverty, while showing how deep belief in the occult runs in this culture.

Since 2006, 17 accused sorcerers have been killed in provincial Cambodia, usually following a sickness in the community that villagers found suspicious, according to local non-governmental organizations. This is a far lower rate, however, than in the past. In 2001 alone, eight people were killed for suspected sorcery, a 2002 United Nations human rights report shows.

And always behind these killings, there's the victim's family, left to struggle against discrimination and question why such a thing had happened — and whether they may be killed too.

"We don't have any way to make money now," said Pheng Pah's wife, Nith Oun who moved her family to a relative's house following her husband's death. "I don't have my husband. I don't have my son. Because of [my neighbors'] superstitions. Because of magic. I'll never forgive them for this."

What's more, roughly two-thirds of homicides involving sorcery don't make it to criminal court. Of the 15 different cases involving sorcery accusations and homicide since 2006, only six have led to prosecution, Licahdo, a human rights group in Cambodia, recently reported. It's as though such cases fall somewhere between the tangible world where laws and evidence are trusted — and the metaphysical, where vigilante justice warrants more faith.

After all, how can you prove magic?

The farther out you go into Cambodia's countryside, however, down cracked dirt roads and into under-policed areas, the less proof matters. Belief does. Nearly everyone wraps talismans around their waists to protect against sorcery and evil spirits, and soldiers flex Sanskrit tattoos [3] that they believe will fend off bullets in battle. Such practices and beliefs create an alternate geography that most rural Khmer inhabit where culture, fear, and magic coalesce.

"Most Cambodians live in a magical worldview," said Jan Ovesen, a professor of anthropology at Uppsala University in Sweden who is researching magic in Cambodia's countryside. "And accusations of sorcery are a function of this magical world view. You have to attribute misfortune to someone or something. Misfortune is not by chance. They think, 'Someone must be wishing us evil.' "

According to NGO reports and more than a dozen additional interviews with villagers and local officials, a chilling story of revenge and delusion has emerged that describes what happened to Pheng Pah and his family. By all accounts, the accusations of witchcraft began as murmurs.

It was last August, one month before Pheng's death, as planting season swept through this agrarian village called Bomnok at the base of the Cardamoms. A 23-year-old neighbor, recently-engaged Mao Chanly, had become devastatingly ill following an attack by a family dog her parents swore wasn't rabid. No one in the village knew what was happening. People were panicked and confused. The murmurs grew louder and louder.

Mao's family gave her an IV and mountain herbs, but nothing worked. Weeks passed. The sickness came at night; Mao described it to her parents as invisible hands grabbing and ripping her. Growths surfaced. Her parents grew desperate and they took her to the community pagoda.

What the monks said there confirmed the rumors: There was a sorcerer in the community. And Mao would die because of it.

The scene seems surreal, but it closely echoes what can often happen in rural Cambodia, according to Licadho and Adhoc, another human rights group in Cambodia. In places far removed from substantive education, superstition can quickly supplant rational explanation.

"After the sicknesses, the villagers create a plan to kill the [accused] sorcerer — by secret," said Ek Sothea, a Licadho researcher, describing a typical homicide of an accused sorcerer. "They don't tell the police. They think the police won't believe them; the law protects sorcerers. They don't have any evidence, but they believe that there are sorcerers. So everyone plans to kill by secret.

"They think the sorcerers are without morality. That they are evil."

Soon, Mao was dead. And for a week afterward, the threats against Pheng and his family intensified, finally hitting a crescendo on a late September night when an unknown number of assailants descended on his forested hut where Pheng and his son slept guarding their rice fields.

No arrests were made after the killings. Commune police say all related suspects have fled, and there's no way of knowing where to.

"The monks were certain — very certain — that there was someone who performed magic on my daughter," Mao's mother, Sian Sok Van said. "But I'm not mad at anyone. I'm not mad at anyone. We don't know anything about the killings. I only have feelings of sadness and regret for the death of my daughter."

In rural Cambodia, such occurrences, especially when there aren't any arrests, usually end like this, without firm closure. The effects linger. And no one forgets.

BOMNOK, Cambodia
Cambodia: where fear, magic and murder intertwine
By Terry McCoy
March 29, 2011

Source :
http://www.globalpost.com/print/5633766

Cambodia women in garment factories

Cambodia's rise out of poverty continues to depend on the nimble fingers of young women like Khiev Chren.

She has spent the last three years in a garment factory on the outskirts of this capital city, churning out clothing for international name brands such as Levis, Dockers and GAP. "This is my first job and I need the money to help my family in the province," the 23-year-old said, barely pausing as her fingers guided the left leg of a white trouser under the needle of her electric sewing machine.

Around her rose a hum from nearly 2,000 sewing machines, behind which sat women stitching garments from jeans to shirts, in a well-lit cavernous hall. "This is a more secure job than working in the rice fields back home," Chren admitted, alluding to the hardship of life in her rural-rice-growing province of Takeo, south of Phnom Penh.

The increasing dependence on women like Chren for this Southeast Asian country's journey out of poverty was brought home Monday by the World Bank's 'East Asia and Pacific Economic Update'. "Garment exports registered a 24 percent growth in 2010 after shrinking 20 percent during the 2009 [global financial] crisis," the international financial institute revealed of the main driver of Cambodia's fledgling export economy.

"Two of Cambodia's growth drivers rebounded faster than expected," the Bank added in its assessment of the country's economy, referring to the garment and footwear sectors. "As a result, some 55,300 new jobs have been created by both industries in 2010, recovering most of the jobs lost during the 2009 economic downturn."

Women in this country of 14 million have benefited from this windfall in new jobs, amplifying the trend in the garment sector from the time it set its roots in the mid-1990s helping Cambodia recover from decades of conflict, genocide and occupation – which ended with the 1991 Paris peace accords – and extreme poverty. Today, the face of the 320,000 workers in the country's 270 garment factories remains a feminine one.

The garment factories, which serve as a base for this country's limited industrial sector, are also pivotal as an employment magnet for the bulging youth population. Nearly 35 percent of the population is between 10 and 24 years old, earning this country the distinction of having the biggest youth population in Southeast Asia, according to U.N. estimates.

It is the labour of the female workforce, in fact, that has contributed to over 70 percent of export earnings from garment sales to markets in the United States and Europe. In 2008, before the global financial crisis, exports earned 4.07 billion U.S. dollars, dropping to 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2009 following the crisis – which saw U.S. markets shrink. But by last year, the export market, led by garments, had rebounded, with earning inching close to 4.6 billion U.S. dollars.

And the monthly income of the female labour-force – above 90 U.S. dollars – has been a significant element in helping alleviate poverty in a country still ranked among the world's 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that Cambodia, which has a third of its population living below the poverty line, will fall short of meeting a 2015 global millennium development goal (MDG) of slashing by half the number people who had been living on less than one dollar a day in 1990.

In rural Cambodia, where close to 85 percent of the population live, the number of people living below the poverty line was as high as 43 percent of the population in 1994, but had dropped to 34.79 percent prior to the 2009 financial crisis. It is a drop for which the garment sector earns kudos.

"The garment factories have been an equaliser in alleviating poverty in rural Cambodia," says Tumo Poutiainen, chief technical advisor of Better Factories Cambodia, a special initiative to ensure high labour standards involving the International Labour Organisation (ILO). "Women come to work in the garment factories not just for themselves, but to send money home."
The remittances that the 350,000 garments factory workers sent home prior to the crisis helped two million people in rural areas, ILO estimates reveal, not counting the additional 150,000 jobs the factories spawned on the fringes of Phnom Penh creating a "secondary economy".

Better Factories Cambodia has been hailed by labour rights activists as an answer to sweatshops, a still persistent reality in countries that Cambodia is competing with to produce cheaper garments, such as Bangladesh. Such economic rivalry, which also involves garment factories in Vietnam, has intensified following the end of the multi-fibre agreement, an international quota system for garments, at the beginning of 2005.

Investors from South Korea and Malaysia are leaders in the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to this country, much of it helping to bolster the garment and the telecommunications sectors. The garment industry grew at a rate of 44 percent annually between 1997 and 2007, helping the economy hit an impressive 8.2 percent annual average growth rate during that decade.

But rural women in their early 20s who have been drawn to the city to stitch their way out of poverty have also had to pay a price. The freedom, liberty and economic independence they have displayed in their new surroundings have been rebuked by residents of Phnom Penh – including charges of "immorality".

"City residents look down on the garment factory workers. They are being accused of destroying the culture of Cambodian women," says Ly Phearak, coordinator of the Workers' Information Centre, a non-governmental organisation championing the cause of garment workers. "They expect the women from the village to live according to their traditional and conservative rules, and not feel empowered, more confident." Ignored, as a result, is the life of vulnerability these single women face in a new environment. "These workers need social protection and care to grapple with issues like nutrition, labour rights, and HIV," asserts Chrek Sophea, a former garment factory worker. "Few want to say thank you to these workers for helping Cambodia's economy improve."

Women in garment factories help Cambodia out of poverty
by Gabor SzaboThursday
March 31st, 2011
PHNOM PENH, 2011

Source :
http://www.budapestreport.com/2011/03/31/women-in-garment-factories-help-cambodia-out-of-poverty/

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cambodia's riel survives alongside the dollar

In Cambodia, money talks as loudly as it does anywhere else in the world - but at least it never burns a hole in your pocket.

That's because there aren't any coins. You can't talk about coppers or nickels in
Cambodian riel. The national bank gave up striking anything metallic more than a decade ago.

Instead there's a lot of paper. Right down to the seldom-seen fifty riel note. That's worth all of a cent and a quarter - and it's regarded with about as much affection as the pitifully lightweight one yen coin in Japan.

So wallets, billfolds and purses bulge with dozens of notes - ranging from the crisply-minted to the well-used and filthy. But to many people, the riel is simply small change.

Almost all significant transactions are priced - and paid for - in US dollars. For the visitor it starts with the visa fee on arrival at the airport. But it continues everywhere else in the country.

ATMs pay out in dollars - and all but a tiny percentage of bank deposits are in the US currency.

As for lending, most financial institutions won't even consider doling out anything other than Benjamin Franklin and his presidential friends.

Bombing the bank

International travellers are used to hotels and airlines setting their prices in dollars to get round local currency fluctuations.

But here the shops, tradespeople and even the motorbike taxi drivers accept the folding green. And young people entering the increasing white-collar workforce expect their salary to be quoted in dollars.

But there are no quarters, dimes or any other American coins in use here. So people use the Cambodian currency for anything less than a dollar.

Everyone knows the exchange rate - 4,000 to the dollar - give or take the odd hundred riel.

It's been that way since at least the start of the century - so people are actually fairly relaxed about taking payments in either currency. A $5 bill or a 20,000 riel note - it's all the same to most Cambodians.

Although the money exchanges at the markets do a brisk trade with people hoping to turn a profit from minor fluctuations in the rates.
It's a system that seems to keep everyone happy. And when you look at the history, it's easy to understand why.

Cambodia didn't have a currency of any kind in the late 1970s - when the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge banned money, and blew up the national bank. When the riel was reintroduced in the 1980s, the new, Vietnamese-backed government initially had to give it away - such was the lack of public confidence.

The revived currency plunged when United Nations forces ran Cambodia in the early 90s - bringing oodles of dollars with them. Eventually the riel settled into its peg of 4,000 to the dollar - and a clear role as second fiddle.
Dollarisation?

But recently there have been agitations for that to change. And they've been taking the long-delayed launch of the Cambodian Stock Exchange as a cue.

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial last month, making the case for Cambodia to use the Exchange as an opportunity to embrace full dollarisation. It would, said the paper, attract more foreign investors - who wouldn't need to worry about currency fluctuations hitting their profits, the way they have in neighbouring Vietnam.

But there's a powerful pro-riel lobby in the government and the National Bank. And they see the Exchange as, perhaps, the final opportunity for the riel to make it as an independent currency.

The solution is a fudge with a familiar ring to it. When the Exchange opens, possibly in a few months' time, share prices will be quoted in riel. But trades may also be settled in dollars - at least for the first three years of the Exchange's operation.

It could all be enormously confusing - or as simple as paying in one currency and getting your change in another. And it's not as if Cambodia is short of practice in that.

30 March 2011
Cambodia's riel survives alongside the dollar
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12906831?print=true

Sunday, March 27, 2011

What does it mean to be successful?

What does it mean to be successful?
http://www.vuthasurf.com/2011/03/what-does-it-mean-to-be-successful/

( Hal Urban: Life's Greatest Lesson, 2003)

Successful people accept life as it is, with all its difficulties and challenges. They adapt to it rather than complain it. They are responsible for their own lives instead of blaming or making excuses. They say YES to life in spite of its negative elements and make the most of it, no matter what the circumstances.

Successful people develop and maintain a positive attitude toward life. They look for good in others and in the world, and usually seem to find it. They see life as a series of opportunities and possibilities, and always explore them.

Successful people build good relationships. They are sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. They're considerate and respectful. They have a way of bringing out the best in other people.

Successful people have a sense of direction and purpose- they know where they are going. They set goal, accomplish them, and then set new goals. They accept and enjoy challenge.

Successful people have as strong desire to learn: about life, the world, and themselves. They see learning as a joy, not a duty. They continually enrich their lives by learning new things and improving themselves. They are always discovering always growing.

Successful people are action-oriented. They get things done because they're not afraid of hard work, and they don't waste time. They use it in constructive way. They don't get into ruts or become bored because they're too busy looking for new experience.

Successful people maintain high standards in their personal conduct. They know that honesty is one of the main ingredients in the character of a good person. They are consistently truthful in both their private and public lives.

Successful people understand the difference between existing and living, and always choose the later. They get the most out of life because they put the most into it. They reap what they sow. And they enjoy life to the fullest.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Cambodian government inspecting orphanages

The Cambodian government has started inspecting more than 250 orphanages after it was revealed that most of the country's 12,000 orphans have at least one living parent. The government said that until the assessment is completed, it had no idea whether the children were being cared for properly.

Aid groups suspect that those running homes for children are enticing more parents to give up their children with promises of food, shelter and, crucially in Cambodia, education. In return, those running orphanages can expect larger donations from charities and Western tourists, who are encouraged to visit homes.

Cambodia's orphanages target the wallets of well-meaning tourists
By Robert Carmichael in Phnom Penh
Friday, 25 March 2011
Research indicates most of the country's orphans have a living parent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cambodias-orphanages-target-the-wallets-of-wellmeaning-tourists-2252471.html

Richard Bridle, the country representative of the UN children's agency Unicef, said research had indicated 28 per cent of children in orphanages had lost both parents, raising the question about why thousands of others with at least one surviving parent were in institutional care. Unicef has also expressed concern at the near doubling of orphanage numbers from 153 to 269 in the last five years. Just 21 are state-run; the rest operate privately, and many of those are faith-based.

"Overseas donors are the main funders of residential care, and many residential-care centres have begun to turn to tourism to attract funders, and in doing so, are putting children at risk," Mr Bridle said.

The rate of growth in the number of Cambodia's orphanages over the past five years matches the increase in the number of tourists visiting the country during the same period. Visitors to Cambodia's three main tourist areas – Phnom Penh, the temple city of Siem Reap and the beach resort town of Sihanoukville – are regularly bombarded with offers to visit private orphanages and donate money.

Guesthouses commonly display posters asking travellers to visit particular orphanages. One poster promoting an orphanage in Phnom Penh says people can help "in many different areas", from teaching English and playing with the children to donating food, toys, educational materials and cash. Another orphanage displayed the appeal: "Children in Cambodia need your help!" Mr Bridle said even those tourists and volunteers who visited with good intentions were sustaining a system that was separating children from their families.

Although Unicef recognises orphanages had a place, institutional care should be a last resort, he said. It was far better for the children – and far cheaper – to have children looked after by a parent or in the community.

Sebastien Marot, the head of Friends International, a charity for street children, said orphanage tourism was simply a cynical marketing ploy that exploited children. "The system is very simple," he said. "You put a few poor-looking, sad-looking children in a centre and you try to attract tourists."

The money that tourists leave typically did not benefit the children, because, "otherwise you're breaking the business", he said. "So the money goes elsewhere and the children are maintained in the situation of poverty, looking poor and so you attract more tourists and make more money."

Friday, March 25, 2011

Problems with orphanages in Haiti and Cambodia

Problems with orphanages in Haiti and Cambodia
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:01 pm

Cambodia

More than three-quarters of children in orphanages have living parents.

The number of orphanages has doubled over the past five years

Only 21 of the 269 orphanages are run by the government.
The rest are funded and run by foreign donors and faith-based organizations.

Many orphanages have been set up to make money off of foreign funds, especially volunteers and tourists (voluntourists).

Most orphanages have not yet been inspected

It is cheaper and better to support families in caring for children.

http://goodintents.org/orphanages/problems-with-orphanages-in-haiti-and-cambodia

Friday, March 18, 2011

Koh Kong villages Community-Based Ecotourism

For decades, Koh Kong villages like Chi Phat had little contact with the outside world. Marginalized by a lack of infrastructure, a Khmer Rouge presence that endured into the late 1990s and some of Southeast Asia's wildest, least-explored terrain, the region remained virtually forbidden to outsiders.

But new roads penetrate the jungle and scale the hills; new bridges traverse the area's numerous rivers. And as Cambodia has achieved a level of political stability, a small but diverse array of Western-run accommodations — including the makeshift restaurant in Chi Phat, part of a project called Community-Based Ecotourism — has opened in the last few years, catering to both backpackers and the well-heeled.

Thanks to this new accessibility, travellers are now discovering the area's awe-inspiring biodiversity, which includes one of Southeast Asia's largest tracts of virgin rainforest; some 60 threatened species, including the endangered Asian elephants, tigers, Siamese crocodiles and pileated gibbons; and a virtually untouched 12-island archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand, with sand beaches and crystal-clear aquamarine waters.

The Koh Kong region spans 4,300 square miles, about the size of the Everglades National Park. But the charms of Cambodian rural life are readily apparent in Chi Phat, home to about 2,500 people. The village sits at the foot of the Southern Cardamom Mountains, about 16 kilometres inland, up the mangrove- and bamboo-lined Preak Piphot River. Wooden houses on stilts, painted mint green and baby blue and shaded by towering palms, line the main dirt road. Children wearing navy blue and white uniforms and broad smiles cycle to school on adult-size bikes, passing by toothpick-legged white egrets hanging out on the backs of water buffalo in neon green rice fields.

http://www.thestar.com/printarticle/955620

Cambodia displays its natural wonder
March 18, 2011
Naomi Lindt

Thursday, March 17, 2011

CAMBODIA: Trafficking maids to Malaysia

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 Chua has accused the government of complicity in trafficking.

"The Cambodian government has effectively legalized human trafficking," Mu Suchua 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 Chua 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."

Spotlight on region
PAKISTAN: Child domestic workers at risk of violence
SRI LANKA: Government seeks to boost migrant labour skills
INDONESIA: Raising awareness about migrant abuse 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.
--

humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

CAMBODIA: Trafficking maids to Malaysia

Photo: CLEC
A razor wire tripped Heng Hak's escape attempt
from a rogue maid training centre in Phnom Penh
PHNOM PENH, 17 March 2011 (IRIN)

http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportID=92210

Monday, March 14, 2011

National Museum of Cambodia' at the J. Paul Getty Museum

At the J. Paul Getty Museum, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia" is a very small show on a very large subject. For a viewer, its primary achievement is to make you want to see more.

The Khmer Empire was born in 802, when a Hindu monarch, Jayavarman II, declared himself a god and established his seat of power in Angkor in the northern reaches of what is today Cambodia. The city grew to be immense, among the largest cities in the world, with a sphere of influence that encompassed a large chunk of modern-day Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The empire lasted more than 600 years -- nearly until the birth of Columbus.

Art review
'Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia'
at the J. Paul Getty Museum
March 13, 2011

Say the word Khmer today, however, and visions of horrific crimes against humanity perpetrated in the 1970s civil war by the brutal Communist leader Pol Pot still linger. "Gods of Angkor" evokes an entirely different world.

Among the show's most impressive works is a 12th-century "Crowned Buddha," with upper arms held close to the ramrod-straight torso, forearms raised forward from the body and open palms held up. Even to the uninitiated, this formal, highly ritualized pose presents a thoroughly unprotected gesture that demonstrably offers peace.

Nearly 3 feet tall, the cast-bronze sculpture is less ornate than a Chinese counterpart might be. Still, the exquisite ornamentation sets the figure apart from an everyday human being. Erect and symmetrical, its head, throat and waist encircled with elaborately modeled jewelry, the serenely smiling Buddha speaks of dignity, eternity and unostentatious majesty. A human form assumes an otherworldly presence.

Khmer sculpture registers as an obviously complex subject -- produced over half a millennium, influenced by powerful crosscurrents from India and China and responding to compelling varieties of Hindu, Buddhist and secular forces. Also complex is the treacherous process of lost-wax casting in bronze. The technically arduous method can result in sleek objects with a spirit very different, and often more elegant and stately, than the carved sandstone Khmer sculpture that is more commonly encountered.

Typical, however, and evident in the majority of the show's sculptures, is the straight, columnar modeling of the figures' legs. Feet face forward and are separated in a firm stance that conveys stability more than rigidity. It's unusual for a divine Khmer sculpture to stand in a posture that reveals the slightest sense of ordinary bodily relaxation.

Any one of the many technical demands of bronze casting is unlikely to explain this standard design. Instead, it draws a subtle distinction between a mundane person, who would not be memorialized in expensive bronze, and a deity who warrants such noble and enduring treatment. It's almost as if the formality of the deity's posture creates a portal to another dimension.

Also imposing are two very different sculptures that find their considerable strength and charm in close observation of nature -- specifically the animal kingdom. One is Nandin, the decorated bull that serves as Shiva's primary vehicle and the gatekeeper of his temple. The other is Ganesha, Shiva's elephant-headed son. Perhaps because both animals are already differentiated from a person, each is endowed with a more relaxed naturalism.

The Getty show was organized by the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, where it had its debut last spring. (Former Getty Museum Director Michael Brand, a specialist in Southeast Asian art, helped initiate the exhibition.) One drawback of its installation here is that most of the objects are in cases or on pedestals that stand against the walls. The sculptures are typically frontal, in keeping with their ritual function; but you can't get behind the "Crowned Buddha," for instance, to see the modeling in the back. That's a shame.

The show was also significantly trimmed from its Washington debut. Mostly works from the prehistoric and pre-Angkor period were cut. Twenty-six of the show's original 36 bronzes are at the Getty.

The sculptures and decorative objects were loaned from the incomparable holdings of the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, signaling something of a return from the dark and insular days of the Khmer Rouge a generation ago. If it inspires a desire to see more Cambodian bronzes of the Angkor period (802-1431), two nearby options are at hand.

The most impressive collection is at Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum, where nine Cambodian bronzes are among more than two dozen Angkor period and pre-Angkor objects. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has six small decorative bronzes in its collection, including jewelry and a finial. For comparison, both museums also house impressive Cambodian sandstone carvings.
Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia, J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, (310) 440-7300, through Aug. 14. Closed Monday. www.getty.edu

Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival : Program in Literary Arts and International Writers Project

In Cambodia, all news is good news. Or at least, all news broadcast in the media is good news. The lack of freedom of the press in Cambodia, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries is the topic of this year's week-long International Freedom-to-Write Literary Festival.

The annual festival, started and run by the Program in Literary Arts and International Writers Project, begins on Monday at 4 p.m. in Smith-Buonanno 106 with readings by Vietnamese author Linh Dinh and American playwright David Rabe.

"Every year, we have a fellow running some kind of (International Writers Project) literary festival about the art, culture and politics of that country or region," said Robert Coover, visiting professor of literary arts. "We choose our fellow on basis of need, of threat against him. Sometimes they are in exile," he said.

The festival provides an opportunity to celebrate the fellow and also to "become more knowledgeable about the literature and culture of that nation," as well as the problems of the nation, said Gale Nelson MA'88, assistant director of the literary arts program.

The focus on Cambodia and neighboring countries was sparked by this year's visiting fellow Tararith Kho.

Hundreds of writers either apply or are nominated for the fellowship every year, but Kho's many impressive nominations — by groups like Poets, Essayists,

Novelists, an international literary and human rights organization — solidified his selection.

He stood out for his "energy and enthusiasm for literature and human rights," Nelson said.

Kho was born to a family of rice farmers and was the "only one of his siblings who got out of that and got educated," Coover said. Kho has been very involved in helping others in Cambodia do the same, especially women who are trapped by tradition and unable to get an education, Coover added.

"Freedom of speech is difficult to find in Cambodia," Kho said. "I promoted people to write about contemporary issues."

Kho said the media in Cambodia is controlled by the country's high-ranking members of society.

"Televisions, newspapers, magazines are all under the government," he said. As a result everyone only hears the same "good" news, he added.

Kho's reading on Tuesday will be about the state of the media in Cambodia and how it has created a "cage" for writers.

His efforts to "get the entrapped rice farmer people out of their circumstances" was seen as a threat in Cambodia, Coover said, and on occasion, Kho had to flee to the Thai border. Now if he returns to Cambodia, he will likely be arrested.

Though Kho's family is here in the United States right now as well, he may have to return to Cambodia when his visa runs out. Kho said he did not want to talk badly about his country, but he wants life to change for the people of Cambodia.

"Writers are simple, not fighters. We have no weapons," Kho said.

The festival does not focus on Cambodia alone but also explores neighboring countries, especially Vietnam.

"Cambodia and Vietnam have this really tangled history," Coover said. During the Vietnam War, the United States targeted both countries, and both countries also targeted each other, he said. After the end of the war, Vietnam invaded Cambodia.

The goal of this year's festival is to "provide greater insight into the real nature" of Cambodian and Vietnamese relations, Coover added.

A panel Thursday will explore these relations by bringing together Vietnamese and Cambodian writers and American veterans of the war.

Other speakers for this festival were chosen based on their connections to Cambodia and neighboring countries, Nelson said. Coover said the speakers that were selected are "fellow workers in the field of protecting human rights and expression."

The hope is that this festival will promote "greater awareness" of the situation in Cambodia, he added.

Kho said he hopes to help other writers who are receiving threats in response to their work. "Democracy is a human right," Kho said. "If I know myself how to fight for human rights, I want to do it."

"Cambodian people did not know how to find people's help," he said, because they have no media and no network for contacting people from other countries. They are "living in a cage," he said, and can never open their eyes to see another world.

Kho said that he hopes the festival will generate American support for Cambodia. "Americans must fight for Cambodia to have a new generation," he said.

The Brown Daily Herald
Festival addresses Cambodian repression
Sarah Mancone
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, March 14, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship

Now we place these reports into a wider international context with the following declaration of Reporters Without Borders:

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship

Launched by Reporters Without Borders in 2008, the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship (on 12 March 2011) is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet without restrictions and accessible to all.

The fight for online freedom of expression is more essential than ever. By creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. In countries where the traditional media are controlled by the government, the only independent news and information are to be found on the Internet, which has become a forum for discussion and a refuge for those who want to express their views freely.

However, more and more governments have realized this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet. Never have so many countries been affected by some form of online censorship, whether arrests or harassment of netizens, online surveillance, website blocking or the adoption of repressive Internet laws. Netizens are being targeted by government reprisals. Around 117 of them are currently detained for expressing their views freely online, mainly in China, Iran and Vietnam.

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship pays tribute to them and their fight for Internet freedom. Reporters Without Borders will mark the occasion by issuing its latest list of "Enemies of the Internet."

http://en.rsf.org/
http://12mars.rsf.org/en/

Monday, March 7, 2011

Poor Women used for Baby-Breeding

Not a very cheerful story to read, but it does expose the reality poor women of the world must face. The problem needs to be eradicated.

Illicit Baby-Breeding Scheme Exposed

At least 15 Vietnamese women hired as surrogate mothers by Taiwanese-led company.

Thai immigration policemen quiz Vietnamese women allegedly lured into becoming surrogate mothers in Bangkok, Feb. 24, 2011.
Authorities in Thailand have uncovered an "illegal" operation using Vietnamese women as surrogate mothers but investigations may face hurdles due to legal issues, according to officials and reports.

Following a tip off, Thai Police late last month raided a Taiwanese-owned company, Baby 101, allegedly offering commercial surrogacy services in Bangkok.

They also picked up 15 Vietnamese women, seven of them pregnant, linked to the surrogate baby breeding scheme, described by Thailand's Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit as "illegal and inhuman."

The women, who were promised U.S.$5,000 for every baby they produced, are at present being held at the Kredtrakarn Protection and Occupational Development Centre in Thailand.

"The ladies at the center are still very shocked," said Pakorn Pantun, director of the Thai department of welfare and social development.

"When they are asked questions or are interviewed, they just burst into tears," he said.

Of the 15, seven are pregnant, two have just given birth and the other six showed no signs of pregnancy, officials said.

Online orders

Some of them were forced to carry the babies, they said, adding that the company received orders online or through marketing agents from childless couples.

In some cases, the male partner would provide sperm to inseminate the women.

Thai Police have arrested several people but the Taiwanese company owner is believed to be at large. Some reports said up to 40 women could have been linked to the scheme.

Minister Jurin said the authorities were considering charging the suspects with human trafficking and illegal detention.

The Taiwanese owner had held the women's passports, said Ladda Benjatachah, director of the Kredtrakarn center.

Several women were "tricked" into participating in the scheme, said Major General Manu Mekmok, commander of investigations for the Thai immigration department. Reports said the women were poor and were promised "easy money."

Women sought help

The Thai authorities were tipped off after four Vietnamese women sought help from the Vietnamese embassy in Bangkok.

Health agencies are likely to take legal action against the medical premises and doctors involved in the scheme.

However, the Bangkok Post newspaper said investigations had "posed problems for police, as commercial surrogacy services as such are not yet illegal in Thailand."

Moves are now under way to change the law and make it explicitly illegal, the newspaper said in a weekend report.

"We were frustrated as we had no idea what specific charges we should file against them," said deputy immigration police chief Pansak Kasemsant.

The investigations have shed light on the "legal limitations and complications" regarding surrogacy, a practice under which a sperm and an egg are bred outside the womb before being embedded in another woman's womb, the Bangkok Post said.

The company has advertised that aside from Thailand, it has offices in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Thai authorities are expected to let the women return home after completing the investigations. They are also working with those in Vietnam and Taiwan to determine the biological parents of the babies.

Reported by RFA's Vietnamese service.
Translated by An Nguyen.
Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
2011-03-07
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/trafficking-03072011212319.html

Survey finds women politicians worldwide

A new survey released to coincide with International Women's Day shows women are making political gains, but their numbers in world parliaments remain low. The survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union finds just over 19 percent of parliamentarians worldwide are women, compared to 16.3 percent in 2005.

As in previous years, the Nordic countries come out on top with an average of nearly 42 percent women in parliament. The survey finds Arab states are at the bottom of the world table for women in parliament; nevertheless the region is making progress, going up from 4.3 percent in 1995 to 11.7 percent last year.

In the Americas, Costa Rica has the highest level of participation of women in politics with nearly 39 percent, compared to about 17 percent for the United States.

In other findings, the survey shows a slightly backward trend in both Europe and Asia, a large drop in the Pacific states and no big changes in Sub-Saharan Africa, where an average of 19.2 percent of women have been elected to parliaments.

The secretary-general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Anders Johnson, says quotas remain the single most effective way of increasing the number of women in politics. Otherwise, he says no progress is made.

"Once women get into parliament, it is a lot easier for women to actually have sway and influence, if there are more than one or two," said Anders Johnson. "You need to move beyond symbolic numbers, and that is why there has been such a huge push, both within the U.N. and the IPU to reach what we call this threshold of 30 percent. And more and more countries are reaching that threshold."

The survey finds women politicians worldwide generally do not get equal coverage with men in the media. And when they do, the women report coverage tends to dwell more on what they are wearing and how they look than on their political positions.

Johnson says laws change for the better when more women are in parliament. He says women bring something to the table that men do not. They are more sensitive to social issues.

"We argue that in fact the laws that are made, the work that is made in parliament is better because of that," he said. "It is better attuned to the needs of society. In some countries, you will find that they start addressing issues, which are of particular concern to women…for example about violence against women or genital mutilation of women. These are issues that very often are driven by women and through their presence in parliament, they are able to force change on those issues."

Johnson says the IPU is closely following events in the Middle East. He says the organization is concerned at the noticeable absence of women in the bodies of power that are taking over in Egypt and Tunisia. For example, in Egypt, he says there is not a single woman involved in the committee that is drafting a new constitution.

He says the IPU plans to work with both Egypt and Tunisia to make sure they focus attention on women, on gender equality and on women's ability to be elected to their national parliaments.

Women's Representation in World Parliaments Remains Low
by Lisa Schlein

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Womens-Representation-in-World-Parliaments-Remains-Low-117536088.html

Cambodian Women's Movement Organization refused permit

Cambodia: Rally Barred on Women's Day
Government Fails to Explain Ban on 100th Anniversary

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, March 8, 2011

(New York) - The Cambodian government should reverse its decision to refuse a permit to the Cambodian Women's Movement Organization (CWMO) for a rally in central Phnom Penh, Human Rights Watch said today. The rally was intended to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on March 8, 2011.

The government failed to provide any reason for its rejection of a permit in a March 7, 2011 letter from Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chutema to the CWMO. Speakers and a celebration were planned. Minister of Women's Affairs Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi had previously agreed to speak at the event, but when the permit was denied, she said she was no longer available to attend.

"The government's refusal to allow an International Women's Day rally first seemed like a joke," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But no Cambodian government restriction on basic rights should come as a surprise anymore."

A coalition of trade union women spanning Cambodia's political spectrum was planning to celebrate a centennial of women's rights activism on the field across from the old parliament building. The government's decision came after it had installed banners proclaiming "International Women's Day" near Phnom Penh's Independence Monument. Similar banners have been raised around the country. International Women's Day is a national holiday and Cambodians across the country have been preparing to take a day off from work to celebrate the occasion.

In Cambodia, where ready-made garments - one of the country's largest commercial exports - are assembled by a primarily female factory workforce, the issue of women's rights and non-discrimination is central. Yet Phnom Penh municipal authorities have regularly denied permission for assemblies by various groups in the city.

"Refusing women the right to rally peacefully reflects the government's distrust its people," said Adams. "The Cambodian government's creeping dictatorial rule should be of real concern to the country's donors."


http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/08/cambodia-rally-barred-women-s-day?print

Focusing on women farmers

Food prices continue to rise, threatening to push more and more people into poverty and hunger. A new report from the UN food agency says one of the best ways to boost agricultural productivity worldwide would be to remove the barriers women farmers face that their male counterparts do not.

Women farmers tend to be less productive than men, but there are good reasons for that, says Agnes Quisumbing, an economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute.

"If you actually look closer and look at the resources that women farmers are bringing to their plots, they're actually starting off with much less," she says.

The new FAO report finds that while women make up 43 percent of the world's farmers, only about 10 to 20 percent own the land they farm. Without land for collateral, it is harder for them to get credit to buy inputs such as better seeds and fertilizers. In many countries, women are half as likely as men to use fertilizers to increase yields.

In addition, many of the world's women are raising their children at the same time they're farming, which also may help explain why their productivity is lower than men's.

"Helping women farmers have the same access to inputs and control of resources that male farmers have would really do a lot toward improving agriculture productivity and reducing hunger and malnutrition," says Quisumbing.

According to the FAO report, closing the gender gap could increase agricultural output in the developing world by as much as four percent, which in turn could reduce the number of undernourished people by as much as 17 percent.

Quisumbing was a collaborator on the FAO report. She says rather than playing for sympathy, the report makes the business case for focusing on women farmers.

"We hear a lot about how women are disadvantaged. And they tend to be very bleeding-heart arguments. But bleeding-heart arguments don't necessarily tell heads of state to move their money."

Quisumbing says governments would be wise to back programs which help close the gap for women farmers - for example, vouchers that help them buy better seeds and fertilizers.

But beyond financial support, she adds, in many countries the policy environment needs to change, too. "I think it's about time governments come on board and really look at their laws, which discriminate against women in the area of property, in the area of labor force participation, in the area of marriage law."

Quisumbing believes leveling the playing field has wider benefits beyond the women themselves. That's because studies show when women have financial resources, they are more likely than men to spend them on food, health and educating their children. And that means a better future for the next generation.


Closing Gender Gap Could Boost World Food Supply
Steve Baragona

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Closing-Gender-Gap-Could-Boost-World-Food-Supply--117516034.html

Saturday, March 5, 2011

In Cambodia, Koh Kong Emerges as an Eco-Tourism Destination

INSIDE a breezy bamboo structure in Chi Phat, a village in the remote province of Koh Kong, near the Thai border in southwestern Cambodia, a dozen or so foreigners sat down to a communal dinner of chicken curry and Angkor Beer. Cinnamon-hued cattle and elderly women wearing ikat sarongs and checkered scarves ambled along the dusty road outside.

Eating by the light given off by fishing cages doubling as lamps, the group recounted the day's activities: bird-watching at sunrise, mountain biking across rocky streams, swimming in waterfalls. And fending off rain forest leeches.

"The bite is no worse than a large mosquito's," said David Lambert, a strapping Englishman.

Katrin van Camp, from Belgium, had returned from a guided overnight jungle trek, then spent the afternoon in a hammock and playing with local children eager to improve their English. "When I go home, this is the Cambodia I'm going to remember," she said.

For decades, Koh Kong villages like Chi Phat had little contact with the outside world. Marginalized by a lack of infrastructure, a Khmer Rouge presence that endured into the late 1990s, and some of Southeast Asia's wildest, least-explored terrain, the region remained virtually forbidden to outsiders.

But new roads now penetrate the jungle and scale the hills; new bridges traverse the area's numerous rivers. And as Cambodia has achieved a level of political stability, a small but diverse array of Western-run accommodations — including the makeshift restaurant in Chi Phat, part of a project called Community-Based Eco-tourism — has opened in the last few years, catering to both backpackers and the well-heeled.

Thanks to this new accessibility, travelers are now discovering the area's awe-inspiring biodiversity, which includes one of Southeast Asia's largest tracts of virgin rain forest; some 60 threatened species, including the endangered Asian elephants, tigers, Siamese crocodiles and pileated gibbons; and a virtually untouched 12-island archipelago in the Gulf of Thailand, with sand beaches and crystal-clear aquamarine waters.

The Koh Kong region spans 4,300 square miles, about the size of the Everglades National Park. But the charms of Cambodian rural life are readily apparent in Chi Phat, home to about 2,500 people. The village sits at the foot of the Southern Cardamom Mountains, about 10 miles inland, up the mangrove- and bamboo-lined Preak Piphot River. Wooden houses on stilts, painted mint green and baby blue and shaded by towering palms, line the main dirt road. Children wearing navy blue and white uniforms and broad smiles cycle to school on adult-size bikes, passing by toothpick-legged white egrets hanging out on the backs of water buffalo in neon green rice fields.

It wasn't always this peaceful. Chi Phat was once infamous for its abundant poachers, loggers and slash-and-burn farmers, who were forced to turn to illegal practices to make a living. That began to change in 2007, when the conservation group Wildlife Alliance started to work with the community on a project that would turn hunters — who knew the forest's hidden gems better than anyone — into tour guides, and local families into guesthouse owners.

"Chi Phat was home to the most destructive inhabitants in the whole of Koh Kong province," said John Maloy, a spokesman for Wildlife Alliance. "By participating in the eco-tourism project, community members would not only receive income that would greatly improve their situation, they would be provided with incentives to protect the forest rather than exploit it in an unsustainable manner."

So far, the initiatives seem to be working. Last year, Chi Phat welcomed 1,228 visitors, according to the alliance, an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2009. Residents are receiving much-needed income that allows them to reside year-round in the village, allowing their children to go to school and get to health care. (When locals relied on logging and hunting, they had to spend long stretches in the forest.)

Travelers, meanwhile, can leave the pressures of the developed world behind. Days begin with the rooster's crow and end when the village's generator goes silent at midnight. On trips organized by the Community-Based Eco-tourism office, visitors can trek through fields filled with canary yellow and electric blue butterflies to reach bat caves hidden behind curved waterfalls, or plant a tree at a reforestation nursery. Recent visitors reportedly caught a glimpse of a few of the area's roughly 175 endangered elephants.

Janet Newman, originally from England, fell for Koh Kong while documenting the province's wildlife in 2005. Within three years, she had decided to stay for good, and opened the eco-friendly Rainbow Lodge.

"I looked at many parts of the country but always had a big smile on my face when I went to Koh Kong," Ms. Newman said. "It was just the sheer unspoiled beauty of the area."

The lodge, on 12 acres along the Tatai River about 50 miles northwest of Chi Phat, is thick with palms and brightly colored flowering bushes. The seven wooden thatched-roof bungalows have hammock-strung terraces that overlook the trees.

Guests at the lodge — who recently ranged from a young Australian family of five to adventure-ready couples from Europe — can kayak to the nearby Tatai waterfall, a wide expanse that creates small bathing pools and pummeling massage spots between black rocks; head into the jungle on guided hikes, spotting and identifying birds and insects as they go; or just lounge in the wicker sofas in the open-air restaurant, whose thatched roof features a nightly display by limb-size polka-dotted geckos.

If you are lucky, the spot might just live up to its name: three rainbows streaked the sky during a November visit.

Ms. Newman and her boyfriend and co-manager, Gee Cartier, go to great lengths to minimize the property's environmental impact, sourcing about 95 percent of Rainbow Lodge's power from solar panels and supporting Cambodian-made products like biodegradable handmade soaps and locally harvested honey.

Cozy as Rainbow might be, some travelers may prefer the creature comforts available at 4 Rivers Floating Lodge, which opened in November 2009 three miles downstream on a bend in the river. Bringing luxury to the untamed wilderness is the focus here, with 12 rooms housed in elaborately built tents that float on interconnected decks made of recycled wood.

With perks like king beds, air-conditioning, hot water and three-course dinners, 4 Rivers caters to European honeymooners and expatriates in Phnom Penh seeking a refuge from the city.

But just as eco-tourism is taking off, businesses may soon have to deal with major threats from a different sort of development. Like much of Cambodia, Koh Kong faces serious challenges as the government sells off land, including parcels of national parks, to private developers. Several Chinese-built dams have been proposed or are under construction along Koh Kong's rivers. And given the recent government approval to build a titanium mine nearby, Chi Phat itself faces the possible loss of 11,000 acres of rain forest and and additional challenges to its eco-tourism efforts.

Last year, ground was broken on a $5 billion, 25-year Chinese-financed tourism project that includes an airport, a sea port, a golf course and a large commercial development along a stretch of Koh Kong's southern coast, now accessible only by boat. Although the roads and airport might be good for the eco-tourism efforts, the additional developments might not.

The archipelago consists of a dozen islands with few inhabitants, aside from the main fishing island of Koh Sdach. A few places to stay already operate on the islands. December 2009 saw the opening of hippie-friendly Nomads Land on Koh Totang, a rugged island, and Belinda Beach Resort, opened in October on Koh Sdach, which easily qualifies as Koh Kong's fanciest digs, with stone bungalows surrounded by bougainvilleas and plumeria trees, an infinity pool and a terrace.

As in Chi Phat, positive, symbiotic relationships between businesses and residents are forming on the islands — which may be a bulwark against overdevelopment. Nomads and Belinda Beach employ islanders at their properties; tourists hire fishermen, intimately familiar with the area's secret beaches and best swimming spots, as day-trip guides.

"We felt such positive energy from the locals when we arrived," said Benoit Trigaux, the owner of Belinda Beach. "Everything you can dream of is here."

HOW TO GET THERE

Koh Kong province is roughly a five-hour drive from Phnom Penh. Public buses ($10) leave from Phnom Penh throughout the day, but hiring a private car ($70 each way; arrange through your hotel) will save time. (U.S. dollars are widely accepted in Cambodia.)

Koh Sdach is best reached by a two-hour ferry ($25) from Sihanoukville that runs every other day (returning the next day); a Chinese-built road is expected to be finished this year.

WHERE TO STAY

There are currently 11 guesthouses and 8 homestays in Chi Phat (855-92-720-925; ecoadventurecambodia.com). Accommodations are simple: foam mattress, mosquito net, shared toilets. You might have a farm animal or two under your room. Take it all in stride. Daily rates are $3 to $5 a person.

The seven bungalows at family-friendly Rainbow Lodge (855-99-744-321; rainbowlodgecambodia.com) feature log-frame beds, a silk bedside lamp, fans and private balconies. Doubles, including all meals, are $65.

Rooms at the 4 Rivers Floating Lodge (Tatai River; 855-97-64-34-032; ecolodges.asia) are spacious and furnished with beds and settees made of woven water hyacinth; the private verandas are lovely. Doubles, $139.

At Nomads Land (Koh Totang; 855-11-91-61-71; nomadslandcambodia.com), you can stay in anything from a single room made of thatched bamboo to a two-story bungalow with stunning ocean views. There are plans to introduce yoga and meditation retreats. From $8 per person.

Belinda Beach Resort (Koh Sdach; 855-17-517-517; belindabeach.com) is the first luxury hotel to come to the Koh Kong coast. Doubles, $120.

ACTIVITIES

Day treks from Chi Phat start at $8, overnight trips into the jungle from $20. At Rainbow Lodge, kayaks are free; full-day treks start at $15.

You can charter a basic fisherman's boat at Koh Sdach for $25 for a long half-day; more comfortable is a day trip snorkeling and kayaking with Koh Kong Divers (855-17-502-784; kohkongdivers.com), which is $40 a person. Dives from $55.

March 4, 2011
In Cambodia, Koh Kong Emerges as an Eco-Tourism Destination
By NAOMI LINDT

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/travel/06nextstop-kohkong.html?src=twrhp&pagewanted=print

Friday, March 4, 2011

Lower-Cost Solar Cambodia Villages

Cambodia's Isolated Villagers Change Their Lives With Lower-Cost Solar

ROU HAL, Cambodia -- With a desire to one day become a doctor and save lives, 12-year-old Phat Sopwa devotes most of his time to study. After dark, though, his dream grew dim.

Living in this typical Cambodian village without electricity, Phat used to do homework by a kerosene lamp that emits no more light than a cigarette lighter. The dim ray hurt his eyes, made him drowsy and forced the boy to quickly give up his tasks.

That dark homework time ended in February with a gift from his aunt. What Phat received is a small solar array, which powers three light bulbs and made his wooden hut fill with bright light for the first time.

"Solar is much better [than the kerosene lamp]. I can now see characters in my textbooks clearly," said Phat, while happily flipping on and off the light switch.

Phat isn't the only Cambodian who is excited about solar. In a nation deprived of electricity infrastructure, yet rich in sunlight, rural families are increasingly adding solar products to their shopping lists.

What's driving the trend, according to solar companies, is that Cambodia's rising economy has coincided with a continuing drop in the cost of solar energy. Meanwhile, financial incentives have been rolled out to help the rural poor harness the sun.

Although electricity grids from dams, neighboring countries and fossil fuel power plants are expected to reach more than two-thirds of Cambodia's households by 2030, some villagers don't want to wait for another two decades.

Last month, three families in Phat's village already switched on solar energy. "Many other villages around here are also using solar," said Phoeuy Phen, a tourist driver on his way to Angkor Wat, a centuries-old temple complex where Angelina Jolie filmed the movie "Tomb Raider."

Where the grid peters out in the coconut trees

Modern energy is a luxury in Cambodia, where millions of rural residents live beyond the reach of the nation's power grid.

Outside Siem Reap, one of Cambodia's more developed cities, electric lines are tangled like giant spaghetti on wooden poles -- sometimes on coconut trees -- to reach scattered villages. After a few miles, the lines peter out. Then, a vast kingdom running on kerosene and batteries begins.

There, roughly half of the people spend their nighttime with smoky kerosene lamps, a fire hazard to their wooden huts. Most can name a neighbor who lost a house and even children because of one careless moment.

This risk led some to a second popular solution. Richer Cambodians get access to electricity by using automobile storage batteries. Those batteries can do the job for a few days, and then it's time to take a bumpy journey.

In early morning, villagers load these batteries on bicycles and ply the rocky roads to diesel-powered charging stations, where they drop their empty battery off for a refill. At twilight, they come again, leave about 50 cents and take the recharged battery back home.

An Oach, who runs such a charging station, greets dozens of customers every day. Although the charging fee has gone up by 25 percent over the last six months, along with rising diesel prices, An says she believes villagers are likely to stay with her, rather than be lured away by some solar salesmen.

"For now, the price of solar is still too high, and not many know what solar is," An said, almost shouting in an attempt to be heard over the rat-a-tat-tat of her sputtering generator.

Solar isn't chicken feed to a farmer

It turns out that she isn't entirely right. A dozen miles up the road, in a small farming village called Chouk Saw, a chicken grower tells the story the other way around.

Three years ago, Bum Ma Sarith got convinced by a solar salesman and risked $1,500 from his savings to buy an Italian-made solar power system. Although his hope was simply to end tedious recharging journeys, Bum found out solar energy did more than that.

Unlike batteries, the solar power system never runs down, providing reliable and long-lasting light to his chicken farm, said Bum. Thus he was able to increase the farm's annual output by 30 percent. And every year, Bum also saves at least $500 on battery costs and enjoys an extra bonus: powering a small television and watching movies with his family.

The result whetted Bum's appetite for the technology. He now plans to buy a solar-powered pump that will fetch water from his backyard well.

Surprisingly, the popularity of solar energy is also emerging among the poorer families who can't even afford batteries.

Nouk Sarou, a 39-year-old mother of two, recently took a relative's advice and cut off her dangerous relationship with kerosene lamps. She bought a solar lantern equipped with a high-efficiency LED light.

Charged by a palm-size solar panel, the lantern provides safe light while it costs one-third of what Nouk spent on kerosene. Moreover, it also changed other aspects of her life, including the experience of going to the toilet.

Like most villagers in Cambodia, Nouk uses the forest for her private needs. But that is a scary thing to do at night, she said, adding that she used to pick up a burning branch from her cookstove and brave into the dark woods with it. Today, however, "with [bright light from] the solar lantern, there is no worries about going to the toilet," said Nouk, laughing and blushing.

A rent-a-lamp scares away the ghosts

Nouk said she is saving money for a solar power system that can operate a television -- a key channel for her to gain knowledge. Decades of war in Cambodia meant she never had a chance to go to school. Luckily for Nouk, she might not need to wait too long.

Kamworks, a solar startup in Cambodia, is making it easier for the rural poor to afford solar energy. Under its recently launched lending scheme, families can use solar products first, and gradually pay back with what they save on batteries or kerosene expenditures.

So far, more than 20 families have benefited from the pilot service, according to Jeroen Verschelling, a director at Kamworks. And the company is in talks with local banks, aiming to expand the reach of the scheme to cover half of the country, he added.

Still, despite Kamworks' efforts and complementing services from its peers and the government, the mission to power rural Cambodia with solar energy is eclipsed by three missing links.

It is hard to grow distribution networks in the remote lands, industry players noted. And investors show little interest in expansion plans, as they view solar energy and rural Cambodians a poor mix.

Other than that, generating electricity from the sun sounds too good to be real, making solar energy a hard sell to 4 out of 5 villagers who have never heard of such technology, according to Anthony Jude, an energy expert from the Asian Development Bank.

Solar entrepreneurs have been scrambling for ways to close the knowledge gap. They let solar energy be heard on radios, seen on handed-out T-shirts and also taken home without buying it.

Last year, Kamworks began renting out solar lanterns at a daily price of 8 cents -- roughly what villagers spend on kerosene. The rental business became so popular that the company plans to increase its rental outlets to 80, up from three right now, said Verschelling.

Designed by Dutch college students, the solar lantern is a favorite among rural families. According to its product leaflet, its functions include providing light to cook, study and scare ghosts -- a major need here after dark.

March 4, 2011
By COCO LIU of ClimateWire
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/03/04/04climatewire-cambodias-isolated-villagers-change-their-li-69884.html?pagewanted=print