Cambodia's Sibling Band achieves unexpected fame

Written by Mom Kunthear

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

When Heng Srey Sambath bought his son a guitar, he never imagined that music would become his family's fascination and even make them famous Photo by: Mom Kunthear The Sibling Band in action.

Formed at the end of 2007 as a family pastime, Dantrey Bang Phoun, or the Sibling Band, is slowly starting to make waves around Cambodia.

Heng Srey Sambath smiles as he talks about how he initially hesitated when his eldest son, 16-year-old Pis, asked him whether he could learn how to play the guitar.

"I hesitated because I had never seen my son play music before. We don't come from an artistic family, and I have never thought any of my children would become musicians," Heng Srey Sambath said.

Concerned that his son would go out on the street out of boredom, Heng Srey Sambath eventually conceded and bought his son a guitar to provide him with a worthwhile hobby.

"I bought a guitar for him to learn, and two weeks later I saw that my son was already playing the instrument very well. I also saw that my two daughters and nieces were interested and always listened when he played," he said.

Seeing his family's fascination with music, Heng Srey Sambath decided to get them all involved in the pursuit and vowed to save money in order to buy instruments for all his children.

"Initially I didn't have money for instruments, so I collected objects that they could play music on, such as cans and trays to make rhythm," he said. "My wife was against me buying any more instruments because she thought that the children would not be successful and she didn't want to waste money, but I comforted her and used my power as the head of the family to buy them," he said, adding that now his wife is happy with the family's musical progress.

I didn't have money for instruments, so i collected objects that they could play on.


Turning point
The family fortune took a turn for the better when one day Heng Srey Sambath asked a local restaurant owner whether his family could entertain customers at the restaurant by playing music and singing songs.

"On one occasion after the band finished playing, there was a musician there who was interested in them, and he said that the children could be famous if we tried to teach them more."

Heng Srey Sambath said that while he initially worried about the negative impact of fame and money on his children, he now thinks that his children will not be spoiled by success.

"I think my children will have no problems if they become famous because I have taught them that when they do something wrong they will be punished, and when they get money they have to share it," he said.

The Sibling Band has recently performed for a show on Bayon TV, and they received US$500 from Prime Minister Hun Sen after they performed twice on CTN.

They also have plans to perform in Australia in March next year, but Heng Srey Sambath says that this still depends on their sponsors.

"Before, I would have never thought that the Sibling Band would be famous, but after the children got a good music teacher who also writes songs for them to sing, I have changed my mind," he said.

While Heng Srey Sambath hopes that one day the Sibling Band will be able to support the family, he says that he will never force the children to keep performing.

"If they want to play, I will allow them to continue, but if they don't want to play any more, I will let them give it up," he said.

"I would be very disappointed if this band did not work out. I consider this band as a diamond, and it would be a shame to lose it," Heng Srey Sambath said. "But as I am a Buddhist, I usually tell myself that nothing can last forever, so I don't think too much about losing, and while I think that this band will finish one day, I want everybody in Cambodia to remember them."
Pis, the Sibling Band leader, says he just wanted to learn how to play guitar because he wanted to be like his classmates who played the instrument.

"I never wished to be a music player or a singer. I just wanted to know how to play guitar for pleasure, but when I found a good teacher and built a band, I wanted to continue to do it," he said. "I am very happy with my band, and I never thought that it would be possible for me to perform on TV in front of an audience."

Stock market launch beset by apathy, crisis: experts

Written by SOEUN SAY

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

With the opening of the stock exchange approaching, local experts ask whether the public has any interest in investing in a market they don’t understand AFP Construction at the soon-to-be-home of Cambodia’s stock exchange, scheduled to open in September.

INDEPENDENT economists last week lowered their expectations over the launch of Cambodia's stock exchange, saying the risks inherent to the Kingdom's investment climate and a lack of public interest could undermine the proposed September opening.

Kang Chandararot, an economist and president of the Cambodia Institute for Development Study, expressed doubts over the government's ability to meet its deadline for the index, but said public confidence would ultimately dictate its success or failure. "If they don't [generate] public confidence in the stock market, they will take a huge risk," he said of the exchange's organisers.

A worsening economy and a sluggish property market have likely eliminated much of the potential investment capital people could have otherwise used for the stock market, Kang Chandararot said.

He added that instilling public confidence in the stock market could be difficult when the government has yet to follow through on other responsibilities.

"How can [people] want to buy shares in a stock market if the government has left so many other things undone?" he asked.
Economist Chap Sotharith echoed Kang Chandararot's concerns, but said that the government faces a more fundamental challenge with the index.

"If the government manages to open the exchange, they will still face the fact that Cambodian people don't understand it and will not invest because they have no faith in stocks," he said.

Chap Sotharith added, however, that a successful launch of the stock market could help stimulate Cambodia's economy. He called on the government to better educate the public and encourage more people to use banks, while continuing to attract foreign investors.

Government committed
Finance Minister Keat Chhon said the government remains committed to a September launch of the stock market.
While acknowledging that the slowdown has raised questions about the viability of the exchange, he said the project would survive.

"We will not rush to establish the stock exchange, but we will build a strong base," Keat Chhon told reporters in October.
He added that the establishment of the stock market would help Cambodia develop additional financial resources to boost economic growth.

Hang Chuon Naron, secretary general at the Ministry of Finance, said the stock market would progress according to the government's long-term financial vision for the country and would not be vulnerable to global market instability.

"We hope the stock exchange will provide long-term financial [growth] compared to what we have relied on in the past, such as banks, national budgets, foreign aid and investment," he said. "I think in five or 10 years, the stock exchange will play a key role in strengthening Cambodia's financial sector, but we must proceed carefully to build trust," he said.

Economic downturn hitting migrant labour, official says

Written by MAY KUNMAKARA

Monday, 29 December 2008

Low-wage countries like Malaysia and Thailand have seen the sharpest declines with slight increases recorded for Japan and South Korea Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON People cross the Cambodian-Thai border at Poipet. Cambodian migrant labour into Thailand is being hit hard by the economic crisis.

THE worsening economic crisis is taking a toll on Cambodian migrant labour, with the number of workers heading to Malaysia and Thailand down about 10 percent in 2008, according to a Labour Ministry official.

Falling migrant labour could hit Cambodia's remittance earnings, estimated at about US$300 million per year, according to Ministry of Labour statistics.

"I still support our people working abroad because it can reduce poverty and improve [workers'] livelihoods as well," said Nhem Kim Houy, bureau director at the Ministry of Labour.

Nhem Kim Houy said the ministry allows some 17 companies to export migrant workers, and that the ministry recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kuwait and Qatar that will see additional workers go to those countries next year.

Slight increases were recorded this year for Cambodian migrant workers travelling to Korea and Japan, even though both countries have been hit hard by the economic crisis, the official said, crediting the rise to government-sponsored stimulus programs that boosted demand for low-cost labour.

The average wage for Cambodian agricultural workers in South Korea is $900 per month, while factory workers in Japan earn up to $600 monthly, Nhem Kim Houy said. Workers in Malaysia and Thailand earn just $150 per month.

The countries where our workers get low salaries are seeing a decline.


Some 13,324 Cambodians entered the migrant labour force in Malaysia from 1998 through November this year, Seng Sakada, director of the ministry's Labour Department, told a press conference on immigration for work and human trafficking at the Ministry of Women's Affairs last week.

Seng Sakada said 2,654 workers went to Malaysia in 2008, down from 3,219 last year.
Some 4,000 workers took jobs in Thailand this year, down more than 1,600 from last year.

However, legal workers in South Korea rose from 95 in 2007 to 2,400 this year, with an additional 3,447 workers preparing for positions there, Seng Sakada said. Only three Cambodian workers were employed in Japan last year, Seng Sakada said, adding that the number this year was 39, with 21 additional workers preparing to accept positions.

"The countries where our workers get low salaries are seeing a decline in workers, while countries that offer better wages have been getting more workers," Seng Sakada told the press conference. Sok Chanpheakdey, director of Philimore Cambodia, a government-approved migrant worker agent, said the changing numbers reflect a shift towards better-paid positions.

"My company doesn't want to send Cambodian workers to Thailand anymore because they receive low salaries for long hours. Many of our workers are also afraid of the recent political chaos and don't want to work there," he said.

Tribunal rejects review of Khieu Samphan's detention

Written by Brendan Brady

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Pre-Trial Chamber says it has no jurisdiction to reverse provisional detention of former Khmer Rouge head of state Photo by: eccc/pool Khieu Samphan (left) shown at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in this file photo.

A REQUEST for the release of Khieu Samphan from pretrial detention has been ruled as inadmissible by Khmer Rouge tribunal judges who say they have no jurisdiction to rule on the application.

In a statement dated Wednesday, the Pre-Trial Chamber refused to review a petition by the defence team for the release from custody of the former Khmer Rouge head of state, who is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The pretrial chamber president, Judge Prak Kimsan, wrote that he "has no jurisdiction to decide on the application and will therefore declare it inadmissible".

The decision corroborated the co-prosecutors' retort that the tribunal's rules "supercede" the Cambodian Penal Code and "do not allow such application" before the Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed court.

The petition, filed December 4 by co-lawyers Jacques Verges and Sa Sovan, insisted Khieu Samphan should be released until decisions are delivered on their other outstanding appeals, including one against an earlier court decision that denied the full translation of their client's case file into French. Verges maintains that this prevents him from defending his client in his native language.

In their submission, the defence took wider jabs at the court, writing that their client "is being held arbitrarily, based on a non-existent juridical act".

In October, the tribunal extended 77-year-old Khieu Samphan's pretrial detention for an additional year as delays continued to hamper the proceedings.

Of the five suspects under provisional arrest, he was the last to be refused release under any circumstance, including hospitalisation as alternative confinement.

Verges has repeatedly accused the tribunal of engaging in "lynch mob justice", telling the German news magazine Der Spiegel last month he doubted his client's case would ever go to trial because the court had "gambled away its credibility and legitimacy" by failing to adhere to procedures.

Both defence lawyers are in France and could not be contacted for comment on Monday.

Slum eviction deadline today

Written by Chhay Channyda

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Some 100 families holding out in Dey Krahorm say they will refuse to leave their homes until the company developing the land gives them more money Photo by: Heng Chivoan Dey Krahorm residents sit near a sign that says "Stop evictions" during a news conference Monday in the slum.

SEVERAL hundred Dey Krahorm residents who are facing an eviction deadline today say they will not leave the slum until the private company that has taken control of the land gives them a fair price for the homes they will lose.

Their refusal has set the stage for another outbreak of violence in the shantytown, rights workers warn, following several previous clashes between residents and representatives of 7NG, the developer who has a concession for the land.

"Human rights groups urge the government not to force people to leave their homes," said Bunn Rachana, a monitor with the Housing Rights Taskforce.

But city officials say they hope the standoff can be resolved through negotiations.

"We try not to use force to evict people - we must use negotiations as a way to find a solution," said Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun.

He added that most of Dey Krahorm's former residents have taken 7NG's compensation offer of relocation in Dangkor district's Damnak Trayoeng village.

Holdouts, he said, risk receiving far less than the US$30,000 to $50,000 that they are demanding from the company, which is offering $10,000 in lieu of a new house at the relocation site.

"The residents want a high price, but the company has no money to give them," he told the Post Monday.

He added that the company would give land titles to those families who have already relocated only after the remaining people left Dey Krahorm.

WHAT WE WANT IS LEGAL POSSESSION OF THE LAND.


Mann Chhoeun also downplayed residents' concerns that the relocation site was lacking infrastructure, saying that a school was under construction and 7NG would offer loans to residents who wanted to open businesses.

"Each family can borrow two million to five million riels ($500 to $1,250) to run the business," he said.

Not enough
But residents say the offer is not enough for them to leave land that they say will be valued at many times whatever the company would pay them to leave.

"The villager cannot take what the company is offering," said Chan Vichet, a community representative speaking at a news conference in the slum Monday.

"What we want is legal possession of the land," he said, adding that even Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema warned Dey Krahorm residents not to be cheated when he visited the slum before the 2003 national elections.

"He said, ‘Please don't exchange your diamonds for stone'," Chan Vichet said.

Bunn Rachana said Dey Krahorm residents should have a legal right to the land under the Kingdom's land law.

"They legally occupy the land at Dey Krahorm according to the law," she said.

"They do not want to move."

The land, near the riverside in Chamkarmon district, was granted to 7NG in 2006 for the purposes of developing housing, at a time when real estate prices - even in former slumland - started to skyrocket.

High blood pressure sends labour leader's killer to Calmette

Written by Cheang Sokha
Tuesday, 30 December 2008

Sok Sam Oeun, who was convicted of killing unionist Chea Vichea in 2004, may be too ill to face court on Wednesday, his lawyer says

SOK Sam Oeun, one of two men convicted of assassinating union leader Chea Vichea, may be unable to appear in front of the Supreme Court on Wednesday due to high blood pressure, according to a local rights group.

Am Sam Ath, a monitor for Licadho, said that Sok Sam Oeun was diagnosed with high blood pressure last Friday and was escorted to Calmette Hospital.

"The disease will lead to the postponement of his [hearing] if it reoccurs," Am Sam Ath said, adding, however, that "he is getting better and had returned to the prison".

Licadho's Dr Man Sopheara, who regularly examines inmates, said Sok Sam Oeun's apprehensions about the upcoming hearing had contributed to his high blood pressure.

Sok Sam Oeun and Born Samnang were sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering union activist Chea Vichea in January 2004. But rights groups, including Licadho, contend the men were framed for the politically-charged killing.

The court will consider whether their trial was conducted properly, and could rule for a re-trial in a lower court.

Man Sopheara said he would examine the health of both men before the hearing.

But Chhoun Chatha, deputy general prosecutor of the Supreme Court, told the Post that if one the men was unable to attend the hearing for a specific reason, he could write a letter informing the judges prior the proceedings.

"We have not changed our schedule," he said.

Dengue fever casualties down nationwide: ministry

Written by May Titthara and Sam Rith

Tuesday, 30 December 2008

The head of the Health Ministry's anti-dengue fever program credits better education and treatment for the decline Photo by: Tracey Shelton A young dengue patient awaits treatment at Kantha Bopha hospital in Phnom Penh.

A HEALTH Ministry official announced Monday a steep decline in the number of infections and deaths from dengue fever countrywide this year.

Ngan Chantha, director of the ministry's anti-dengue fever program, said 65 people have died from the disease so far this year, compared with 407 deaths in 2007.

He said 9,300 people contracted the disease in 2008, down from 39,851 cases last year.

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes that causes severe fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, and skin rash.

Ngan Chantha credited greater funding and educational programs for the drop in infection rates and deaths.

"We have a preventative program in place to check the spread of dengue fever," he told the Post Monday, adding that the government has also received support from the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and USAID.

Ngan Chantha said provinces hardest hit by dengue include Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kandal and Siem Reap, but that the disease finds a strong foothold in areas suffering from poor sanitation.

However, Ngan Chantha identified a troubling trend in the spread of the disease.

"Now, it is not only the children who get infected. It is also older men between 20 and 50," he said, adding that the ministry did not have data on infection rates among adults but that it would conduct studies in the future.

Srey Acha, director of the Me Sang district referral hospital in Prey Veng province, said the hospital treated no cases of dengue fever so far this year.

"People in my district now have a greater understanding about how to prevent infection," he told the Post Monday.