First steps on the Web for a one of a kind educational Khmer Sign Language dictionary

Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 06/01/2009. Students learning sign language gestures for the words "I love you" at Krousar Thmey school (Photo: Vandy Rattana)

14-01-2009
By Laurent Le Gouanvic
Ka-set in English
Click here to read the article in French
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Together with the French Young Deaf Institute (IJS), the NGO Krousar Thmey set up an ingenious digital dictionary for Khmer Sign Language learning, a smart way of making the most out of the Web's multimedia possibilities.

Swift and agile fingers in motion, elevated by an invisible pair of wings, will simulate the light flight of a dragonfly, when a punching gesture quickly followed by the fine quiver of a undulating hand will accurately represent fireworks... This online digital Khmer sign language dictionary was recently set up by both Krousar Thmey, the Cambodia-based foundation assisting deprived children, and the French Institut des Jeunes Sourds (IJS, Young Deaf Institute, located in Bourg-la-Reine, France) offers internet users the possibility to browse through a surprisingly poetical world. However, its objective goal is not to promote poetry, but truly to allow Internet 'surfers', through a handy, entertaining and educational tool, to have access to hundreds of words in Khmer, French and English and their equivalent version in Khmer sign language, demonstrated in short video clips. The project is a first in Cambodia and comes as an ingenious and smart feature on the web, where one can already find an extensive list of online Khmer dictionaries.

From Abbreviation to Worry
Created along the same template as the one used for the digital French Sign Language lexical glossary set up in 2000 by the Institut des Jeunes Sourds in Bourg-la-Reine, the Beta version of the digital Khmer Sign Language (KSL) dictionary was launched on the web in December 2008 and already comprises some 130 terms, classified in alphabetical order, from “Abbreviation” to “Worry”, and will gradually be expanded.

The project, mainly intended for the Cambodian deaf and hearing-impaired young adults looked after by the NGO Krousar Thmey but also for the wider public thanks to its availability on the Internet, was supported by several partners, who opted for the “Less is More” minimalist concept, as stressed by Nicolas Anquetil, teacher of Arts and Design at the IJS and main technical idea-man behind the project, on his blog.

Easy as pie and a mouse-click
The original aim, Nicolas Anquetil describes, was to create something simple along the lines of minimalism, a widely-spread concept among web designers, to allow any user, even “devoid of competence in the field of computer technology”, to feel as comfortable with the tool as possible.

The lexical interface proposed by the IJS was designed to both integrate the specificities of the Khmer language and facilitate the use of this application in Cambodia, by Cambodians. It can be installed on any PC thanks to a CD-Rom version and then be accessed through a browser without the need for a network connection. Besides, video-clips and sound were optimised for easy online use and do not require a broadband connection.

In a few clicks, a drop-down menu allows Internet users to choose a term in alphabetical lists provided in Khmer, French or English, and discover its “translation” into Khmer Sign Language, an adaptation of the American sign language (ASL) for use in the Cambodian language and culture. Each term is associated with a video sequence showing a young man or woman demonstrating the appropriate signs to be used in KSL, while a voice-over pronounces the word in Khmer. The official sign is illustrated by a small drawing, showing the different movements to follow. The Khmer-KSL page also provides a definition of terms and examples of contexts in which a word or expression can be used.

A way of discovering a language and a culture
This new tool reflects the vast amount of work that the NGO Krousar Thmey, now proposing education for deaf and mute children, initiated back in 1994. Internet surfers without any particular insider knowledge, whether they be familiar with Cambodia or not, can discover there an extremely rich and universal language deeply rooted in Khmer culture.

For instance, neophytes will take much delight in learning how to say, in Khmer Sign Language, expressions such as the figurative “banana ” , the emblematic “solidarity ”, the jaw-clapping “crocodile ” or the more than scary “reputation ”, which, without making that much of a “racket ” speaks for itself in signs...

This application, full of promise in its development, proves to be an easy and useful way to make the most of the numerous possibilities offered nowadays by the world of multimedia.
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Many other Khmer language dictionaries are available on the Net

- The very good dictionary directory Lexilogos offers a substantial choice: a modern Khmer dictionary, Cambodian-French dictionaries, among which the versions elaborated by Jean Baptiste Bernard (1866) and Joseph Guesdon (1930), and a glossary of terms listed by topics, with sound , providing altogether advice on grammar, Khmer scripts and lessons of Phonetics.

- A group of Cambodians from California set up with the help of young students from Phnom Penh a digital English-Khmer dictionary available to all for free.

- A Khmer-French-Khmer dictionary published and also available for free on the website Angkor Planet on which users will also be nicely surprised to discover colourful representations of an imaginary Angkor...

No impartial tribunal in Cambodia

January 14, 2009
By Lao Mong Hay
UPI Asia Online

Column: Rule by Fear

Hong Kong, China — Cambodia is bound by the Paris Peace Agreements, which were concluded in 1991 to end a protracted war in the country and which obligate Cambodia to adhere to international human rights norms and standards. These include, among other things, the creation of an independent judiciary and the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
All the specified international human rights norms and standards have now become an integral part of Cambodia's Constitution. This Constitution spells out clearly that Cambodia shall recognize and respect human rights as stipulated in all relevant international instruments. It provides for the separation of powers, an independent judiciary, the guarantee of this judicial independence by the king with the assistance of a supreme judicial body called the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, and the protection of human rights by the king and the judiciary.
However, despite all the constitutional guarantees and protections mentioned above, in reality the Cambodian people have not enjoyed these rights, including the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent and impartial tribunal. There is no such tribunal as yet in Cambodia.

Since the abandonment of communism in the early 1990s, the Cambodian judiciary has not proved to be independent despite continued criticism over its lack of this important attribute. It is very much under political control. Most, if not all, members are affiliated to the ruling party, with the chief justice of the Supreme Court being a member of the party's standing and central committees.

More recently the Cambodian authorities have recognized the obvious, though indirectly. Last October a deputy prime minister, Sok An, announced that the government “will be preparing a workshop on the law and courts,” saying that the government had heard “bad rumors about courts in Cambodia” and it was going “to work very hard to change that.” He added that the government “needed to enforce discipline and make sure that the courts are independent."

As for competency, the courts have recently been found to be short of it. Last year the Senate's Legislation and Justice Committee conducted an investigation into the functioning of the courts and the legal knowledge of judicial officials. After the completion of the investigation in a number of courts in November, its chairman, Ouk Bunthoeun, revealed some of the committee's findings, one of which was the inadequate knowledge base of these officials. "The judges and the prosecutors are facing difficulties implementing the laws …There are a lot of technical terms that (they) don't understand," he said.

The Cambodian courts have also been found to lack impartiality. This lack comes from their lack of independence and from corruption. A survey by Transparency International released in February 2008 found that the judiciary, in tandem with the police, was the most corrupt institution in Cambodia.

A study by an NGO released earlier, in December 2007, said, “ The primary functions of the courts continue to be: 1) To prosecute political opponents and other critics of the government; 2) To perpetuate impunity for state actors and their associates; 3) To promote the economic interests of the rich and powerful.” Ouk Bunthoeun, mentioned above, said his committee had also found the bias and corruption that the courts have been accused of.

The dismal status of the courts of law and the ensuing denial of constitutional right to a fair and public hearing by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal should no longer be tolerated. The king of Cambodia should discharge his constitutional duty, get the Supreme Council of the Magistracy which he chairs, and seek support from the government and the Parliament to ensure the independence of the judiciary.

As the first step, the law on the status of judges and prosecutors that the country's Constitution has specifically stipulated and the government has long promised, was enacted and effectively enforced. This law should affirm and protect the constitutional immovability and independence of this group of judicial officials so as to ensure the security of their tenure. It should prohibit their affiliation to any political party while their tenure is secure.

The Supreme Council of the Magistracy should free itself from political control as well and, like judges and prosecutors, its members should not be affiliated to any political party. This council should effectively enforce its code of ethics for judges and prosecutors and establish the procedure and mechanism for complaints against these judicial officials which should be easily accessible to the public.

In the meantime, the leadership of the country should respect the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary, and end their control over it. Furthermore, this branch of government should be allocated adequate resources so that it can properly provide justice and protect human rights.
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(Lao Mong Hay is a senior researcher at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong. He was previously director of the Khmer Institute of Democracy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto in 2003. In 1997, he received an award from Human Rights Watch and the Nansen Medal in 2000 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)

Royal row over ballet sees calls for control to return to palace

A Royal Ballet performer on stage in this photograph. (Photo by: Tracey Shelton)

Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Written by Meas Sokchea The Phnom Penh Post

Two princes say that the Ministry of Culture should hand control of the National Ballet to the palace to improve quality and attendance.

TWO princes who recently left politics have expressed their desire for the Royal Ballet of Cambodia to be removed from under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and returned to the Royal Palace, describing the potential move as a return to tradition.
Prince Sisowath Thomico and Prince Sisowath Chakrey Noukpol told the Post in recent interviews that the Royal Ballet should be returned because it originated in the Royal Palace before being moved to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in 1970.

Both princes left politics in late 2008, and Prince Thomico was recently appointed to the King's advisory council.

"I want to appeal ... for the Royal Ballet to be kept in the Royal Palace."

"I want to appeal to all members of the royal family to ask for the Royal Ballet to be kept in the Royal Palace, and I also want to appeal to the government about this," Chakrey said. "I don't think the move will cause damage to the ballet because both the royal family and the government work for the nation."

Thomico said other members of the royal family agree with this position but are not willing to come out in public support of it.

Republican era

The Royal Ballet was placed under the control of the Culture Ministry in 1970 by then-prime minister Lon Nol, who changed its name from the Royal Ballet to the National Ballet, Thomico said. The name has since been changed back to the Royal Ballet, but it remains under the control of the ministry.

"Now the royal family wants to reorganise it in accordance with tradition, so it should be taken into the Royal Palace," Thomico said.

He said he believes the Royal Ballet has suffered both in quality and popularity during nearly four decades of control by the ministry, adding that moving it to the Palace could reverse its decline.

Chuch Poeurn, a secretary of state at the Culture Ministry, declined to comment beyond confirming that the Royal Ballet was originally controlled by the palace.