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Friday, November 21st, 2008
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Archive for November 21st, 2008
Smart-Nosed Canines Sniff Out ‘Killers’
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Landmine-sniffing dogs at work
Landmine-sniffing puppiesBy Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 November 2008
Maja, Mandy and Lyongambol at a dog kennel in Kampong Cham province. They are bomb-sniffing dogs for the CambodianMineActionCenter, able to find landmines and unexploded ordnance.
While the typical picture of a deminer is one of a human, crouched low, quietly prodding in search of mines, dogs like these are in fact responsible for the clearance of 30 percent of the some 1 million mines and ordnances found by CMAC.
CMAC Director Khim Sophoan says these dogs work just as much as the 2,000 other deminers on staff, their colleagues.
“These dogs are even more effective in locating landmines than mine detectors because they sniff for TNT only,” he says.
TNT is a substance used in landmines and other explosives, a deadly remnant of Cambodia’s civil wars, killing hundreds of people each year. CMAC estimates these “hidden killers” have killed or injured more than 60,000 Cambodians since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
An estimated 4 million to 6 million mines and explosives are still scattered across the country.
These bomb-sniffing dogs, mostly German Shepherds brought in from Germany, Swedenand Bosnia, are helping reduce the numbers.
Each dog takes eight to 10 months to train. Handler Heang Sombo, who has worked with such dogs for more than a decade, says this is not easy.
“It is like we are training our kids to say ‘mom’ or ‘dad,’” he says. “We train them to sit, to listen, and to obey us. Then we train them to smell TNT.”
Making the task harder is the dogs’ language: they don’t speak Khmer.
“When we tell them to sniff, we say in Swedish, ‘lear ta,’” he says. “In Bosnian, we say ‘search,’ the same as in English.”
A dog’s sense of smell is about 40 times better than a human. When these dogs smell TNT, they sit down, two meters away from the source.
An untrained bomb-sniffing dog can cost $4,000, and costs can reach $30,000 for a fully trained canine. Cambodiaspends about $1 million a year on the care and training of its 84 dogs.
So far, 10 dogs have aged beyond usefulness in the mine fields.
Sao Chandara, another dog trainer, says when these dogs get old, their ability to sniff mines is reduced.
“So they have to be retired, like humans,” he says. Some will be euthanized.
“We don’t allow these dogs to be taken outside, because before they retire they work like us,” he says. “So we would rather put them to sleep.”
In March, Cambodia bred 10 puppies to replace their parents, Bosnian German Shepherds. However, seven of them died of disease.
While the typical picture of a deminer is one of a human, crouched low, quietly prodding in search of mines, dogs like these are in fact responsible for the clearance of 30 percent of the some 1 million mines and ordnances found by CMAC.
CMAC Director Khim Sophoan says these dogs work just as much as the 2,000 other deminers on staff, their colleagues.
“These dogs are even more effective in locating landmines than mine detectors because they sniff for TNT only,” he says.
TNT is a substance used in landmines and other explosives, a deadly remnant of Cambodia’s civil wars, killing hundreds of people each year. CMAC estimates these “hidden killers” have killed or injured more than 60,000 Cambodians since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
An estimated 4 million to 6 million mines and explosives are still scattered across the country.
These bomb-sniffing dogs, mostly German Shepherds brought in from Germany, Swedenand Bosnia, are helping reduce the numbers.
Each dog takes eight to 10 months to train. Handler Heang Sombo, who has worked with such dogs for more than a decade, says this is not easy.
“It is like we are training our kids to say ‘mom’ or ‘dad,’” he says. “We train them to sit, to listen, and to obey us. Then we train them to smell TNT.”
Making the task harder is the dogs’ language: they don’t speak Khmer.
“When we tell them to sniff, we say in Swedish, ‘lear ta,’” he says. “In Bosnian, we say ‘search,’ the same as in English.”
A dog’s sense of smell is about 40 times better than a human. When these dogs smell TNT, they sit down, two meters away from the source.
An untrained bomb-sniffing dog can cost $4,000, and costs can reach $30,000 for a fully trained canine. Cambodiaspends about $1 million a year on the care and training of its 84 dogs.
So far, 10 dogs have aged beyond usefulness in the mine fields.
Sao Chandara, another dog trainer, says when these dogs get old, their ability to sniff mines is reduced.
“So they have to be retired, like humans,” he says. Some will be euthanized.
“We don’t allow these dogs to be taken outside, because before they retire they work like us,” he says. “So we would rather put them to sleep.”
In March, Cambodia bred 10 puppies to replace their parents, Bosnian German Shepherds. However, seven of them died of disease.
Some Children Labor, Far From Home
Friday, November 21st, 2008
By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 November 2008
Original report from Phnom Penh
21 November 2008
Pale-faced and thin, Chhim Mao sits outside a three-story building in Phnom Penh, guarding cars. Born in Takeo province, the 16-year-old boy has been living for four years with the building owner, a man he’d never known before.
“My grandmother brought me here to help with her housecleaning,” Chhim Mao says. “I help her clean the rooms, and I guard the parked vehicles, as she is getting old and has a lot of work to do.”
In fact, Chhim Mao’s grandmother no longer stays here. She has moved to another house, leaving all her tasks to Chhim Mao. The young boy waters the flowers and the plants. He cleans the stairs. He opens the gate for residents and workers. Often, he dares not sleep until late at night, waiting for the building owner to return.
“I wait for him until one o’clock, when he comes home,” the boy says. “If he has not come, I have to wait for him.”
Chhim Mao is one of more than 20,000 children who leave their hometowns to work in other people's houses in major urban centers like Phnom Penh, Battambang, Kampong Cham and Siem Reap, according to research compiled by World Vision Cambodia and Licadho.
“Some of them are also at high risk of being sexually harassed or even abused by male employers or house owners because of a lack of protection,” says Lor Monirith, World Vision’s manager for the a project to combat child labor.
Children working in private homes like this, often with long hours, lose an opportunity for education, he says.
According to a study by the International Labor Organization, child servants like these work between 12 hours to 18 hours a day, often with little or no pay. They wash dishes and clothes, iron, polish shoes, cook, look after children, care for the infirm. They are the first to rise, the last to sleep and serve at the bidding of their employer. Some are beaten, some scolded, and some are asked to take the wife’s place in the bed of the boss.
Poverty drives the children to the work, Lor Monith says.
“Some parents send their children to work here in the city to earn some money to support the family or pay back debts,” he says.
According to the International Labor Organization’s Convention on the Prevention and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the government, as a signatory, must eliminate severe child labor, such as slavery, forced labor or any work affecting a child’s health, safety or morality.
Labor Ministry officials were unavailable or declined to comment.
Licadho spokesman Vann Sophat says his organization has received six cases of domestic child labor abuse this year, but not a single case has been heard by the courts.
“One of the cases was rape, but the perpetrator is walking free,” he says.
A specific law on child domestic workers is needed to protect these child servants, he says. But more than that, parents must understand that it is not a child’s duty to support the family.
“What a child needs to do,” he says, “is go to school and gain knowledge to become a well-educated citizen for the country in the future.”
“My grandmother brought me here to help with her housecleaning,” Chhim Mao says. “I help her clean the rooms, and I guard the parked vehicles, as she is getting old and has a lot of work to do.”
In fact, Chhim Mao’s grandmother no longer stays here. She has moved to another house, leaving all her tasks to Chhim Mao. The young boy waters the flowers and the plants. He cleans the stairs. He opens the gate for residents and workers. Often, he dares not sleep until late at night, waiting for the building owner to return.
“I wait for him until one o’clock, when he comes home,” the boy says. “If he has not come, I have to wait for him.”
Chhim Mao is one of more than 20,000 children who leave their hometowns to work in other people's houses in major urban centers like Phnom Penh, Battambang, Kampong Cham and Siem Reap, according to research compiled by World Vision Cambodia and Licadho.
“Some of them are also at high risk of being sexually harassed or even abused by male employers or house owners because of a lack of protection,” says Lor Monirith, World Vision’s manager for the a project to combat child labor.
Children working in private homes like this, often with long hours, lose an opportunity for education, he says.
According to a study by the International Labor Organization, child servants like these work between 12 hours to 18 hours a day, often with little or no pay. They wash dishes and clothes, iron, polish shoes, cook, look after children, care for the infirm. They are the first to rise, the last to sleep and serve at the bidding of their employer. Some are beaten, some scolded, and some are asked to take the wife’s place in the bed of the boss.
Poverty drives the children to the work, Lor Monith says.
“Some parents send their children to work here in the city to earn some money to support the family or pay back debts,” he says.
According to the International Labor Organization’s Convention on the Prevention and Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the government, as a signatory, must eliminate severe child labor, such as slavery, forced labor or any work affecting a child’s health, safety or morality.
Labor Ministry officials were unavailable or declined to comment.
Licadho spokesman Vann Sophat says his organization has received six cases of domestic child labor abuse this year, but not a single case has been heard by the courts.
“One of the cases was rape, but the perpetrator is walking free,” he says.
A specific law on child domestic workers is needed to protect these child servants, he says. But more than that, parents must understand that it is not a child’s duty to support the family.
“What a child needs to do,” he says, “is go to school and gain knowledge to become a well-educated citizen for the country in the future.”
Thailand - Opposition lawmakers propose new bill with respect to online defamation
Friday, November 21st, 2008
(SEAPA/IFEX) - On 18 November 2008, draft legislation aimed at penalising people making defamatory remarks online against the monarchy was proposed by a group of members of parliament (MP) from the op...
New TV widget with over 80 channels
Friday, November 21st, 2008I’ve installed a new TV widget on the site. This one allows you to watch more than 80 channels online. It’s the best online TV widget I’ve found so far.
Just choose the category and station on the pull-down menus.
You can access the online TV from the menu bar above. The permanent address is http://www.oudam.com/tv/.
Below is the widget in action. You can watch in full-screen by double-clicking on the video as it plays.
Ex-Khmer Rouge admirer says sorry
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Almost two million people died under Pol Pot's regime Gunnar Bergstrom has the slightly bemused air of a man who has just realised the joke is on him. Finding himself back in a much changed Phnom P...
ADB grants $1.3 mln to road feasibility study in Vietnam, Laos
Friday, November 21st, 2008
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced its grant of 1.3 million U.S. dollars for the preparation of a project to upgrade national highways in Vietnam and Laos, the Vietnam News Agency reported...
Professors from China, Brazil, Japan win top medical awards of Thailand
Friday, November 21st, 2008
The International Award Committee of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation of Thailand announced Friday three professors from China, Brazil and Japan, respectively, have won its 17th Prince Mahidol Awar...
Group plans celebration for Buddha-shaped wasp nest
Friday, November 21st, 2008
11/21/2008
By Matt Russell
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN (USA)
By Matt Russell
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN (USA)
The Cambodian Buddhist community in Rochester has scheduled a two-day celebration to commemorate what members believe is an apparition of the Buddha on temple grounds.
The Dec. 6 and 7 events will celebrate a wasp nest shaped like a seated Buddha that is tucked into the eaves over the entrance to a temple building. Monks and others in the Cambodian Buddhist community have called the nest a miracle, leading to national media attention.
The Dec. 6 event will begin at 6 p.m.; festivities start at 8 a.m. Dec. 7 and continue into the afternoon.
"It's just a celebration for the Buddha," said community member Tracy Sam. "We want everybody to know they are invited to the temple to help us celebrate."
The wasp nest, which members of the community have been calling a beehive, was noticed early this month. Beehives appear to have a special significance in Cambodian Buddhism: Honey collecting is a common activity in Cambodia, where Buddhist temples feature honeycomb-shaped towers.
Monk Moeun Ngop, 76, pointed to a colorful painting on the temple grounds of a monkey giving a honeycomb. He says the painting is a sign that the Buddha-shaped nest isn't a coincidence.
Experts who have examined photos of the nest say that the temple's eaves are an ideal place for a wasp nest to be located. There is nothing extraordinary about the nest's shape, they said.
The Buddhist Support Society's temple is at 4462 29th St. S.E. in Rochester.
The Dec. 6 and 7 events will celebrate a wasp nest shaped like a seated Buddha that is tucked into the eaves over the entrance to a temple building. Monks and others in the Cambodian Buddhist community have called the nest a miracle, leading to national media attention.
The Dec. 6 event will begin at 6 p.m.; festivities start at 8 a.m. Dec. 7 and continue into the afternoon.
"It's just a celebration for the Buddha," said community member Tracy Sam. "We want everybody to know they are invited to the temple to help us celebrate."
The wasp nest, which members of the community have been calling a beehive, was noticed early this month. Beehives appear to have a special significance in Cambodian Buddhism: Honey collecting is a common activity in Cambodia, where Buddhist temples feature honeycomb-shaped towers.
Monk Moeun Ngop, 76, pointed to a colorful painting on the temple grounds of a monkey giving a honeycomb. He says the painting is a sign that the Buddha-shaped nest isn't a coincidence.
Experts who have examined photos of the nest say that the temple's eaves are an ideal place for a wasp nest to be located. There is nothing extraordinary about the nest's shape, they said.
The Buddhist Support Society's temple is at 4462 29th St. S.E. in Rochester.
Prime minister says garment sector will survive market crisis
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Friday, 21 November 2008
Written by Nguon Sovan The Phnom Penh Post
Written by Nguon Sovan The Phnom Penh Post
Factories should target low-end market, PM says, but figures suggest the industry faces a slowdown as demand for exports shrinks
THE garment sector will not be seriously impacted by the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday at a summit of trade leaders from the world's poorest countries held in Siem Reap.
"Expensive clothes are rarely produced in our poor countries, but they are produced in other countries. So we may focus on cheaper garments," Hun Sen said, adding that garments made in Cambodia will continue to sell if they are marketed properly.
"At this point, I think that there has been no serious impact on the garment sector," he added.
The prime minister's comments come despite industry figures that suggest a general sector slowdown and expected lay-offs in coming months.
At least 20,000 workers have been laid off this year, say officials with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, adding that 35 factories employing up to 5,000 workers each were facing closure.
GMAC chairman Van Sou Ieng said earlier this week that 30 factories have already been closed this year.
"They closed because there were no purchase orders," he said.
Clothing demand has fallen sharply in the US as economic woes force consumers to cut back on nonessential purchases.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, garment exports plummeted 46 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, capping off a dismal year.
Export growth for all of 2007 stood at only 2.4 percent, representing US$2.9 billion.
Hun Sen said that Cambodia's export garment market is worth approximately $3.6 billion a year.
According to data from the US Department of Commerce, Cambodia garment exports to the US, the Kingdom's biggest textile market, totalled $1.8 billion in the first nine months of 2008, slightly down from the same period the previous year.
The sector is Cambodia's largest source of export income, providing 80 percent of its foreign exchange and employing more than 300,000 people.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HOR HAB
THE garment sector will not be seriously impacted by the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday at a summit of trade leaders from the world's poorest countries held in Siem Reap.
"Expensive clothes are rarely produced in our poor countries, but they are produced in other countries. So we may focus on cheaper garments," Hun Sen said, adding that garments made in Cambodia will continue to sell if they are marketed properly.
"At this point, I think that there has been no serious impact on the garment sector," he added.
The prime minister's comments come despite industry figures that suggest a general sector slowdown and expected lay-offs in coming months.
At least 20,000 workers have been laid off this year, say officials with the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, adding that 35 factories employing up to 5,000 workers each were facing closure.
GMAC chairman Van Sou Ieng said earlier this week that 30 factories have already been closed this year.
"They closed because there were no purchase orders," he said.
Clothing demand has fallen sharply in the US as economic woes force consumers to cut back on nonessential purchases.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, garment exports plummeted 46 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, capping off a dismal year.
Export growth for all of 2007 stood at only 2.4 percent, representing US$2.9 billion.
Hun Sen said that Cambodia's export garment market is worth approximately $3.6 billion a year.
According to data from the US Department of Commerce, Cambodia garment exports to the US, the Kingdom's biggest textile market, totalled $1.8 billion in the first nine months of 2008, slightly down from the same period the previous year.
The sector is Cambodia's largest source of export income, providing 80 percent of its foreign exchange and employing more than 300,000 people.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HOR HAB