Youth Voice Lost To Policymakers: Group

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 16 June 2010 

Cambodia’s youth outstrips the rest of the population by a growing margin, but youth advocates say their voices still go unheard.

“Youth voices are excluded from any decision-making processes in social development, from the grass-root to the national level, because the elders often think that the young lack experience or have a low level of education,” Preap Kol, president of the Outstanding Youth Group, told “Hello VOA” Monday.

Preap Kol, who is also the founder of the newly-established volunteer youth group, said youth today are well educated and capable of contributing to social development, but their elders often think of them as useless.

Gulf Spill a Reminder of Cambodia Shortfalls

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 09 June

As the US grapples with the implications of the Gulf Coast oil spill, environmental and other groups in Cambodia say the country needs to do more to safeguard its own environment as it moves toward increased oil and gas exploration.

The BP oil spill, now in its sixth week, has poured thousands of barrels of oil into the sea. The environmental costs are likely to be huge, but the political costs are now beginning to mount for the US administration.

Analysts in Cambodia say that if the country does not want to undergo a similar experience, the government must put in place certain protective mechanisms.

Minorities Face Continued Conflict with Plantations

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Saturday, 05 June 2010

Pheng Krong worked one day sawing at a piece of wood for construction of a new house. The 37-year-old farmer of the Brov ethnic group had plans to replace his small wooden house in Ta Gnach village, in Ratanakkiri’s Ta Veng district. What he did not have plans to do, however, is work on a patch of farmland 2 kilometers down the road.

That’s because that land has been overtaken by a rubber plantation concession.

“I no longer develop on my land because I feel I can’t live here longer,” he told VOA Khmer recently. “The villagers here do not care about planting or farming on their land any more because it will be a waste of time.”

‘Monster’ Band Digitizes Traditional Sound

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Thursday, 03 June 2010 

A group of young Cambodian and foreign musicians have begun playing contemporary forms of Cambodian music. Krom Monster uses five traditional instruments combined with digital manipulation to create music that appeals to younger Cambodians. The band, made up of five Cambodians and one Briton, is part of a trend in collaboration between modern and classic artists underway in Cambodia.