| PHNOM PENH — Cambodians need to be more courageous in challenging endemic corruption, a development expert says. Preap Kol, head of Transparency International Cambodia, told “Hello VOA” last week that the more people challenge corruption, the more likely it is they will free themselves from it. |
The 31-year-old artist, who has been deaf and dumb since birth, told VOA Khmer in a
recent interview that the skills have helped him express his feelings through abstract paintings.
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BATTAMBANG Province - At Phare Ponleu Selpak, an arts organization in Battambang city, Ot Veasna has been learning painting for about five years now.
The 31-year-old artist, who has been deaf and dumb since birth, told VOA Khmer in a recent interview that the skills have helped him express his feelings through abstract paintings. Using sign language and an interpreter, he explained the meaning of the painting skills he is honing. |
David Scheffer, UN special expert to Khmer Rouge tribunal.
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In spite of the recent hurdles faced by the ECCC – ranging from the resignation of international prosecutors and judges and a lack of salary for its staffers – the recent appointment of a prominent academic expert on world war crime as a special expert to the tribunal by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promises the continued success of the court’s efforts. |
 A villager is seen here tying timber to his motorcycle for trading with the logging company as two UN investigator are looking around in the compound of the logging company, April 27, 2012. |
Forestry advocates see more youth engaging in environmental protection, especially in forest communities where illegal logging is rampant.
“Previously, only elder people from the ages of 30, 40 or 50 up stood up to protect their forests, but recently more younger people have been participating in the anti-illegal logging movement,” Chhim Savuth, a community empowerment officer of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told “Hello VOA” on Monday. |
About half of Cambodia’s population of 14 million is aged between 15 and 30.
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Cambodia’s youth are often regarded as useful to politicians, but seldom are they given the chance to vie for elections such as those scheduled for this year and next.
This has made them “political slaves,” Yong Kim Eng, president of the People’s Center for Development and Peace, told “Hello VOA” on Monday. “They are just supporters, not decision-makers who can determine their own fates.” |
China claims the highlighted portion of the South China Sea. Many other governments
also claim all or part of the South China Sea.
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Political analysts say Cambodia should take advantage of its
chairmanship of Asean this year in disputes over the South China Sea,
but the country is reluctant to do so for fear of a damaging its
relationship with China. Arata Mahapatra, the director of the Center for Asian Strategic Studies in India, told VOA Khmer Thursday that playing the role of neutral mediator would help raise Cambodia’s international prestige at a time when it is seeking a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. |
Sok Touch, rector of Khemarak University, on “Hello VOA” Monday.
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The Royal University of Law and Economics has issued a ban on more than a dozen research topics for students, but the head of a local institution says this will only hurt the country’s development.
The ban bars research on topics like drug abuse, land disputes, labor disputes and the stock market, as well as the Cambodian Red Cross, which is led by Bun Rany, the wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen. |
Him Sothearoth, (far left) is a 4th year student of International Studies at Royal
University of Phnom Penh with Cheang Sokha, executive director of Youth
Resource Development Program, on "Hello VOA" program on Monday.
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Cambodian youth need better knowledge and skills to compete within the Asean marketplace, as the region becomes more closely integrated, youth advocates say.
“It is difficult for individual young people, especially those in the countryside, to know what the job market demands, because their understanding of Asean is still limited,” Cheang Sokha, executive director of the Youth Resource Development Program, told “Hello VOA” Monday. |
Dy Khamboly, author of "A History of Democratic Kampuchea" and Huy Vannak,
a Public Affairs Officers at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, discuss the importance
of youth participation in the Khmer Rouge trial process.
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The Khmer Rouge trial currently under way at the UN-backed court
should not be the only source of information Cambodians have, especially
the youth, a researcher said Monday. Dy Khamboly, who authored a book on the regime for the Documentation Center of Cambodia, told “Hello VOA” that Cambodian youth must understand the history of the regime to avoid confusion or misinformation; however, that history should come from multiple sources. |
Diep Sovannaroth, left, a program assistant for UN Volunteers, and Chhuon Thavrith,
right, a former volunteer at UN Volunteers who now works for UNDP, were our guests
on 'Hello VOA' on Monday.
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If more Cambodians do not start pitching in and volunteering, the country risks missing key development goals in coming years, a youth advocate said Monday.
Cambodia is trying to meet a series of UN Millennium Development Goals by 2015, but it is lagging behind in key sectors. And while there are a number of foreign volunteers working in the country, there is not enough local help, Diep Sovannaroth, a program assistant for UN Volunteers, told “Hello VOA.” |
Peou Chivoin, a lecturer of media theory and research at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
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Cambodia’s higher education would do well to include more research and critical thinking demands on its professors, a university lecturer said Thursday.
“When [academics] do research, it is like they are exercising and it requires them to think critically, thus boosting the overall quality of their abilities and work,” said Peou Chivoin, a lecturer of media theory and research at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. |
A fishing boat floats on the Mekong river at Sambor in Cambodia's Kratie Provice, a
site in the country that has been chosen for a proposed 18-kilometer hydro-dam.
Upstream, China has four hydrodams in operation on the Mekong and has plans for four more.
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Regional security experts warn that Mekong River countries must do a better job of sharing, as more and more look toward hydropower on the massive river.
Experts met in Siem Reap this weekend to discuss ways to mitigate impending conflict over the river, which is a major food source to millions of people but also a huge power supply to growing economies in the region. |
Experts on water security met in Siem Reap on Friday, July 15, 2011, at a two-day
conference of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific in an effort to
address upcoming issues surrounding such projects and other water conflict.
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The race for hydropower development among Mekong countries could lead to conflicts or even war over water, regional security experts say.
Hydroelectric projects have begun to spring up across the Mekong River, with some already under way and other already creating tensions between Southeast Asian neighbors. |
Cambodian Students line up to attend the Khmer Rouge trial in Phnom Penh, June 27, 2011.
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As more Khmer Rouge leaders are put on trial by a UN-backed tribunal, some Cambodians students say they don’t believe their defense claims, that they established an ultra-Maoist regime to prevent Cambodia from falling into foreign hands.
The tribunal has put the crimes of the Khmer Rouge back into the public consciousness, and many of the young generation are now learning more about the regime than they learned from parents who often withhold their own stories of atrocities. |
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A young business leader says Cambodian universities must do better to develop young entrepreneurs, rather than teaching students to become good employees.
“In schools, they teach young people how to find jobs, but why don't they teach them how to run their own businesses?” said Chy Sila, president of the Junior Chamber International Cambodia, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Monday. |
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A documentary showing the possible impacts of hydropower dams on the Mekong was screened in Phnom Penh Tuesday night, a week after Mekong countries failed to decide on a dam proposed in Laos.
About 200 people, most of them students, watched the film, “Where Have All the Fish Gone?: Killing the Mekong Dam by Dam,” which was directed by journalist Tom Fawtrop and screened at Pannasastra University in the capital. |
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It is not the case that young people in Cambodia do not want to participate in social activities, but the problem is that the possibility and opportunity for their participation is still not widespread, according to a young leadership champion. “Youth's access to information seems limited,” said Chhem Pe, a 2009 champion of Youth Leadership Challenge, a local reality TV show. |
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Cambodia is building up its rural infrastructure in an effort to link itself to its neighbors, under an “economic corridor” project aided by the Asian Development Bank. Proponents of the southern economic corridor, part of the Greater Mekong Subregion project, say it will bring benefits to villagers like those in Kampong Thom district’s Sambo Prey Kuk temple, in Prasat Sambo district. |
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Cambodia’s rising number of rape cases is fueled by impunity and poverty, among other factors, a rights activist said Monday.
“There has been injustice as the impunity for some offenders still exists,” Lim Mony, deputy head of the women’s section for the rights group Adhoc, told “Hello VOA” Monday. “Another factor is poverty within families, where victims are sent away from home to work or to herd cattle in the fields.” |
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Like other families of stampede victims on Diamond Bridge, Leung Porn's family decided to hold the 100-day ceremony last weekend at a Buddhist clergyman's suggestion.
Leung Porn's wife, Tor Sophal, was one of the 353 victims killed in the stampede on the bridge during last year’s water festival. Leung Porn, who is 54 and now the single father of three children, said the ceremony will help his wife rest in peace. |
