Farmers Happy To Reduce Elephant Conflicts

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 

With more Cambodians clearing forest land for agriculture and an increase of development projects in remote areas like this, the habitat for wild elephants is decreasing, putting them in conflict with humans.

Chab Leoung, a dark-skinned farmer, sat behind his cottage one day in March, complaining of injuries to his jaw and foot. The 48-year-old was trammeled by an elephant while traveling in the forest in the Cardamom Mountains three years ago.

“A group of elephants first ran after my dog, but then one in the group turned on me,” recalled the father of four, who lives in Chi Phat commune, in Koh Kong province’s Thmar Bang district. “It hit me and then stepped on my face and my foot.”

‘Uncle Elephant’ To Accept Major Prize

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 

When Tuy Sereivathana began working with an international conservation group in 2003, the first thing he thought of was the issue at hand: wild elephants in Cambodia, and especially in the Cardamom Mountains, were endangered.

This was because the elephants were raiding villages and destroying the crops of farmers, who in turn sought ways to hurt or kill the elephants. In some of these confrontations, people themselves were hurt or killed.

The elephants were reacting to the encroachment of humans into their migration routes, as people cleared forest land and built roads. The loss of habitat led to the confrontations, but more and more people were moving into the forests.

More for Victims in Acid Attack Law: Official

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Saturday, 10 April 2010

The government committee tasked with drafting legislation against acid attacks is considering provisions for the treatment and rehabilitation of victims, an official said Thursday.

“Acid attack victims suffer much more severely, both physically and mentally, than other types of victims,” said Teng Savong, a police general and secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior.

Rights groups have called for more measures to help victims of the disfiguring attacks, which are a common form of retribution in Cambodia. Teng Savong said the changes to the draft came from feedback from rights groups and others.

River Residents Watch as Mekong Shrinks

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Tuesday, 06 April 2010

Chea Veoung, a 32-year-old farmer in Kampong Cham province, looked desperately at the bank of the Mekong River recently, noting that a severe drop in its level was costing him three times as much in fuel just to irrigate his fields. “When the level gets so low, [the pump] consumes about 20 liters” of fuel, he said.

At Islamic School, a Separation of the Sexes

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Friday, 09 October 2009

Classes are underway at the Cambodian Islamic Center in Kandal province, and at the nearby Al Rahmani mosque, a group of female students waited for their instructor on a recent day.

It is not by chance that the classroom was empty of men. Here, young women and girls are separated from their male classmates, in a bid to help them study, officials say.

“It is common that female and male students have love relationships, and this makes it difficult for us to control,” said Pich Solin, director of the Islamic Center’s secular studies.

At Islamic Center, Students Prepare for Class

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Saturday, 03 October 2009

In white clothes and Muslim caps, more than 700 students were set to begin classes at the Cambodian Islamic Center on Thursday, with the Ramadan festival coming to an end.

The center, in Kandal province, is the largest Islamic school in the country and registers students from seven different provinces, though most come from Kampong Cham.

Students stood in long lines outside the center, waiting for classes to begin.

Ari Fin, 15, said he was looking forward to studying at the center, as it provided both general knowledge and Islamic subjects.

Tuberculosis Continues To Kill Cambodians

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Friday, 27 March 2009

Laying in bed at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control, thin to the tendon, Sin Pich, 49, said she decided to go to the hospital after a cough that had persisted for around a year began producing.

She’d been at the center for two months, and she was getting weaker. Doctors say she’ll survive, but not all Cambodians are so lucky.

Health officials are facing a persistence of tuberculosis, which kills up to 35 Cambodians a day. That’s roughly the same number of people who died from the disease 5 years ago, according to USAID.

Struggling Writers Emerging, Book by Book

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Friday, 26 September 2008

The novel sat, unpurchased, on a stand outside O’Russey Market. On its cover, a young man carried a beautiful woman in his arms, through rain and lighting. The novel, “If a Heart Has Blood,” was one of the books coming out of Cambodia’s growing literary scene and, like other Cambodian novels, had a message.

“If a Heart Has Blood” tells the story of a singer who tricks her powerful, promiscuous father into sleeping with her. It is the second novel of 28-year-old author You Sophea, who said recently it was meant as an indictment of the practice of “okhnas,” businessmen of high standing, having sex with young girls.

“I’ve written the novel in hopes of getting rid of attempts by some singers to get other women’s husbands,” he said. “Meanwhile, okhnas should stop considering young female singers as sex objects, because if the singers were their own daughters or relatives, how would these okhnas feel?”

Women Parliamentary Candidates Increase

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Thursday, 03 July 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the second in a two-part series examining the role of women in politics.]

Two of the three political parties with seats in parliament have boosted the number of women candidates in their ranks for July's election.

The Cambodian People's Party added six candidates to its ticket this election, up from 14 in 2003; the Sam Rainsy Party added three, also up from 14 last election.

For One Woman, a Journey Into Politics

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Wednesday, 02 July 2008

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the first in a two-part series examining the role of women in politics.]

Chhan Samnang came to Phnom Penh in 1979 as a vendor of fried banana cakes, following the collapse of the Khmer Rogue. Now 51 years old, Chhan Samnang is a commune council member in Phnom Penh's Russei Keo district. If possible, she plans to do even more, by entering national politics one day.

Chhan Samnang is one example of the few women in local politics, where only 15 percent of commune council members are women. Even so, she one day hopes to be a representative at the national level, where 22 of the 123 members of the National Assembly are women.