Rachel's Cambodia Blog

NEW TOURIST ROUTE COULD BE ANSWER TO CAMBODIA’S ANGKOR WAT WOES

Rachel — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 13:17:22 +0100

A recent article by Stéphane Hanot highlights the improvements being made to accommodate the increasing numbers of visitors flocking to Cambodia’s beautiful temples:

Article By Stéphane Hanot

www.travelvideo.tv

As tourism in Angkor Wat continues to grow unabated, a new tourist route could alleviate some of the tourist pressure. For many years now, the Cambodian government has been looking for solutions to take some of the pressure out of the site. As the first seven months of 2007 brought 442,000 visitors to Siem Reap International Airport, a growth of 38 percent, Angkor Wat is poised to continue to take a beating from the hordes of tourists that visit the world heritage site.

The Apsara Authority, which manages the Angkor Wat complex, recently introduced new paths with tourists taking different routes to enter and exit the temple. The objective now is to make certain that tourists do not flock to the site at the same time. The idea is to create circuits around Angkor Wat to spread the number of visitors and take some of the pressure faced by Angkor top attractions.

“As France and Japan are sharing the presidency of the Permanent Secretary for the International Coordinating Committee for the Preservation and Development of the Historical Site of Angkor under the UNESCO, we work closely with Cambodian authorities to find the best solutions to accommodate tourism requirements,” explained Jean-François Desmazieres, French Ambassador in Cambodia. “The target is not to kill the hen with the golden eggs but at the same to preserve the authenticity of Angkor.”

Even if the committee plays only a consultative role, it has been able to avoid the development of the most incredible projects such as a subway to the temples.

According to the Ambassador Desmazieres, Angkor Wat can indeed accommodate a fairly high number of tourists every day. “During the time of Khmer Kings, there were already thousand of visitors per day to Angkor Wat temples,” he said.

The committee has also been working with Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism for the creation of new tourist sightseeing such as traditional handicraft or silk producing villages. The most ambitious project is the development of a new tourist road, which would link Angkor Wat to the spectacular Preah Vihear temple, via the old city of Koh Ker where many temples can still be visited. Discussions will take place about tourism development from October 26 to 28, when the Coordinating Committee meets.

In another development, Cambodia’s tourism minister recently signed a joint declaration with tourism ministers from Laos and Vietnam on trilateral cooperation at the meeting in Ho Chi Minh City. The ministers agreed to encourage their national tourism agencies to boost exchange of information and experiences in tourism development and promotion. They also agreed to jointly hold and attend tourism events and tours and cooperate in personnel training.

According to published reports, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, under the “three countries – one destination” scheme, will implement measures to boost tourism and cultural activities as well as encourage public-private partnerships with regard to tourism development.

ROYAL AUDIENCE FOR THE CAMBODIA TRUST

Rachel — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:25:55 +0100

News of a wonderful opportunity for a charity I admire greatly. . . .

'On 9^th September 2007, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, granted an audience to The Cambodia Trust NGO represented by one of its main sponsors, Mr. Mark Inglis and Mr. Carson Harte, its CEO. The Cambodia Trust is an NGO set up in 1992 and which is specialized in supporting handicapped persons'

Further information available from King Norodom Sihamoni’s website here and also The Cambodia Trust’s website here

TOURISM INDUSTRY SET FOR HIGH SEASON BOOM

Rachel — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:56:00 +0100

An article by Cat Barton in today’s Phnom Penh Post, describes the onset of the annual deluge of tourists travelling to Cambodia, now that the monsoon season is virtually over. It is predicted that 500,000 or more tourists will visit the country between now and the end of December.

So far this year more than 1.3 million have visited and it is hoped that this figure will top the 2 million mark, making it a record year.

The full article can be viewed here

TEACHING IN CAMBODIA, AND LEARNING SOME TOUGH LESSONS

Rachel — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:54:31 +0100

Article By Putsata Reang

Courtesy of AJR (October/November 2007)

www.ajr.org/

Just one month after I helped launch a pioneer project training Khmer journalists in investigative reporting, Cambodia's repressive government cracked down on dissent, arresting at least five human rights activists and journalists. In spite of the risks, I urged the reporters to continue their dangerous but critical work. They lashed back.

"It's easy for you to say," one journalist told me. "You can get on a plane and go back home. We have to stay."

I wanted to say: "But this is my home. I'm Khmer, just like you," until I realized the hollowness of those words. The shameful truth was that if Cambodia's political instability worsened, I would leave again. Only this time, by choice. Thirty-two years before, my family and I fled the Khmer Rouge.

Growing up in Corvallis, Oregon, I listened to my Ma spin stories about Cambodia, tales of climbing coconut trees and riding water buffalo through sun-smeared rice paddies. She said little about the war, only that we were lucky to be alive.

"When you are old enough," she'd say, "go help Cambodia."

I finally did, two years ago. Supported by an Alicia Patterson Fellowship, I was going to spend a year researching Cambodia's intractable problem of land grabbing. At Portland International Airport, my mother dabbed at big watery eyes. "Good luck, gohn ma [mother's child]," she said. "Be careful."

When I moved there in February 2005, Cambodia was volatile. The year before, popular labor rights activist Chea Vichea was gunned down while reading a newspaper. Garment workers and farmers alternately protested in front of the National Assembly. One month after I arrived, military police shot and killed five farmers during a forced eviction. Few Khmer journalists had the skills or resources to get beyond basic facts and dig deeper into such stories.

As my fellowship came to a close and I prepared to head home, Internews, an international media development organization, posted a job advising journalists in Cambodia. I read the description and knew it was made for me. I took a buyout from the San Jose Mercury News and then called my Ma to tell her I wasn't coming home. I was already there.

I thought I was the ideal candidate to push for media development in Cambodia. I had solid professional credentials and was qualified like no other candidate. I'm Khmer. I speak the language and understand the culture. The benefits were clear. The drawbacks were not.

Being able to communicate with journalists during training and one-on-one mentoring sessions meant greater efficiency. Understanding the culture meant there were things they did not need to explain, such as why stories never included ages (it's rude to ask) and few were infused with direct quotes (it's an affront to directly question authority).

I wasn't prepared for the more nuanced challenges that working in media development in my homeland would present — challenges that invariably pitted me against the journalists I was trying to help.

Forging trust and extracting respect from them would be my first obstacle. I was working in a field with few women, in a program where all the participants were male and mostly older than I. No one in Cambodia's male-dominated society wants to answer to a woman, much less a younger one. I had no credibility and a lot to prove. I was also what the journalists called "Khmer pordadeh ," or "Cambodian from abroad," a foreigner. A fraud. In America, I never felt truly American. Now in Cambodia, I was told I wasn't really Cambodian.

I soon started to appreciate the distinction. Nariddh, the assistant journalism adviser, and I habitually urged good ethics. Cambodian journalists routinely practice "reporting by envelope," where getting paid to attend press conferences by the people holding them was not the exception but the rule.

One afternoon, a few reporters from our group strolled into our office and joked loudly about a press conference they covered that morning, where journalists jostled afterward as government officials distributed envelopes stuffed with R10,000 (roughly $5).

"Did you take one?" I asked Sem Saroeun, a journalist who earns about $50 monthly.

He paused, then said: "Of course I did. What can I do? My children are hungry."

"How can we write about corruption if we are corrupt?" I asked the other reporters during one training session on objectivity, balance and fairness.

Averted eyes. Silence. Then one weighed in.

"How much do you make on your NGO salary?" Eng Mengleng asked.

My answer mimicked theirs. Averted eyes. Silence. We shared shame, but for different reasons.

That night, I cried. In a country where some journalists make in one month what I might spend on a good Cabernet, and where my international job paid international wages and extras, like housing and health insurance, my condemnation of their bribe-taking felt disingenuous. In Cambodia, depending upon who you were, professional ethics was either a sacrifice or a luxury.

Beyond their lack of writing and reporting experience, the journalists were operating in a country with no freedom of information law, a place where telling the truth meant risking their lives. The end result: stories populated by anonymous sources and rumors that reporters tried to pass off as fact. Ban Chandararith ("Rith") investigated generous tax breaks on farmland for wealthy and politically connected businessmen. He refused to name names.

"It kills credibility," I said.

"I don't want to get killed," Rith replied.

I dropped the matter.

The biggest challenge arrived quickly. Just as the program tottered to its feet, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen began targeting journalists who criticized his border treaty with Vietnam. The string of arrests left our reporters shaken. Some of them — even those who worked for pro-government newspapers — wanted to leave the program, while others threatened to drop out of journalism altogether. A few talked privately about fleeing to Thailand.

Now was not the time to quit, Nariddh and I pleaded, but rather to stay and fight. When the journalists pointed out that I had something they did not — freedom to leave — I felt betrayed, confused, guilty as charged. I had already prepared for my own escape, withdrawing several thousand dollars in cash and wedging it inside my passport. Just in case.

By virtue of escaping from Cambodia in 1975 — and the Khmer Rouge genocide these journalists had survived — I possessed a dark blue passport emblazoned with a bald eagle seal that was my golden ticket to safety.

There were no more arrests that year. The journalists' stories led to major changes, including an overhaul of hiring practices within the Ministry of Education, long overdue pension payments for demobilized soldiers and the firing of the Minister of Labor accused in a human trafficking scandal. The program grew. The guys and I did, too.

Throughout the year, I walked a fine line between nudging them to fight for a free press and being complicit in their self-censorship for safety's sake.

When my contract with Internews ended, I knew that for all the reasons I was right for the job, I was also wrong for it. I declined a promotion, even as the guys were asking me to stay.

It was time for me to go home.

Putsata Reang is a journalist and author of the true crime novel "Deadly Secrets." She is currently at work on a family biography.

DENGUE MEANS DEATH FOR MANY OF CAMBODIA’S CHILDREN

Rachel — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:32:03 +0100

An article published yesterday by Reuters outlines the dreadful impact dengue fever is having on the people of Cambodia, and in particular the heavy toll on Cambodia’s children. So far this year, dengue has infected more than 38,000 people and killed 389, most of whom were children. The article highlights the challenges Swiss doctor - Dr Beat Richner (founder of the Kantha Bopha I, II & IV and Jayavarman VII children's hospitals) - is facing to help the Khmer population.

The article can be viewed here

More information on the work of Dr Beat Richner and the children's hospitals can be found here

EFA DOCU PRIZE FOR CAMBODIAN ‘PAPER’

Rachel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:13:35 +0100

Congratulations today go to Cambodian-born Rithy Panh on winning the Prix Arte Award for his documentary “Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers” which focuses on Cambodia’s prostitutes.

This is the second time that Panh has won an EFA award; the first was in 2003 for his film “S21 : The Khmer Rouge Death Machine”.

CAMBODIA : A BENEFICIARY PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Rachel — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:20:37 +0100

A heartening article from a charity I greatly admire – MAG (Mines Advisory Group) – can be found here

Written by Chham Rivann, MAG Cambodia Project Officer, we hear the story of 49 year old Pen Kourm, who lives with his wife Phal and four children in the Malai district of Banteay Meanchey province.

Kourm and his family, like many others, were forced to live in suspected minefields, but thanks to the work of MAG Demining Team – ‘MAT 16’ – the land has now been cleared. In an area of 97,493 sq/m they found and destroyed 199 anti-personnel mines.

As a result of MAG’s work, the area is now safe to live in and Kourm and the rest of the community can now grow rice, produce, and run a small market. Children can also travel to school without the threat of landmines, and those needing medical help are able to safely visit the health centre 15km away.

For more information on the incredible work undertaken by MAG, please click here

INFESTED DOGS AND ENGLISH TEACHERS GO OUT IN THE MIDDAY SUN

Rachel — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:04:00 +0100

One article which sparked my interest last week - because I am soon to work on the same project - can be found by clicking the following link

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolsworldwide/story/0,,2188762,00.html

Courtesy of Guardian Unlimited, the article is about the former Labour Government speech writer and special adviser David Townsend’s ventures in Cambodia, volunteering on the ‘Cambodian Kids Project' with UK registered charity Globalteer

More information about the excellent work undertaken by Globalteer can be found here

CAMBODIA'S 'LION FIGHTERS' RISE AGAIN AS MARTIAL ART IS REVIVED

Rachel — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:39:47 +0100

Article Courtesy of AFP

http://afp.google.com/

The rolling thunder of an oncoming monsoon storm provided the appropriate soundtrack to Ratanak Akthun's entrance into the ring. The self-assured young fighter eyed his opponent, Puth Khemarak, who seemed less solid and a little dazed by the applause that greeted his own entrance into the gymnasium in Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium. Their clash was to be the first full-contact fight of last month's National Bokator Championships, and the crowd, made up of students from opposing fighting schools, clapped and shouted itself into a frenzy.

Cambodia's ancient martial of 'bokator' is enjoying a sudden revival after centuries of neglect and its near extinction under the communist Khmer Rouge regime, which outlawed the practice and murdered its masters. But practitioners are struggling for legitimacy and purists say a younger generation's fascination with foreign martial arts is threatening this symbol of the country's past military might.

More an art form than a sport, bokator - which literally means "lion fighter" in Cambodian - has been somewhat derisively described as a dance with a little bit of fighting thrown in for effect. This is not entirely untrue. Those who have mastered the thousands of punches, sweeping high kicks, take-downs and feints have a fluid animal grace that lulls the spectator into forgetting that this is a seriously dangerous fighting form. But then erupts a violence that is found in few fighting rings. Like Saturday night brawlers, nearly bare-knuckled bokator fighters pummel, stomp and throttle each other into submission.

Ratanak Akthun's earlier cockiness could not save him from a crushing kick that broke ribs and sent him to a humiliating, semi-conscious departure from the ring. The next two full-contact matches ended just as abruptly in knock-outs. The September championships were only the second ever to be held and were the result of one man's singular crusade not just to return bokator to Cambodia, but also to introduce it to the rest of the world.

Sean Kim San, a bokator grandmaster and founder of the Cambodian Yuthkun Federation, returned from the United States in the 1990s and in 2004 opened a school to teach the craft to a new generation of Cambodians otherwise fed a diet of Thai kickboxing and Western professional wrestling. "We had been sleeping for 1,000 years but 2004 was the new birth for bokator," said the 62-year-old master. Speaking recently in the converted space above a parking garage that he shares with several other martial arts schools, Sean Kim San took out a few vinyl folders that he said are the sport's bible. Inside he is creating, in painstaking detail, an index of the hundreds, if not thousands of moves that must be mastered at each level of bokator. "Before there was nothing," he said, explaining that before he took up his quest to revive bokator, knowledge of the fighting form lay scattered across the country among its few surviving yet reluctant masters.

Scenes of bokator are carved into the walls of the Angkor temples, inextricably linked to a rich cultural heritage that goes back many hundreds of years. But the Khmer Rouge who seized control of the country in 1975 and unleashed one of the 20th century's most devastating upheavals, inexplicably sought to destroy Bokator along with every other vestige of modern Cambodia. Most of its practitioners were among the two million left dead by the time the regime was overthrown in 1979, and those still alive hid their talents out of fear, Sean Kim San said. "The Khmer Rouge - everything interesting they destroyed," he said, adding that after his return to Cambodia he unearthed about a dozen elderly bokator masters. "But they were still scared about the killings, about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge - they were afraid to speak the truth," he said. Still, he pieced together this puzzle, logging each swing or kick into his catalogue of bokator moves and slowly rebuilding interest in the ancient form. Three years ago, he said he had only seven students in one school. Now more than 1,000 practice Bokator in schools across 10 provinces. "We have about 400 or 500 students here, including some foreigners," he said of his own gym at the end of a ramshackle Phnom Penh side street. "This is how far we've raised up the sport."

Mathew Olsen, an Australian instructor of the Korean martial art hapkido and a bokator convert, said he had not known Cambodia had its own martial art. "I was surprised there was something with such a wide spectrum - the weapons, the punches, kicks, the ground fighting and pressure points makes it very lethal," he said during a recent training session. "Bokator is a very complete martial art, very interesting to foreigners," he said. "Basically I think there is more art in this martial art than a lot of other martial arts."

While one of Sean Kim San's hopes is to introduce bokator to the wider world - and eventual inclusion in international martial arts competitions - a larger and more immediate goal is to keep this very Cambodian tradition alive at home. "It is very important to pass this from generation to generation because this is our blood. This was passed down from grand masters and our kings," he said. He has a dream, he said, that bokator training will become a regular feature in Cambodian primary schools. "That means millions and millions of people know very well bokator," he said.

PEPPER FROM KAMPOT OF CAMBODIA MAY GET GI LABEL

Rachel — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:00:59 +0100

Article Courtesy of People’s Daily Online

http://english.people.com.cn/index.html

Pepper from Kampot Province is well on the way to becoming the first Cambodian product to get an origin-specific label, which attests to its quality and uniqueness, the Cambodia Daily newspaper reported today.

A government study has found that among Cambodian products, it comes the closest to fulfilling the criteria required for a Geographical Indications (GI) designation, the newspaper said.

"Kampot pepper meets almost all the requirements needed to become a GI," Van Roth San, intellectual property director at the Commerce Ministry, was quoted as saying.

The next step in the process will involve a geographical indications law to ensure exclusive rights to the Kampot pepper name, and then submitting a requirement application to an international committee for approval, he said.

Meeting GI standards would be a huge boost to the pepper industry, potentially leading to a 40-percent rise in value, he said, adding that pepper currently sells for $4 per kg at markets.

Source: Xinhua

CAMBODIA HIP HOP ARTIST TELLS STORY THROUGH RAP

Rachel — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:46:35 +0100

Article By Robin Chen Delos

Courtesy of Voice of America

www.voanews.com

Prach Ly came to the United States as a child with his family to escape Cambodia's killing fields. He grew up in Long Beach, California where he started rapping in English and Khmer about Cambodia's genocide, his community and life as an immigrant. Then he became a star in Cambodia nearly overnight after he released a homemade CD. The press dubbed him the first Khmer rap star and credited him with bringing hip-hop to Cambodia.

Prach Ly recently took a break from working on his latest album to perform at Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., where he spoke to VOA's Robin Chen Delos. Here he tells his own story.

"I am a musician. I'm from Cambodia. My name is Prach. And I was born in a concentration camp during the killing field. Toward the end of the killing field our family escaped the war and went to the border of Thailand. And we stayed there at the border and we got sponsored to America,” Ly explains.

“And when I got to California in Long Beach everything wasn't all great or anything like that. It was poverty-stricken. There was gang activities. The back of our head was, you know, if you grow up past 18 years old you probably did pretty good because of all the activities there. We were ducking drive-by shootings and stuff like that. But then that's when the whole poetry, that's when the whole hip-hop, that's when the whole rap music came. I was surrounded by that. I used the karaoke equipment to record my music, my lyrics. I would go buy instrumental songs, and put my word over it. And I got a CD made. The CD was like an autobiography, coming from the whole killing field process, all the way to America and the struggle in America. And for New Year I just passed it out. And a DJ from Cambodia, DJ Sop, he was there at the New Year. He took the CD back to Cambodia, he played it over the radio and everyone was calling in to ask who's the artist. And then the government, they censored and they banned my music. And then some of the people who heard the music they argued, they said, 'Wait a minute, why are you banning his music? It's nothing in reference to the government - it's just talking about history.' So now the people are going to the markets and starting asking for it and buying the CDs. And then Newsweek and Time magazine and Asia Week, they located me and they contacted me and they like, 'We just want to ask you a question: how do you feel about having the number one album in Cambodia?' I go, "What?!' You know, I never sent it there. The important thing was the kids were asking the parents, it was more like an educational tool. They were asking the parents and asking the elders what had really happened during the killing fields,” he says proudly.

CAMBODIA’S NATIONAL ANIMAL IS “REAL”

Rachel — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:58:34 +0100

An article in this week’s National Geographic proves that Cambodia’s national animal – the Kouprey (pronounced “ko-prah”) – is indeed its own species.

A study shows evidence that the animal is not, as previously thought, a hybrid of two related species of ox. The Kouprey, a dark-coated ox with large, curling horns, was first identified as a species in 1937. Cambodia made it the country’s national symbol in 1960.

The full article – by Anne Casselman for National Geographic – can be read here

CAMBODIAN DANCE FUSES WORLD CULTURES

Rachel — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 10:37:40 +0100

Article By Alexandria Shealy, Arts Editor

The Daily Tar Heel (Newspaper of the University of North Carolina)

www.dailytarheel.com

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro has come a long way from her days working in a field collecting cow dung in rural Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. Now as the artistic director of the Khmer Arts Academy - a dance troupe specializing in Cambodian classical dance - Shapiro has travelled around the world both as a performer in other groups and as the head of her own company.

"Pamina Devi : A Cambodian Magic Flute" the company's classical dance rendition of Mozart's famed opera choreographed by Shapiro, will be performed at 8 pm today in the Memorial Hall of the University of North Carolina. It is presented in Khmer, Cambodia's national language, with English subtitles. While the performance includes the same characters and premise of the original opera, Shapiro incorporated into the dance her own experiences during the frequent transfer of political power in Cambodia. "The characters forget to provide the environment, the warmth and the nurture to Pamina Devi," Shapiro said. "This is reflecting through my own experience through the changing political system in Cambodia."

Shapiro, who incorporated the academy in 2001, said that while she didn't think she could be as expressive as Mozart, she was willing to try when renowned American theatre director Peter Sellars came up with the idea for "Pamina Devi." "With this work, people both in Cambodia and in international audiences appreciate it," Shapiro said. "It is a new production, and the costume is beautiful, and it represents both the preservation of the classical dance even though I choreograph new movements; it's still in the same frame of work."

Classical Cambodian dance takes dancers more than nine years of training to become qualified to perform. The form is traditionally a court dance that has been performed for the country's royalty for thousands of years. Dancers perform by bending back their limbs to express characters' emotions while wearing golden outfits that must be sewn onto the body. One of the reasons Emil Kang, UNC's executive director for the arts, chose "Pamina Devi" for performance was for its ability to teach audiences about Cambodia. "In any of these performances that are avant garde or international, all we're asking is that it gets you curious," he said. "I think many students don't know about Pol Pot or the Khmer Rouge, and these are important things to learn."

As far as the story of "The Magic Flute" - a classical German opera - being relayed by gold-clad Cambodian dancers goes, Kang said if something is lost in the translation, it's hardly worth the mention. "The story itself is well and good and the idea of gender it explores - all of those things are very important," he said, "but I think just to be able to experience the classical dance form is even more important and also this idea that the arts can help with cultural exchange." Kong Bonich, who plays Tamino, said classical dance has the power to transform the dancer. "The costume is tight, but it creates a sense of elegance," she said. "I feel beautiful when I dance in this movement. When you move, you feel a difference between the dance and the ordinary me."

While Shapiro said she hopes people find a connection to Cambodian history through her dance, she said there is much to appreciate just in the story itself. "If you don't connect it into Cambodian history, I hope you connect to Pamina Devi as a person," she said, "whether you see it in a greater perspective or in the Cambodian context or you see just a person who is trying to survive in this world."

QUEST TO PRESERVE THE ASIAN ELEPHANT

Rachel — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:08:40 +0100

Press Release by DNA Solutions PTY Ltd

Courtesy of Open PR

www.openpr.com

DNA Solutions based in London is pleased to announce that it has agreed to work together with Fauna & Flora International, the world's oldest conservation organisation, in using DNA fingerprinting to monitor elephant populations in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains with the help of our scientists. Elephant dung is being collected by field biologists and trackers, and transported to DNA Solutions, an accreditated DNA testing laboratory, where the DNA will be extracted and analysed. Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains are blanketed by virtually undisturbed forest stretching over 10,000 square kilometres. Field biologists can spend weeks searching for elephants to record the vital data needed to properly monitor elephant populations. DNA analysis can yield this vital information much more quickly and efficiently. Estimating the size of elephant populations in Cambodia is extremely difficult, due to their habits and the size of their habitat. They are also extremely secretive animals. Joe Heffernan, an elephant biologist with Fauna & Flora International, has been playing hide and seek with the largest of all land mammals for years. "This is the first time a closed population has been surveyed, so the results stand to be the most sophisticated ever recorded. "In addition to the difficulties of observing elephants in the wild, their tracks and feeding signs can only reveal so much. DNA from their dung, however, can reveal the age, sex and health of the individual that produced it. Because each fingerprint is unique, the size of the population can be accurately estimated."

Vern Muir, director of DNA Solutions, said: "DNA Solutions is essentially a big team of biologists, so I can speak for everyone when I say we are all feeling proud to be able to help the cause of elephant conservation. "It is extremely rewarding to be able to use genetic techniques that for so many years have been used to solve other people's paternity issues, for something that instead gives all of us greater personal satisfaction." The information will be used to refine long-term elephant management strategies and identify future protected areas. The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) also plans to use the data to monitor illegal elephant killing and forecast trends.

Cambodia is critical to Asian elephant conservation, but work is hampered by the scarcity of field data. Fauna & Flora International is leading surveys of remote forest areas and working with the Cambodian Wildlife Protection Office and Ministry of the Environment to ensure that these elephant strongholds are protected. Fauna & Flora International is also working with communities within the Cardamoms to understand their needs so that they do not harm elephants that stray close to their villages. The first batch of samples will arrive with DNA Solutions next month, with initial data projected to be processed by November.

DNA Solutions was established in January 1997. It is focused on providing reliable and confidential global DNA products, including ‘peace of mind’ testing for consumers and legal testing for courts and legal disputes. Services include paternity/maternity testing; sibling verification; DNA storage & preservation, ancestry, and profiling. As the first pioneering company to offer home testing kits it has established itself with over 30 offices worldwide, DNA Solutions is synonymous with advanced accuracy DNA analysis.

AN ARTIST’S CALLING

Rachel — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:53:23 +0100

Article Written By LEONG SIOK HUI

Courtesy of The Star Online

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle

A passion for art and history led Lim Muy Thean to becoming a respected artisan in Cambodia. If you studied art at one of the most prestigious fine arts schools in the world – the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National School of Fine Arts) in Paris – and your fellow alumni included artists like Claude Monet and Edgar Degas and fashion designers, Valentino and Hubert de Givenchy, what would you do? You could become a celebrity painter and command a six-figure price tag for each piece of your artwork. Or, you could be like Lim Muy Theam.

Lim set aside his dreams and journeyed to a place he once fled from 15 years ago to take part in the rebuilding of a country ravaged by three decades of war. Lim is one of the few overseas-educated Cambodians who are helping to revive the Khmer craft industry and manage the successful Artisans d’Angkor (AA). As the art-design director, Lim’s job is to create new products and introduce new collections for AA. He also designs the chic AA stores with simple lines to showcase the elaborate craftwork. “We are not simply just producing artefacts of Angkor temples,” says the genial Lim during an interview in his Siem Reap office. “My job is to come up with the right colour, proportions, shapes and designs that people can appreciate and want to put in their homes.” But how did Lim, who speaks fluent French, English and Khmer, end up with AA?

The journey home

Born in Takeo Province, south of Cambodia, Lim was nine when the Khmer Rouge regime fell and Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978. Amidst the widespread famine and the trauma caused by the genocide, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians fled the country. Lim’s family was among the refugees who arrived in France in 1980. Lim was separated from his family and adopted by a French family. “I was exposed to arts and culture since young,” says Lim, who visited his Cambodian family during summer holidays when he was growing up. Traditionally, Cambodian parents raise their children to pursue practical careers like in business or computers. “But my French family saw my artistic talents and passion for art and history. They pushed me to follow my dream,” says Lim. At that time, the Cambodian community in France only talked about politics, the rebuilding of Cambodia after the war, and not arts or culture, Lim adds. After high school, Lim enrolled in the École Bulle, Paris (one of the largest trade schools in France) to study interior design and graphics. In 1992, he gained admission into the tough and prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.

In 1994, he made the life-changing decision to return to Cambodia.

“With my arts knowledge, I wanted to see how I can share and give what I had learned in France to my people,” says the idealistic artist. Growing up in France, Lim used to hear about the sublime Angkorian Empire and the glory of Khmer arts. But when he finally returned to Cambodia, he was shocked. “There was no presence of any art or style, people didn’t even speak very well. They were just trying to feed themselves,” says Lim, who initially worked as a painter and did a few exhibitions in an art gallery. So he set out on a mission to learn about Khmer art and style. For three years, he devoted himself to learning about his country. He trawled through temples and pagodas around the country, visited people’s homes, and studied whatever artwork and artefacts he could lay his hands on. The Khmer Rouge regime had tried to wipe out any reminder of Cambodia’s past – its artisans, cultural artefacts, statues and books. “I'm interested in how Cambodians live their everyday lives and use things like spoons and pots, the house they live in – the equilibrium of the designs,” says Lim, 39. “And I try to find the relationship between the aesthetics of the Angkor temples and present-day Cambodians' lives. Inevitably, Chantiers-Écoles (whose programme was still in its infancy) roped in the designer to help them set up a modular training and look into the technical and artistic aspects of the programme.

Daunting tasks

At Chantiers-Écoles, one of Lim’s roles was to reintroduce the traditional method to the trainees. But there were no precedents and virtually all the information on arts and crafts had to be researched, compiled or rediscovered. Lim was lucky to track down some of the old master craftsmen who were still alive and based in Phnom Penh. Most of these artisans are from Battambang, a once dynamic city that sits between the Thai/Cambodian bordertown of Poipet and Phnom Penh. At the beginning of the 20th century under French rule, Battambang experienced a rebirth of craft traditions with French and Siamese stylistics influences. The city produced skilled craftsmen, artists and musicians who later moved to Phnom Penh. Over three years, Lim studied how the masters worked and took notes and pictures. He then taught the traditional process to youths who have zero background or knowledge in arts and crafts. “These youths have never been to school and they had no concept of time and discipline,” explains Lim. “We had to figure out what language and method to use to make them understand without using technical jargons. We could only use visual tools to teach and motivate them.” It was a learn-as-you-go process for both the teachers and trainees. He spurs his trainees to look at links to their cultural past. Ancient temples dot the country and even in the boondocks, there is a presence of style and aesthetics. Cambodians also grew up with folktales told by their ancestors. “We’re not a fine arts school, we give basic skills to the artisans so they can work as a team within our network. In this modern economy, our artisans can’t work on his own out there because he doesn’t hail from a traditional craftsman’s family. “But people will give value to quality, aesthetic beauty and detail,” says Lim. “Even when we do reproductions, we respect the material, the process of creating the craft and try to understand what our ancestors have done, the years they spent to carve a masterpiece and try to feel their spirits in our work. “One of the most challenging things for me is, though I can come up with excellent designs that meet international standards, we still have to figure out how to transmit that message to our artisans about something so refined and with the right colour or shapes. It takes time.” What delights Lim is that over time, the artisans have become sensitive to aesthetics. “Even on weekends after work, when they're eating or lazing in their hammocks, they chat about proportions, what is good, what colour mixes well with another. They love to work on special orders, as they are freer to express their individual creativity.”

A pat in the back

After 10 years with AA, Lim can look back and be proud of one thing: He started working with 50 artisans and now AA has more than 600 artisans. He walks alongside the artisans as they journey through life, from their apprenticeship to securing a stable job and starting a family. “Now they have their own houses, and in the weekends, they can ride their motorbikes with their families to Angkor Wat, have a drink in front of the temple and spend a leisurely time,” says Lim, smiling. “To most people, this may sound simple, but it is a big success to have this stable and ‘normal’ life in Cambodia.”

Today, one in three Cambodians still lives on less than 2000 riels (50 pence) a day (UNDP Cambodia). And most villagers from rural Cambodia have never stepped foot in Siem Reap. But AA has created over 1000 jobs for its artisans and staff involved in marketing, retail, design and logistics. “We have affected maybe a total of 4,000 to 5,000 Cambodians' lives, plus the children who are the future of Cambodia,” says Lim. “I think I've been part of this good work.”

Artisans d’Angkor is located at Stung Thmey Street, Siem Reap

More information can be found at www.artisansdangkor.com

32 SOTHEAROS BOULEVARD : A PALACE OF POTENTIAL

Rachel — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:48:21 +0100

Courtesy of ‘The Wires’ (The FCC Cambodia's Newsletter)

www.fcccambodia.com

After years of interest, the FCC recently made a deal on the old mansion across from the National Museum and plans to return the rococo palace to its roaring 1920s glory.

It's one of Phnom Penh's most visible architectural relics: a prime project for preservation and a developer's dream. It's known as simply the "Old French Mansion," and now it has a new owner, and a bright future. After years of interest and negotiations, the FCC Phnom Penh and its parent company Indochina Assets Limited, recently obtained the title for the ornate colonial-era villa across from the National Museum at 32 Sothearos Boulevard. The roughly 1,200-square-meter site is famous for the yellow-hued rococo palace that many Phnom Penh residents have at one time gazed at with appreciation, amazement or concern. Complete with impressive Corinthian capitals and intricate sculptural designs, the building has sat in disrepair for decades - a gorgeous, crumbling mansion with an estimated worth of some $2 million. Now, according to FCC management, the villa will be completely restored to its past glory and become a 24-room luxury hotel with a swimming pool, French bistro and a structural link to the adjacent FCC restaurant.

"We've been interested in the building for about 15 years, since we came here in the early 1990s," says Anthony Alderson, FCC operations director. "We plan to renovate it in 1920s style." Alderson says a new FCC-affiliated company called Museum View is now conducting surveys and soil tests on the site, and it will soon open bidding to architects for design proposals. If all goes well, building will begin in mid-2008. The plans are welcome news for architects and preservationists who have long clamored for the building to be saved from neglect and disrepair. Dougald O'Reilly, former director of Heritage Watch, says the building is a signature Phnom Penh landmark and must be respected as such. Other FCC properties all have been certified "Heritage Friendly" by Heritage Watch, and O'Reilly was happy to hear the FCC was taking over 32 Sothearos.

With the massive boom in property value, preservationists like O'Reilly have become increasingly concerned about the disrepair - and disappearance - of many colonial era buildings. Although the exact history of 32 Sothearos has been obscured by war and civil strife, the house was probably built in the 1920s, says Helen Grant Ross, an expert on Cambodian architecture. The National Archives have no record of the building's original owner or use. "It's definitely a landmark. Just about everyone refers to it as 'that run-down colonial building opposite the National Museum,'" says Darryl Collins, a historian at the National Museum. "It's a typical French colonial, but has a style that incorporates a whole combination of styles imported from Europe. It was certainly built in the 1920s, and most colonial buildings of that time are this type of pastiche."

Even in its current decayed state, the building is stunning. Still, renovators have a Herculean task ahead. Inside, gaping holes riddle the ceiling in many areas, exposing the old wooden rafters. The fading blue walls are pocked and covered with graffiti - drawings, English lessons, names and dates - from previous bodyguards and Royal Gendarmerie who were once lodged at the site. The decorative tiles on the floor are loose and cracked in several places. A grand staircase, blocked by a pile of broken shutters, sweeps up to the second floor where characteristic Cambodian tile swathes the floor in an expansive orange-and-white checkerboard. "It is one of the structures most photographed by visitors to Phnom Penh and the city would be much worse off were it destroyed," O'Reilly says. "These are the kind of structures that lend charm to the city and increase its appeal as a tourism destination. Every time one of these structures is torn down the city loses an opportunity to attract visitors as well as losing a part of its identity."

‘The Wires’ is an entertaining monthly newsletter produced by The FCC (Foreign Correspondent's Club) Cambodia – sign up to receive your copy here

CAMBODIA BID TO PROTECT TREASURES

Rachel — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:16:45 +0100

Written by Guy De Launey

Courtesy of BBC News, Siem Reap

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7015647.stm

Cambodia has invited international law enforcement agencies to help protect the country's ancient temples. US homeland security and FBI agents are among those who may be advising the new national heritage police force. They are hoping to put an end to the rampant looting that has seen many monuments stripped of their statues.

Peace has not been kind to many of Cambodia's ancient monuments. As decades of conflict ended in the 1990s, looting accelerated dramatically. The local authorities and the United Nations' cultural organisation, UNESCO, moved quickly to protect the world-famous Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples. But more remote sites were left to their fate.

Stolen-To-Order

US agents and local officers have been meeting in Siem Reap to discuss ways of protecting what is left. US special agent Ann Hurst said their experience of dealing with stolen artefacts from Iraq will be crucial. "We can provide training in how to prevent these types of violations. There were stolen paintings and stolen coins being taken out of Iraq and smuggled in to the US," she said. "What we did in those cases was prosecute the people who smuggled the goods in - and the people who accepted the goods in the US." Many Cambodian items have been stolen to order for private collectors. Others have turned up at international auction houses, so expertise in intercepting illicit shipments is badly needed. Technical assistance in detection and policing will also bolster the thinly-stretched and poorly-funded local forces.

For Cambodia, stopping the looting is partly a matter of pride - the towers of Angkor adorn the national flag - but as tourism grows, so does the economic importance of preserving ancient treasures.