Jail For Nine Who Helped Montagnards Move

ABC Radio Australia reports that nine Vietnamese, including three women, have been jailed for organising illegal movements of people to Cambodia.

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Orphanage Stalled

Children living at Wat Norea (Temple Norea), a Buddhist facility in Cambodia's north-west, will need to wait longer than expected for a new orphanage being built with funds from Australia celebrities Bec Cartwright and Lleyton Hewitt.

According to AIDS Trust of Australia documents, it will take another $175,000 to build the orphanage. The money was to come from payments for media interviews when the couple became engaged.

The couple also asked guests at their recent wedding to donate to the Trust in lieu of gifts.

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Australia Donating US$57m to Clear Mines

Australia is to help clear landmines in Laos and Cambodia according to this broadcast heard around Australia at 5:10pm on Radio National and 6:10pm on ABC Local Radio.
Listen to in REAL AUDIO and WINDOWS MEDIA or MP3 formats.

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Building Boomtime

Good economic performance in political stability and better economic performance is said to have helped to boost Cambodia's building industry.

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Fertile Spirit or Fertile Minds?

Two Cambodian grandmothers whose ages total more than 150 have caused a stir by claiming a spirit has impregnated them.
Buddhist leaders have warned people not to be too gullible in believing the claim.
One fled when offered an ultrasound and medical examinations of the other failed to show any sign of the twin she claimed to be carrying.

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Miles and Miles of Smiles

Journalist Maggie Grainger offers this upbeat travel story.

When the opportunity arose for me to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and see the ancient temples of Angkor, I bought a plane ticket in a heart beat. I had been diligently studying in Bangkok for a month and was excited to visit its neighbor known as "land of smiles."

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Bucks for Bayon

Bayon Temple and the Cambodian royal ballet are to benefit from a $US 2.5 million dollars pledge by Japan to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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Sen Reaffirmed Support

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen this week reaffirmed support for Khmer Rouge trial during his meeting with British foreign office minister Ian Pearson.

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The Emblematic Bayon

Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

The Bayon, in the centre of Angkor Thom, held our interest for hours as we wandered around the temple base and the its towers.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Our guidebook says: "It was built in the 13th century as the state temple of king Jayavarman VII, and stands at the centre of his capital".

It is perhaps best known for its it most distinctive feature -- the multitude of smiling faces on the towers which rise up to its central peak. But there is plenty to see apart from them.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Through doorway to doorway, wandering around inside is a little like a labyrinth, with surprising variety of structures inside.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

At each turn there seemed to be a mix of building styles and forms.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

All in varying states of repair.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Which, in turn, leave us to wonder about the remarkable well preserved (or is it repaired) state of the narrative reliefs found on the inner walls.

These were wonderful bas-reliefs which depict an unusual combination of mythological, historical and mundane events.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

These highly-detailed narrative reliefs on the walls depict scenes from daily life, of kings paraded under banners, and of staff toiling for the kingdom.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

There is also incredible detail in the square pillars of the galleries which are decorated with dancing figures which it think might be apsaras (heavenly nymphs).


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

But as mentioned earlier, its most distinctive feature is the multitude of smiling faces on the towers which rise up to its central peak.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

The selection of images in today's post are all from the ground-level around Bayon. That is very deliberate.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

In coming weeks a further blog will show views from inside the towers -- and closer to the peaceful expression of the stone faces. Whereas today's selection of snapshots is deliberately framed as a reminder to folk about the beauty and wonder of this structure as seen when approacing it.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Friend to Farmers

Bangkok Post reports on Thailand's plans to introduce contract farming in Cambodia's Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey provinces along the Thai border. Target crops are soybean, maize, castor bean, tapioca and palm.

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Trainspotting

She may not have ridden it, but Liz Price over at the Star Weekend has at least seen Battambang's bamboo train .

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If Only TB Was Not To Be

The World Health Organization has singled out Cambodia as one of the countries hardest hit by tuberculosis (TB), according to this piece at China View.

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Turtle Bobs Up Again

The yarn noted here earlier this week about the lucky Royal Turtle has been given a fresh airing with this expanded version at the Chicago Tribune.

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Eco-tourism Can Stimulate Economic

Prince Norodom Ranariddh today stressed that eco-tourism is vital for the social and economic development of Cambodia and other nation members of ASEAN.

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More Coverage for Amansara

Amansara in Siem Reap is certainly getting a good deal of attention - what with our mention earlier this month and this piece published in the International Herald Tribune.

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Venue Selected for Tribunal

Vietnam News Agency (VNA) carries a report from the Cambodia Daily saying the United Nations has approved the newly-constructed military headquarters on the outskirts of Phnom Penh as the venue for the planned Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Originally, the tribunal was to have been held at two sites in Phnom Penh, namely Chaktomuk Theatre and the National Cultural Centre. But the government said using the military headquarters will save money and simplify the logistical requirements.

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Bye Bye Tariffs

As a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodia has 10 years to wipe out tariff.

The mechanics of a zero-tariff regime by 2015 are explained as a key milestone in bringing the 10-member group together as a single market and production base by 2020.

Meanwhile examples of the "tectonic shift in the textile trade landscape" can be found in detail here.

Given that the Cambodian textile and clothing accounts for 87% of exports and employs about 200,000 workers, it is crucial that the industry holds on to this advantage [its reputation for compliance with labor standards as a "sweat-free" industry] and stays afloat before other sources of growth can be cultivated.

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Ban Follows Logging Report

Lobby group Global Witness says five of its staff have been banned from Cambodia because the international watchdog produced a report on corruption and illegal logging in the kingdom.

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Wired and Ready to Blog

The work of Mean Lux in introducing Cambodians to the blogosphere get a big mention at Wired. Others blogs noted are Youth Vision, Battambang Network, Sonn Veansa, Bun Tharum and the list at Harvard University's Global Voices Online.

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Montagnard Deported

Kate Woodsome files this report for Voice of America saying Cambodia has deported more than 100 members of the Montagnard ethnic minority to Vietnam.

Cambodian police with shields and electric batons blocked off the street leading to a UN refugee camp in the capital's suburbs early this morning, to prevent Montagnards from fleeing the compound before police loaded them into buses headed for Vietnam.

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Pass The Popcorn

China View reports Cambodia is to hold its first film festival in 15 years. So keep your diaries free for November 28 to December 2.

Cambodia's films produced in 2004 and 2005 and with more than 90-minute long will be eligible for the first festival since 1990. Ministry of Culture Undersecretary Som Sokun said that 53 Cambodian films were made last year and 32 so far this year, despite lack of film or acting schools.

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Feast Your Eyes on This

What a small world. Tan and Trev was exploring the "fabulous world of QuickDraw" having been first drawn into the site by this undated report about a visit to Battambang, when we spotted an old illustration that reminded us about one of our posts from last week.

QuickDraw sheds a little more light (this time blue) on the subject of collecting and cooking crickets.

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Volunteers and Vacations

The Tabitha Foundation Australia plays an active role in recruiting volunteers to travel to Cambodia and build houses for Cambodian families.

Trevor Hay in The Australian newspaper's travel section recounts "a constructive effort" and how he worked up a sweat by adding a day's charity work to cap off a a Cambodian holiday.

It is one thing to donate to charity, but everything comes into focus when you get out in the field, raise a sweat and meet the beneficiaries of your efforts.

Other beneficial programs:

* Peregrine's next house-building tour departs September 11.

* Geckos Adventures offers a Clean Up Siem Reap day as part of its tour departing September 14.

* And of course, our good friends at the Intrepid Foundation have a wide range of community projects and travel options that benefit Cambodians - fun activities like the Gecko Environment Centre.

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Chip Saves Turtle from Stew

An extremely rare "royal" turtle released two years ago in the Sre Ambel River ago by Cambodia's Fisheries Department has narrowly escaped a one-way trip to a Chinese cooking pot.

A tiny microchip implanted in the skin for the 33-pound (15 kg) turtle was the tip-off - helping to draw wildlife inspectors to a smuggler's crate of confiscated animals in Vietnam.

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) rediscovered the rare species only four years ago in Cambodia.

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Giving the Tribunal Shape, Form and Support

In an analysis piece for the Bangkok Post, Nathaniel Myers suggests that the Khmer Rouge tribunal now needs more than just money alone.

Donors have already done much for the tribunal, but their work is not done. In order for the tribunal to make good on its potential for the Cambodian people, it is now clear that these major donors will have to exercise their political influence on its behalf.

He says the consultative group of leading foreign donors should push for three key points when meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen later this month:

1/ the selection process for judges, lawyers and court staff to be made open and transparent;
2/ ask the government to explain how it plans to cover its share of the tribunal's budget (even after it rejected the idea of a national fund-raiser); and
3/ the need for an outreach campaign to educate people as to how the tribunal will work and who it will prosecute.

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A Struggle Against Historical Amnesia

Youk Chhang explains why he is passionate about collecting data for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia - and how it might have a role to both the defence and the prosecution at a long awaited Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Meanwhile, citizens at Lowell do their bit to help preserve Cambodian history by hosting the 2nd Annual Khmer Cultural Festival (known as Bonn Oum Touk Loy Prateap).

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One Simple Wish

Please, rain.

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Lam Clan Helps Build School

THe Asian American Press in St Paul, Minnesota, offers this yarn about Kevin and Kunrath Lam helping to build a new school for their former village in Maung District.

The $17,000 building is expected to be completed late this year.

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Hopping into Critter Cuisine

Demand is said to be booming for lightly fried crickets.

Huge numbers of Cambodians in central Kampong Thom province have jumped in on the business as demand has spiked, leading to innovative ways of catching the critters and sparking interest from the agricultural ministry.

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Vocation No Vacation

Fr Alberto Caccaro, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, tells Asia News about life as a Christian missionary in Cambodia. It's a tall order.

Out of a population of 12.7 million people, Buddhists are 84.7 per cent, whilst Christians are just over 1 per cent.

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Gate Make Impressive Statement

Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Cutting an impressive figure in the mid-day sun was the distinctive south gate of Angkor Thom.

Our guide tells us that the other gates (at each point of the compass - plus one extra) were similar to the this one; however the south gate has been best restored.

The three face tower seen here is about 20 meters tall.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

To get inside the ancient city of Angkor Thom, vistor must drive through structure which is large enough to allow elephants and today's tourists buses to pass.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Angkor Thom (built late 12th century) is the largest of the Khmer cities, about 9 square km. The entire city is surrounded by a wall 8 meters tall.

There are four gates at the center of each three kilometer long wall. A fifth gate, known as the victory gate, is on the east wall.

There is a 100 meter wide moat that encloses this wall. Within this city are numerous temples including The Bayon, The Leper King and Elephants Terraces, Phimeanakas, The Baphuon, Preah Palilay, North and South Khleang and the 12 towers of Prasat.

As mentioned earlier, the south gate of Angkor Thom is perhaps the best preserved of all the gates.

It is approached from outside via a causeway that extends across a moat. And on each side of the causeway are railings fashioned with 54 stone figures of gods or "devas" (guardian gods) engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning of the Ocean.

They are pulling on the body of a serpent or naga. Generally the nagas are meant to symbolize the link of the world of men to the world of the gods. In this case, the nagas are part of a different story.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

On the left side of the moat, 54 'devas' (guardian gods) pull the head of the snake 'Shesha'.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

Despite the effort and strain, they manage to retain a calm and composed appearance.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

In this photo, it is possible to see head of the naga as a seven-headed serpent.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

We were surprised by how little traffic was passing along this route while we were exploring. The roadway is almost empty.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

On the right side, 54 "asuras" (demon gods) pull the snake's tail in the opposite direction.

It is an odd tug of war. In this myth, the body of the snake is wrapped around the central mountain — perhaps corresponding here to the Bayon temple at the center of the site.

In any case, the myth relates that as the Devas pulled the snake in one direction and the gods pushed in the other, the ocean began to churn and precipitate the elements. By alternating back and forth, the ocean was "milked", forming the earth and the cosmos anew.

The purpose of the churning is to create amrita or the liquid of immortality. This legend is portrayed in a bass relief at Angkor Wat.


Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

On the inside of the south gate, Tan is standing under a three-headed Elephant gathering lotus blossoms with its trunks.

A Fuel and Your Money Are Soon Parted

The smuggling of petrol in plastic containers strapped to motorcycles from both Thailand and Vietnam is a huge industry in Cambodia.

ABC Radio National reports that custom officials "on a rare crackdown on petrol smuggling into Cambodia" have nabbed smugglers carting more than 570,000 litres of fuel from neighbouring Thailand.

Meanwhile the Washington Post offers this insight
as to why supply and fuel dependency will be hot topics for officials from Japan, South Korea and China who met this week with ASEAN energy ministers in Siem Reap this week.

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Crab Condiment Cancelled

Crab sauce is off the menu today at Pailin after nearly 40 people have fallen victim
to what authorities believe to be a contaminated batch imported from a nearby town.

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Rich Without Consumerism

Professor Stephen T. Asma has some fond memories of his time spent with students in 2003 at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh.

So many, in fact, that he has penned a reflective book, The Gods Drink Whiskey: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment in the Land of the Tattered Buddha.

It's a rich, beautiful culture. People should experience it now before it's radically different -- it's going to change because of globalization. It's wonderful to go someplace and not be saturated by consumerism. There's no Starbucks.

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The Sound of One Tree in a Forest

King Norodom Sihamoni has planted a tree on Cambodia's national forests day, near the site that has earlier this week sparked protests among the ethnic Phnong community against Chinese company Wuzishan LS Group.

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Quay Sways Us All

Graham Simmons offers good reasons why a visit to the Sisowath Quay promenade is a must when visiting the riverfront in Phnom Penh.

Sisowath Quay is emerging as one of the world’s great promenades, with new cafés, boardwalks and landscaping making the whole boulevard one of those rare cityscapes that immediately invite you to linger and enjoy.

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Doing Angkor in Style

Here is one spot we didn't visit during our time in Siem Reap. It is a little too pricey for our tastes, but Amansara certainly sounds as if it has an interesting history.

Amansara, formerly the guest villa of King Norodom Sihanouk, has been refurbished as an intimate 12-suite resort.

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Melon a Felon

A melon rolled under the brake pedal of a Cambodian truck which then overturned, killing one person and injuring 30.

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Tune In to Commonwealth Games

A report this week by Katrina Strickland in The Australian newspaper (page 5, July 5) says that Cambodia is among a number of Asian nations that will see the Commonwealth Games for the first time when televised in 2006.

Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games chairman Ron Walker hopes to have sold all television rights to the event by September, with the all-important Indian deal expected within days.

A deal earlier this week with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union has a potential audience of a billion people with its reach to 18 Asian countries.

It will be the first time the Games have been seen in Cambodia, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan and Indonesia, with the TV reach of the event increased by 10 countries and 500million people on that of the last Games in Manchester.

Life Term Convictions Upheld

A US appeals court this week reinstated the life terms and convictions of three defendants in the slaying of Cambodian actor Haing Ngor.

Ngor had won an Oscar for his role in the 1984 movie "The Killing Fields", gaining the Academy Award for best-supporting actor for playing the role of a reporter's translator.

More details about the court case can be read here.

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Forest Protest Chopped Short

Fresh developments on this report sees Cambodian police banning hundreds of indigenous Phnong people from protesting against the Chinese-owned tree-planting firm Wuzhishan LS Group from operating in an ancestral sites in the province of Mondulkiri.

Peter Leuprecht, UN special envoy on human rights in Cambodia, told the Associated Press that the process had desecrated ancestral burial areas and "spirit forests" which the animist Phnong consider sacred.

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Dawn of a New Chapter

Copyright Tan and Trev 2005

We are approaching days five to seven in the retelling of our journey from earlier this year.

So that will probably mean heaps of temple pictures in the coming few months. Here is a tiny sample of what is to come.

A Crime-ring of Confidence

Toothpaste is said to have been a key ingredient for the jail break of 13 prisoners this week from Kompong Cham.

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School Rules Supreme

Alan Lightman, who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tells of a visit to Tramung Chrum, and how the village of about 500 people, 40 miles from Phnom Penh, now has its first brick-and-mortar school.

Yet they crave education. Education ranks alongside food and water as a necessity of life. The school at Tramung Chrum, with its three classrooms and library, took four months to build with a 20-man crew from Phnom Penh.

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Bayon Temple Under Risk: Report

Research by the Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor says the central tower at Bayon temple is at risk of collapse.


But don't worry. The team is developing a five year restoration plan.

Bayon temple is one of the key Angkor temples in Siem Reap, and has been a part of the Angkor area registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1992.

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The Ups and Downs of Air Travel

Three cheers for today's announcement of Singapore low-fare carrier, Tiger Airways, adding daily flights soon with a run to Cambodia.

Let's hope it does better than the Vietnam Airlines Airbus 320 that slid off the runway and got stuck in the mud at Siem Reap airport.

Bloggers Unite

Although Tan and Trev will be unable to join Jinja and the crew in sharing a beer this Sunday, we wish you all well. Do enjoy the hook-up.

It is a cool idea and one that is long overdue. (Good thinking Jinja).

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UN Call to Block Pine Harvest

A U.N. investigator has calls on Cambodia to cancel a 10,000 hectares land grant to a Chinese company (Wuzhishan L.S. Group )for a pine tree plantation.

Saying the company violated indigenous people's rights, Peter Leuprecht (the special representative of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for human rights in Cambodia) called for a halt on the state land grant in Mondulkiri province - which potentially could lead from a 10,000 hectares promise to 189,999 hectares more.

"The government and the company have disregarded the well-being, culture and livelihoods of the Phnong indigenous people who make up more than half the population of the province, and many breaches of the law and of human rights have been committed," he said in a statement issued in Geneva.

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Adoption Challenge Fails

In an earlier piece, Tan and Trev were monitoring the legal challenge by six couples against a British Government ban on the adoption of Cambodian children.

BBC News today reports that the couples have lost a High Court challenge.

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Cambodian link to Aussie Exhibit

Like a rolling stone, artist Stephen Eastaugh is drawn to constant travel - a state of perpetual wanderlust that crosses many borders.

Samples of his stark abstracted and iconographic images - which include reference to Cambodia - are now on show near Tan and Trev's Australian abode. Until July 16, Eastaugh's works can be seen at William Mora Galleries, Richmond.

Eastaugh says in his artist's statement for TRAVAILOGUE that the series "began in the year 2000 somewhere between Casey station in East Antarctica and Phnom Penh, Cambodia".

In TRAVAILOGUE he has returned to his earlier penchant for stitched texture.

"I like the idea of stitching a slow laborious line across the fabric to represent a complicated journey," he says. "Paul Klee stated once that drawing is taking a line for a walk. I try to take my line on a very long and tricky tour."

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Tour for Equality

The gang at Tour for Equality have been blogging about Cambodia - the current leg in their 10,000 mile bike hike. Give their yarns about Angkor Wat, Siam Reap and Skoun's arachnids a try.

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Big Cats versus Smaller Foe

While looking over the log file statistics for this site, Tan and Trev were amused to discover some odd keywords helping to attract new visitors.

A surprising large number of people have been keen to do keyword searches involving some combination of the following string of words - "midgets", "lion", "pictures", "versus".

How disappointing it must be for them to arrive here and to then learn that the topic of their interest is revealed to be a faked news story.

Well you are in luck punters. Tan and Trev have found a factual story involving big cats pitted against smaller rivals.

There has been reports recent involving a single Cambodian hunter surviving an attack by two of the estimate 250 tigers in Cambodia's jungle.

There has been some discussion which seems to (perhaps mistakenly) assume the tigers were the original target of the hunter. Instead he may have been foraging for food.

The fact that he was able to avoid being killed is what fascinates us.

"Without my dogs, I would have been eaten by the tigers," he said.

Hey! Those are truly loyal dogs.

So forget the midgets. Book those dogs for a round with the lion.

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Another Gift from Japan

Japan this week gave Cambodia heavy machinery worth $US 16 million for mine clearance in rural areas.

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Surgical Boon for Battambang

Equipment that will help a provincial hospital in Battambang set up a new operating suite is part of the milestone 50th 40-foot container of medical relief items being shipped from one US humanitarian organization, Clear Path International.

That makes 50 containers clocked up in just four years, shipped in a program to support hospitals in countries affected by the presence of landmines. About half of the shipments have been sent to Vietnam and Cambodia.

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News on Central Highlands Returnees

Reports this week have been quoting the chief of the UNHCR mission in Viet Nam, Vu Anh Son, as saying repatriated ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands have not been mistreated upon their return from Cambodia.

There were speculations that voluntary repatriates were detained one week in Ho Chi Minh City and another week in Pleiku before being allowed to return to their families. In fact, when I talked with these people, they denied the speculations. They said none of them had either been harassed or beaten.

Envoy Urges United Action

MediaCorp Press Ltd carries a AFP report of an dire warning from Charles Ray, the outgoing US ambassador to Cambodia, who suggests deep and widespread unemployment can only be averted through better coordination among international donors to boost development.

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