First group of photos are illustrating Mr.Chanroeun Pa and his teams are distributing note-books, scarfs, shampoo, soap, detergent, dry Mii Yeuong noodles, study tools and cash to many kids who have been survived by the rubbish dump. Their living condition has been affected by rubbish environment which is located in remote area: no school, hospital and other amenities. Many kids and families have been moving here in hope for the career of SCAVENGING. Many generous, journalists and NGOs have stepped in to help them release suffering. Some donations offered, wells dug, and we hope that many other plans are on the row. If you wish to spare your heart and love, please do that…the location is following: Phum Tropaeng Thom, Tropaeng Thom Commune, Prasat Bakong District, Siem Reap Province.

Another group was led by Mrs. Chann to distribute note-book, pencil, pen and 500 riel cash to 500 students of primary and secondary school in Phum Dong-het, Khum Kok-thlok Krom, Jikrieng District, Siem Reap province. The school has located in the middle of four villages: Phum Dong-het, Phum Konsaeng, Phum Robieng and Phum Anlong Tro-orn at about 7 km north of national road number 6 at the Domrey Chlong point. During the civil war, this location was ravaged by the factional fighting between the Khmer Rouge armies and Vietnamese armies. The typical career of people here are farmers.

Thank you very much for your kind sharing and hospitality. We expect to receive your extending heart and love for those kids more in the future!!

Otherwise, recent study by UNDP highly recommended the education system of Cambodia to focus on labor market-oriented approach; it has shown that 30,000 graduates each year have no skill compatible with labor market; human capital is poorly produced. On the other hand, Cambodia Daily reported that in Cambodia there are inflation of PhD holders. This tiny country has unbelievably having 2,000 PhD holders and many of them are just honorary PhDs and fraud PhDs.

Op-Ed: CSaloha

Observers and Phnom Penh Post 2011 reports have simultaneously reaffirmed about the exam corruption, leaked exam sheets and bribery happened in the exam rooms. Surprisingly, students collected money to bribe teachers/monitors in exam rooms to be able to copy the answers from texts or leaked answers openly.

Asia Calling reported that corruption is ingrained in Cambodia education system. In the meantime, a study by a partnership between the UNDP and the BBC World Service Trust revealed that major Cambodian youths failed to pay attention with current Cambodian pressing issues. Statistics showed shared demography of youth bulk increases immensely.

Otherwise, recent study by UNDP highly recommended the education system of Cambodia to focus on labor market-oriented approach; it has shown that 30,000 graduates each year have no skill compatible with labor market; human capital is poorly produced. On the other hand, Cambodia Daily reported that in Cambodia there are inflation of PhD holders. This tiny country has unbelievably having 2,000 PhD holders and many of them are just honorary PhDs and fraud PhDs.

Their talents of those graduates are not ready for actual market environment.

This video clip is produced by Tith Chandara deepening our understanding about the private tutoring which is analyzed as meager salary, cut off education fiscal budget and devastating the poor students in their school cultivation.

Photo by: Hong Menea

The Venerable Luon Sovath speaks during a meeting at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights yesterday in Phnom Penh.

Land stats 2007-11

• Worst provinces
  1. Phnom Penh -  22 conflicts
  2. Banteay Meanchey – 17
  3. Rattanakkiri – 17
• Families: An estimated 47,342 families have been affected or could be in the future.
• Resolution: About 90% of land conflict cases are unresolved.

Victims of land disputes nationwide are being encouraged to unite, as figures released yesterday highlighted the magnitude of what is often referred to as an “epidemic of land grabbing”.

Ownership of at least 5 percent of all land in Cambodia was a matter of dispute between 2007 and 2011, according to a study by the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

CCHR presented the findings of its study on land conflicts in Cambodia at a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday. As many as 47,000 families had been or could be affected by land conflict cases, some of which are ongoing, covered in the study.

The study, which was restricted to publicly available information, found that there had been 223 land conflict cases from 2007 to 2011.  These comprised 165 reported land grabs and 66 evictions. More than 9,000 square kilometres of land had been confiscated during the period, the study found.

At the conference a number of land conflict victims delivered emotional accounts of losing their homes and land, and the impact it had on them.

Venerable Loun Sovath, the senior monk in Siem Reap’ province’s Chi Kraeng district, said that evictions violated human rights and international laws. “I call on the government, relevant ministries and stakeholders to enhance respect for human rights and the law,” he said. Loun Sovath has become an outspoken voice on land rights issues over the past two years, combining human rights and a respect for the rule of law with peaceful advocacy grounded in Buddhist precepts.  His advocacy on behalf of communities involved in land disputes began after two members of his family were shot during a land dispute in 2009.

Prey Lang committee chief Moeurn Sopheap also called on victims to band together.

“People must know that as the victims we have rights to make complaints. We have to unite, combat and protest against those violating our rights,” Moeurn Sopheap said.

Prey Lang  forest, which covers sections of four provinces, was in the spotlight earlier this year when hundreds of residents were evicted to make way for rubber plantations.

About 30 per cent of land conflicts in CCHR’s study occurred in or around Phnom Penh, while border provinces accounted for 27 per cent.

Nearly half of all cases involved violations of human rights. A third of all land conflict victims were reportedly arrested while 45 per cent were subjected to intimidation or destruction of property.

CCHR president Ou Virak said the study would not have been possible without help from victims. He encouraged victims, various stakeholders and NGOs to rally together to combat land conflicts.

“These conflicts destroy lives. Cambodia has had enough of land grabbing and impunity, and real reform is required to ensure equality and security in the land sector,” he said.

The study’s findings will be presented to government ministries, parliamentarians and NGOs, he said.

The figures were limited to publicly available data as CCHR did not want to present statistics that the government would be likely to immediately dismiss. Ou Virak said. “We have more information on more cases, but we wanted to play the low-ball numbers.”

The Ministry of Land Management had seen the figures and responded, which was a positive step forward, he said. But they disputed the figures and came back with a total of only 5,000 cases, a fraction of 47,000 the centre had found, he said.

The ministry declined to comment yesterday.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY PHAK SEANGLY

Wednesday, 07 April 2010 15:00 Sophan Seng

April is a busy month for Cambodians all over the Khmer diaspora since Khmer New Year is fast approaching. Since the holiday is not recognised by governments in foreign countries, Cambodians living abroad must wait for the weekend to celebrate the holiday. Some communities celebrate the holiday at Buddhist temples, but more often than not, people celebrate the new year in public halls or other rented spaces.

While the location of the celebration may not be familiar to many Cambodians, the events themselves have changed little among Cambodians living abroad. Go to a Khmer New Year celebration in Canada and you are likely to see authentic food, religious ceremonies, popular games, and traditional arts and entertainment.

The thing that always impresses me most is the beauty of the women wearing traditional Khmer outfits. The graceful appearance of Khmer women and their styles of dress have remained intact. “I have always worn traditional Khmer outfits to attend Khmer festivals, wedding ceremonies and traditional gatherings,” said Kimleine, who has been living away from Cambodia since she was a toddler.

I would say that every Khmer family I know has plenty of traditional clothes for such events. Peddlers display different styles of Khmer cloths every time a cultural event is upcoming.

“I like the style a lot, especially Khmer traditional outfits for weddings,” said Kimleine.

While traditional styles have remained the same for many years, other styles are always changing, and it can be expensive to keep up. Kimleine complained that the rapid change of karaoke fashion is costly for her to follow. “I think popular Khmer styles like we see on karaoke videos are easily outdated,” she said. “So we always need to buy a new one, which is very expensive.”

According to researcher Janet Mclellan, Cambodian Canadians are still strongly attached to traditional styles. In a posting on the Multicultural Canada Web site, the author explained that “during cultural celebrations, women and young girls wear the traditional Khmer dress of sarong, sampot and krama (a long scarf in different colours, woven from cotton or silk)”. But these outfits are not easy to wear when you are used to more modern clothes. While wearing traditional clothes, one must be careful while walking, sitting or moving.

As with many things in Cambodian culture, the younger generation is being asked to carry on the traditions of their family and countrymen. While most of them, like Kimleine, are happy to do this, it requires an increasing amount of flexibility and adaptability for youth who have embraced modernity in the rest of their life.

Sophan Seng is a Cambodian living in Canada. He is the facilitator of the Khmer-Canadian Buddhist Cultural Center and president of the Khmer Youth Association of Alberta. If you are living abroad and you want to share your experiences with our readers, send your letters to lift@phnompenhpost.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Original source: The Phnom Penh Post

]]> http://www.sophanseng.info/2010/04/khmer-stylizing-in-canada/feed/ 5 http://www.sophanseng.info/2010/03/hocky-battling-in-canada/ http://www.sophanseng.info/2010/03/hocky-battling-in-canada/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:07:18 +0000 http://www.sophanseng.info/?p=363

Letters from abroad

Just few weeks ago, Canadians were proudly cheering on their team as they celebrated Canada’s gold-medal hockey win over America in the 2010 Olympic winter games held in Vancouver. Days afterwards, the National Hockey League (NHL) resumed its regular season, and in April the league will begin its own championship tournament. There are 32 hockey teams in the NHL who represent 32 cities with their hockey-playing prowess.

The league is divided into 16 teams on the West Coast and 16 teams on the East Coast. Canada has six teams in the East Coast league, with the other 26 teams coming from America. The playoffs are the grand finale of the season, where eight teams from each side of the continent play each other for the Stanley Cup, a trophy that is given to the league’s best team each year.

“I am cheering for the Calgary Flames to reach the playoffs,” said Kevin Troung, who is an 18-year-old fan of the Canadian hockey team. “They are currently battling with the Red Wings of Detroit to get a chance to enter the Stanley Cup finals.”

While football is the most popular sport in Cambodia, hockey is without a doubt the most popular sport in Canada, and the two games have many differences. In football, the players run around on the green grass wearing nothing but shin pads to protect themselves from injury. Hockey players, on the other hand, are equipped with helmets, padding and a stick that they use to move the puck (like a flattened ball) around the ice while they move around on their skates like hurricanes. Each side is composed of six players: three forwards who attempt to hit the puck into the opponent’s small goal, and two defenders and a goalie who try to stop the other team from scoring. Like soccer, the winner is the team that scores the most goals.

Media commentators in Canada describe hockey as the most attractive sport in the world, with the ability to bring together people from all ages and social strata. It is not only players in the NHL who devote themselves to hockey; schools and communities encourage students and youths to join their own teams for a healthy extracurricular activity, or in some cases to begin a career in athletics. And it is not only in the arena that you see hockey fans. It is common to see streetcars and houses adorned with Flames flasg all around Calgary.

Sophan Seng is a Cambodian living in Canada. He is the facilitator of the Khmer-Canadian Buddhist Cultural Center and president of the Khmer Youth Association of Alberta. If you are living abroad and you want to share your experiences with our readers, send your letters to lift@phnompenhpost.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Original source:  The Phnom Penh Post