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all you need to know aboutproperty in cambodia
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A handout photo released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support team shows Ugandan soldiers belonging to the African Union Mission in Somalia at sunrise near Qoryooley on Sunday. The UN has warned of an increased threat from Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-Shebaab group. AFP
Somali sunrise
Kevin Ponniah and Cheang Sokha
A GROUP of 15 ethnic minor-ity Uighurs fleeing China arrested in the Thai border province of Sa Kaeo on Sun-
day morning had been detained by authorities in Cambodia hours earlier, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.
Citing sources within the Thai gov-ernment, the rights group’s statements match eyewitness reports from a Post source, who saw a group of 15 people claiming to be Turkish in the custody
of Poipet immigration police late on Saturday night.
The arrest of the group – 10 of whom are children – on Sunday morning in Thailand was a large mixed-agency operation involving soldiers, immi-gration officials, village militia and local district officials, Human Rights Watch said.
Thai officials also confirmed that the group had previously been held by
Cambodian authorities, said Phil Rob-ertson, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
“What’s clear is this group of 15 Uyghurs is the same group that was detained on the Cambodian side of the border by the authorities, and somehow soon thereafter they ended up in Thailand, where they were arrested,” he said in an email, using an alternative spelling for Uighur.
“Given the scale of the Thai opera-
tion, we suspect – but cannot confirm – that there was some sort of com-munication between the Cambodian and Thai sides of the border about this group.”
In recent days, Cambodian govern-ment officials have repeatedly denied or declined to comment on allega-tions that a group of 15 foreigners were even arrested in Poipet on Sat-urday, let alone deported.
But according to a local source who spoke on condition of anonymity, immigration police in Poipet on Sat-urday night detained a group of five adults and 10 children who claimed they were Turkish.
“On that night, I saw border police bring them to the immigration police station. They were put into a room for a while before they put them in an SUV and drove away. I saw them with my own eyes, there were 15 people [in
Detained then expelled HRW says Uighurs taken over Thai border
Continues on page 6
Meas Sokchea and Daniel Pye
OPPOSITION leaders yesterday announced plans to hold a thousands-strong “people’s congress” in the cap-ital’s Freedom Park on Sunday, despite a ban on gatherings at the site.
Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy and vice-presi-dent Kem Sokha, following their return from overseas trips to Australia, New Zealand and the US, said they would bring 5,000 supporters to the park.
“It is necessary to meet with citizens, and I would like to stress to the [Cambodian] People’s Party that our gathering [on Sunday] is not a demon-stration,” Rainsy said. “There will be no demonstration or toppling of any-thing. [The CPP] cannot use [this cause] as a pretext to accuse us and not allow us to [hold public meetings].”
Rainsy added that the meetings would provide ideas for the CNRP ahead of renewed negotiations with the ruling party, which the opposition hopes will involve the most senior members of the government.
Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap, however, labelled the announcement a call for an illegal demonstration, and urged the CNRP to take their seats in
Continues on page 2
‘People’s congress’ to test ban
STORY > 15
National2 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
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PSK is an independent, non-governmental organization specializing in social marketing and health service delivery. PSK has received a grant from multiple donors and it is intended that part of the proceeds of the grant will be applied to eligible payments under the contract for procurement of Security Services at PSK Head Office and Warehouse.
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Email: [email protected]
CNRP leaders Kem Sokha (left) and Sam Rainsy speak during a press conference at a party office in Phnom Penh yesterday. hENG ChIVOAN
Continued from page 1
parliament, saying: “his ‘con-gress’ is just words, but the reality is a demonstration. We already know this. So I would like [rainsy] to release his 55 fighting cocks, and the cPP’s 68 fighting cocks will be wait-ing in the National assembly.”
rainsy added that a key cNrP demand for reform of the National Election com-mittee had been dismissed at negotiations, and called on the cPP to put forward their counter-proposal.
“If they do not agree, please propose another idea to guar-antee independence of the NEc. What [ideas] does [the cPP] have? come on,” he said.
Opposition leaders also ques-tioned whether investigations into last year’s election and the violence against striking work-ers on Veng Sreng Boulevard in January had ever existed.
“We demand an investiga-tion into the election,” Sokha said yesterday. “If there was no investigation, we demand a new election. What do citizens want us to do?”
But Phnom Penh municipal-ity spokesman Long Dimanche said a letter sent by the cNrP to city hall requesting permis-sion for the gathering would not receive a positive response.
“If we do not have the result of the investigation, then we still cannot allow [the cNrP] to gather at Freedom Park. We will consider their request,” he said.
Opposition spokeswoman
mu Sochua yesterday ques-tioned the government’s commitment to a proper in-vestigation. “We want an inde-pendent investigation. Look at [slain union activist] chea Vi-chea, they’ve been ‘investigat-ing’ chea Vichea’s murder for 10 years,” she said.
Sochua added that talk of an investigation was being used as a pretext to deny people’s rights. “This is exactly the pre-text to lift our constitutional rights,” she said. “We know that any kind of investigation is closed-door. That is totally un-acceptable. The prime minister himself has to talk about the investigation. how do we know there is an investigation?”
ramana Sorn, freedom of ex-pression spokeswoman at the cambodian center for human rights, said in an email yester-day that the ban on assembly at Freedom Park showed the government was unwilling to listen to dissenting voices.
“Freedom Park was estab-lished as a place where people could exercise their freedoms of assembly and expression; banning assemblies there makes it clear that the govern-ment’s intentions are to silence its own citizens,” she wrote.
“any forms of blanket bans on assemblies are not only against cambodia’s domestic laws – including the Law on Peaceful assembly and the constitution – but also against cambodia’s constitutionally-protected obligations under international law.”
‘congress’ to test ban
Unions to lead holiday strikeMom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
WhEN is a strike not a strike?
That’s a ques-tion being asked
after union leaders yesterday announced they will inform garment factory owners that their members want to use an-nual leave days to wage their stay-at-home strike the week after Khmer New Year.
The leaders of eight unions plan to send a letter to the Garment manufacturers asso-ciation in cambodia (Gmac) this afternoon, asking it to communicate the message to all member factories, ath Thorn, president of the coali-tion of cambodian apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (c.caWDU), said yesterday.
“We ask the factory owners to compensate workers [for april 17 to 23],” Thorn said, adding that workers will stay home those days regardless of the response.
Taking annual leave si-multaneously falls short of a strike, but keeps pressure on the government and factories, said moeun Tola, head of the community Legal Education center’s labour program.
“It’s hard to call it a strike,” he said. “But people are commu-nicating their dissatisfaction.”
When asked why unions are requesting the week to count as their annual leave, rather than just call a strike, c.caWDU vice-president Kong athit said
the action avoided violent gov-ernment crackdowns.
Workers are entitled to annu-al leave, said Gmac secretary general Ken Loo. But factories cannot approve time off for so many employees simultane-ously that it would seriously affect production, he added.
“Workers can absolutely [take leave], but it is the prerogative of the factory of whether or not they approve,” Loo said.
The strike looms as unions continue to demand the gov-ernment set the garment sec-tor’s monthly minimum wage – which is $100 – at $160 and drop charges against 21 jailed protesters and two others.
In a separate action, unions will request permission from the Phnom Penh municipal-ity to gather 10,000 people in the capital on may 1, Pav Sina, president of the collective Union of movement of Work-ers (cUmW), said yesterday.
Thorn said attendees will begin the event at Freedom Park, then march to the Na-tional assembly.
The same eight unions par-ticipating in the stay-at-home strike will send their request to city hall a month in advance, so the city has plenty of time to respond, Thorn said. however, the event will proceed whether or not city hall permits it.
city hall governor Pa Socheatvong placed a ban on gatherings at Freedom Park two weeks ago, which remains in effect until the comple-tion of an investigation into violence that occurred during opposition party demonstra-tions and the garment worker strike, he said.
The strike and demonstra-tions ended after fatal crack-downs on January 3 and 4.
city hall will consider the request, spokesman Long Di-manche said. But he added that public assemblies will not be permitted at Freedom Park until the investigation is complete.
Garment workers protest for a wage rise outside Phnom Penh’s Ministry of Labour in December. hENG ChIVOAN
Land mine injures aunt, two childrenKim Sarom
TWO children and a woman were seri-ously injured yesterday when they stepped on a land mine near a border patrol station in Banteay meanchey, police said.
chea chhloung, Svay chek district police chief, said the woman, chhay arn, 28, lost her left leg in the explosion.
“This area is full of mines . . . information about the mines has been distributed by
cmac [the cambodian mine action cen-tre] for many years, but many people are still not aware of the dangers,” he said. “So there’s always a chance that this type of thing will happen.”
arn is the two children’s aunt and the three were collecting leaves and red ants when they stepped on the mine in Svay chek district, chhloung said.
The children were also seriously injured, he added, without giving details.
In 2013, six people were killed or injured by a land mine in the province, a figure that fell from 17 the year before.
Yesterday’s incident occurred only 400 metres from the Thai border in an area where demining was postponed in 2011.
“I heard that they plan to continue dem-ining,” said Sorn Bunchhoeurt, a cmac mine injury data manager.
“But I don’t know whether it will be this year,” Bunchhoeurt said.
National3THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
National4 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
USAID Cambodia- Supporting Forests and Biodiversity (SFB) project RFQ/6499-13-001
Cooperative Agreement : AID-442-A-13-00002Country : Phnom Penh CambodiaSource Code/Original : 937Purchasing Agent : Winrock International/SFB Room 588, Building F, Phnom Penh Center Corner Street 274/3, SangkatTonleBassac 023 220 714 Phone
Commodity: 03 (Three) Double Cabin Pickup 4WD for the export and operation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Please note that the vehicle will be used in extreme climatic and physical conditions.
Offer Deadline: Monday, April 7, 2014
Note: Winrock International is soliciting bids from qualified firms in connection with the supply of vehicles for the SFB program. Bids will be accepted from U.S. and other eligible firms. Requests for bid packet and/or submissions of bids will be accepted in writing by WI/SFB project office in Room #588, Building F, Phnom Penh Center or by email to [email protected].
WI/SFB invites interested and eligible parties from specialized consortia, suppliers, manufacturers, or subcontractors to prepare proposals. Eligible suppliers/subcontractors must have extensive experience in the manufacture, delivery, and maintenance of vehicles for export. The supplier/subcontractor shall be selected in accordance with competitive bidding procedures and best overall value procurement results provided by WI/SFB. Interested and eligible suppliers/subcontractors wishing to participate in the bidding process should request a copy of the information package and obtain further information from the address specified above.
All equipment is subject to the Bureau of Industry and Security Export Compliance Regulations.
Offer Deadline:Bid proposal should be submitted to the Winrock International/SFB project office in Room #588, Building F, Phnom Penh Center, Corner Street 274/3, SangkatTonleBassac, Phnom Penh no later than 5 PM, Monday, April 7, 21014 and should be valid for 2 months (60 calendar days). Bid proposals are confidential and will not be transferred or disclosed to third parties.
TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL NOT BE HONORED
Torture alleged in ‘conspiracy’ case
Exam proctors promised pay boost
Alice Cuddy and Chhay Channyda
a GrOUP of men who were originally charged with run-ning an armed “terrorist” group and now stand accused of con-spiring to topple the cambo-dian government have been tortured and held illegally, law-yers and a minority rights group said yesterday.
ang chanrith, director of the minority rights Organization (mIrO), said the three Khmer Krom and four cambodian na-tionals, some of them monks, will stand trial tomorrow ac-cused of “providing a foreign state with means to undertake hostilities and aggression”.
“Two of seven were tortured and forced to confess in police custody,” chanrith said of two of the Khmer men.
The men – Yong Kim Srun, 27; Yean Yeap, 25; Thach Koung, 37; Khe ma, 28; Thach Keu, 52; Yin Yav, 55; and Soun Thol, 56 – were arrested in Thailand in march 2013 and
stand accused of creating an armed terrorist group.
according to mIrO, this charge “could not be upheld” and was changed to “deliver-ing equipment for national defence to a foreign state.” It was later altered to the charge of “conspiracy”.
“mIrO believes that these repeated modifications of charges signify the lack of credible proof for an existing criminal offence,” a statement released yesterday said.
chanrith said that four of the men are also charged with illegally crossing the border.
“how can they be charged for crossing into cambodia? They are Khmer,” he said.
Sam Sokong, a defence law-yer for two of the Khmer Krom detainees, Kim Srun and Thol, said his clients have been illegally detained.
“although there is a proce-dure that the court may detain them longer than six months, [by law], we [the lawyers]
should have been informed. I have not received a letter from the court,” he said.
The defendants are mem-bers of Denmark-based dis-sident group the Khmer National Liberation Front.
according to Sokong, six others accused under the same charges, including KNLF president Sam Serey, are at large.
When asked last night about the charges, Serey said “what the government says is not true” and he and his “5,000 members” simply “campaign for freedom and democracy”.
“I have [just] tried to create a network to help change the policies of the government,” he said, adding that he has no plans to return to cambodia to face the charges.
Chhay Channyda
ThE ministry of Education is promising to pay national exam proctors double the fees earned last year in its newest move to stymie widespread bribes exchanged for exam answers or inflated scores.
Previously, proctors earned an average salary of 190,000 riel ($47.50) over the three-day exam period, according to minister of Education hang chhuon Naron.
“We have asked to double the daily amount for proctors.
The ministry will also divide the proctors who monitor the writing of the exams from the proctors who correct the exams,” he said.
In order to afford the reforms, the ministry will hold national examinations this year only for grade 12 students aiming to obtain an upper secondary school diploma. The grade nine lower secondary school exam will now be prepared and con-ducted by individual schools.
While former exam proctors appreciated the promise of a raise, many said by divvying up
the proctor and corrector positions, the ministry will actually limit the earnings.
“as a consequence [of the split roles], I cannot earn dou-ble what I used to make,” said Tak Sam Ol, a high school teacher in Pailin province’s Tep Nimet town, who said she could earn up to 870,000 riel ($217.50) under the old exam system.
Not everyone is convinced a boost in proctor pay will resolve any of the corruption in the nation exam system.
“The proctors are ordinary officers. The exam sheets are
leaked by the senior officers in the ministry or by the testing site directors who put them on sale,” said rong chhun, president of the cambodian Independent Teachers’ association.
he added that the officials stood to make 200,000 to 300,000 riel ($50 to $75) per class by selling the exam sheets in advance.
“If they want to get rid of cor-ruption during the exam, the anti-corruption Unit . . . will have to dare to investigate the corruption of the senior offic-ers,” chhun said.
clerk copstwo-yearprison termButh Reaksmey Kongkea
a crOOKED court clerk and two people convicted of doing business with him will serve between two and three years in prison after they were sen-tenced yesterday.
Former Banteay meanchey court clerk Suong Sok heng, 22, was sentenced to five years, with three years suspended and a 6 million riel ($1,500) fine; con-struction company owner Uy Sopheap, 69, was sentenced to five years with two years sus-pended; and Sem Sokha, 42, was sentenced to three years and fined 4 million riel ($1,000) in Phnom Penh municipal court yesterday.
Sok heng was convicted of tak-ing a $500 bribe from Sopheap to speed up a lawsuit and help-ing Sohka extort money from a woman with whom she was in a car accident.
Sokha and Sok heng were arrested after the woman report-ed Sok heng to the anti-corrup-tion Unit, after he intentionally kept her car accident case from reaching the courtroom.
Sopheap has said he did not bribe Sok heng and that he would appeal.
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
ThE director of the Lumphat district forestry department in ratanakkiri province was charged and put in pre-trial detention on monday for alleg-edly logging on protected land around Ou’Sinlair waterfall, police and court officials revealed yesterday.
Deputy Police chief Klol Thoeun said that meung Bunthin was picked up by police on monday after district forestry officials ac-cused him of illegally clear-ing about 20 hectares of land around Ou’Sinlair, a popular eco-tourism destination in the province.
“There is only enough [evidence] to arrest meung Bunthin this time but the court should also arrest the other people involved in these crimes and punish them un-
der the law to protect our nat-ural resources,” Thoeun said, adding that several forestry officials had been implicated.
Provincial prosecutor Leav Sreng confirmed that Bunthin had been charged with il-legally logging the popular destination site.
Under article 100 of the Kingdom’s Forestry Law, any activities carried out by lo-cal authorities that directly or indirectly contribute to for-est exploitation are subject to one to five years in prison and a fine of up to 100 million riel ($25,000).
Thim Synath, Land manage-ment, Urban Planning and construction provincial di-rector, said yesterday that his department had no involve-ment or any connection to Bunthin’s case.
“I did not order anyone to clear the land at this eco-tour-ism site which belongs to the state. Koung Srun, Lumphat’s district governor previously ordered me to measure and reserve land for the district’s community,” Synath said, clarifying that this was his only involvement
Koung Srun could not be reached for comment yester-day.
District forestry boss charged over ‘logging’
Patrol detains loggers Phak Seangly
a FOrEST patrol in ra-tanakkiri’s O’Yadav district spotted five loggers clearing the
community’s ancestral forest on Tuesday, villagers and rights group adhoc said yesterday.
adhoc provincial coordina-tor chhay Thy said that three representatives of nearly 200 ethnic Jarai families in Pak Nhai commune asked for help after the patrol detained em-ployees of Vietnamese con-cessionaire company 72. The concessionaire has already cleared some 100 hectares of the 1,000-hectare forest on which villagers rely for the livelihoods, according to Thy.
“They are all Vietnamese nationals, logging the . . . for-est, and community patrollers stopped them, confiscating a chainsaw,” he said.
This is the third time that the villagers have taken it upon themselves to detain loggers spotted in the forest, he added, though this time they didn’t hold the loggers for the police, who are thought to be affili-ated with the company.
“The company was ex-panding its boundaries into the [ancestral] forest with six pieces of machinery last week,
but the community gathered to force them out of the forest,” Thy continued.
community representative romas chvath, 48, said that the five loggers sighted on Tuesday were in the midst of loading timber onto a tractor when the villagers approached.
“Two of them escaped on the tractor, but we managed to hold three for an hour to ques-tion them before letting them go,” he recounted. “We confis-cated the chainsaw from them and warned them not to log in our forest again.”
chvath said that villagers
posted more than 200 plac-ards saying “The company is prohibited from clearing the protected forest,” but has had trouble getting authorities to recognise and make official their claim to the area.
“We are trying to protect our forest by ourselves, but the au-thorities do not even acknowl-edge it,” he said.
contact information for company 72 was not available yesterday, but O’Yadav district governor Dak Sar confirmed that the company’s 6,000-hect-are concession overlapped in part with the villagers’ forest.
Three detained Vietnamese loggers (left) are questioned by local villagers in Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district on Tuesday. photo SUppLIED
CORRECTIONThe United Nations Popula-tion Fund in Cambodia did not release a report in 2013 relating to the maternal mortality ratio as the word-ing of yesterday’s article Maternal death rate sliding, claims gov’t suggested.
Khmer Krom Buddhist monk Thach Koung leaves Phnom Penh Municipal Court last year. hEng ChIvoan
National5THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Stuart White
a VISITING group of European Union parliamentarians yes-terday hashed out issues rang-ing from election reform to so-called blood sugar in separate meetings with representatives of the opposition, the ruling party, the ministry of Interior and others, officials said.
according to ministry of In-terior Secretary of State Prum Sokha, the EU assured cambo-dia of its support, while Depu-ty Prime minister Sar Kheng, in turn, assured the EU that cam-bodia’s “post-election issues” would be worked out.
“The most important thing the EU stressed to the deputy prime minister was that even if they’re facing a global finan-cial crisis, the EU will continue to help cambodia,” Sokha said. “The EU also asked about the post-election issues, and [Kheng] explained that every-thing would be resolved in accordance with the law.”
Electoral reform was also the chief subject of discussion in the delegation’s meeting with the cambodia National rescue Party, public affairs head mu Sochua said yesterday.
“The main topic was the
formula that the cNrP was proposing to ensure the inde-pendence and neutrality of the [National Election commit-tee],” Sochua said. “One, that it is a body that has a consti-tutional status. Two, that the members of the NEc receive two-thirds of the vote from the members of parliament . . . Third, we want a set date for the next election [to take place] be-fore the end of this term.”
The opposition also raised the issue of cambodia’s contro-versial sugar plantations, which benefit from a preferential trade agreement with Europe despite their involvement in multiple long-running land disputes.
Though the trade scheme can be suspended if products are found to be linked to human rights abuses, EU Trade com-missioner Karel de Gucht said recently that the alleged abuses didn’t warrant investigation.
“[The delegation] assured us that the stance of the parlia-mentarians in the EU is not the same as the trade commission-er,” Sochua said yesterday.
In January, the EU Parliament passed a resolution calling for the bloc to act on assessments revealing abuses in the King-dom’s sugar industry.
EU delegates sit down with gov’t, then cNrP
Pm to fete controversial damLaignee Barron
IN ThE wake of several international scandals, the 120-megawatt Stung atai hydropower plant in Pursat province and its transmission line
will be inaugurated today in a celebration headed by Prime minister hun Sen.
The $255 million hydropower project financed by china Development Bank has been operating since June last year, while the $113 million transmission line connecting the dam to Phnom Penh, Kampong chnnang, Battambang and Pursat was only recently completed, ac-cording to a staff member – who declined to provide his name – at cambodia hy-dropower Development co Ltd, a sub-sidiary of dam developer china Datang corporation.
Yesterday, before heading to the dam site, Prime minister hun Sen met with the president of the state-owned develop-ment group, and thanked him for “helping power the cambodian battery”, according to a government-released statement.
The fanfare follows a five-year, catas-trophe-prone construction process that included airlifted, endangered crocodiles, a ravaged swath of protected cardamom mountain forest and a burst pipeline that injured five workers and left four more presumed dead.
“It’s no surprise that there has been poor government oversight of the project, as the dam’s environmental management plan was of extremely poor quality with insufficient funding and did not provide enough details on who would be respon-
sible for monitoring,” said ame Trandem, Southeast asia program director for Inter-national rivers.
In 2009, logging tycoon Try Pheap’s mDS Import-Export company was pro-vided a licence to clear the forest during construction; however, the Post found last month that illegal clearing of the area is ongoing.
“after main logging operations were finished in 2012, mDS closed the timber sorting yard, but workers remained . . . [and] continued to cut what little luxury
timber remained around the reservoir,” said adam Starr, a project coordinator at Fauna and Flora International. “Once the initial trees were logged, the remaining was slash burned.”
Despite the criticisms, the government yesterday stood by its newest dam.
“Every dam has some environmental impact . . . but we have decided the bene-fits are more than the impacts with Stung atai,” said Ith Praing, secretary of state at the ministry of Industry, mines and En-ergy. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHEANG SOKHA
The construction site of the Chinese-built Stung Atai hydro-electric dam in Pursat province in 2012. The Stung Atai dam is to be officially inaugurated today. MAY TITTHARA
A man at a new nationwide Child Safe Tourism campaign event at the Ministry of Tourism in Phnom Penh inspects stickers with information on how to combat tourist-related child abuse yesterday. HONG MENEA
Tourists urged to look out for kidsSen David
IN an effort to prevent children from being sexually exploited by tourists, World Vision, the ministry of Tourism and the anti-human trafficking police launched a nationwide child Safe Tourism campaign yesterday.
“Some foreigners come to visit cambo-dia as tourists and pretend to love, pity and help the poor children [only to abuse them],” said Pol Phithey, director of the ministry of Interior’s anti-human traffick-ing police, at a launch in the capital.
according to Phithey, 18 foreigners were sent to court in cambodia during 2013 for sexually abusing children.
To target sexual exploitation, the launch’s hosts are aiming to raise aware-ness among “responsible” tourists it hopes will help protect children when they see a problem.
as part of the campaign, 120,000 stickers, 10,000 tent cards and 36 signboards with how to behave responsibly and support the fight against child abuse have been produced.
They will be distributed at key tourism locations.
hor Sarun, under secretary of state at the ministry of Tourism, and chairman of the child Safe Tourism committee, said the government was pleased that the country had experienced a 17 per cent
increase in tourists last year. But with an increase in visitors to the country came an increase in vulnerable people seeking income in tourist spots.
“as we know, children are our future human resources and should be protected from all forms of abuse,” he said.
While most tourists come to enjoy the rich cultural attractions that cambodia has to offer, those who are interested in the sexual exploitation of children pose a major threat, he added.
World Vision cambodia childhood project coordinator Phang chanda said the campaign material included a hotline that tourists could call if they noticed a problem.
Still fighting
Former top cop appeals convictions
DISGRACED former Ph-nom Penh police chief Heng Pov was back at
the Court of Appeal yesterday, arguing against four separate convictions, adding up to a total of 42 years’ prison time.
Cases against Pov, 56, heard in court yesterday stem from crimes ranging from possessing counterfeit cash to orchestrating an attemp-ted murder, which occurred across eight years between 1998 and 2006.
“Those witnesses all have a problem with me and they lied to implicate me,” Pov said in court of the two men convicted of carrying out the attempted murder.
Ly Rasy, 44, and Pheng Phay, 43, were both convicted of attempting to assassinate Thong Uy Pang, editor of Koh Santepheap newspaper, in 1998. The two were charged with shooting Uy Pang in the shoulder while he was at Tek Thla Pagoda.
Rasy and Phay were each sentenced to 18 years in prison for the crime.
Koa Supha, Pov’s attorney, argued in court that there was no evidence tying his client to the shooting, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in 2009.
Pov also appealed convic-tions for the 2003 illegal detention of Chan Seak –for which he received five years – his 2005 illegal detention of Heng Kimleang, seven years, and a 2006 case of possessing counterfeit $100 bills, 14 years.
Decisions will be handed down on April 7, Judge Seng Sivutha said. LIENG SARITH
National6 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
policeblotterNo easy getaway after road rage at traffic jamA PHNOM Penh traffic jam brought on a case of old-fash-ioned road rage on Tuesday. After getting into a row inspired by the tight circumstances, police said a 33-year-old sus-pect got into a creative cursing contest with another motorist. Unhappy with the outcome, the man began hurling “many” stones at the vehicle of his antagonist. When the cops inev-itably showed up, the suspect attempted his getaway – which was, of course, thwarted by the traffic snarl. He’s now awaiting the judge. DEUM AMPIL
He caught the bouquet but was still robbedA NIGHT of celebration turned sour for one Russey Keo man after he exited a friend’s wed-ding on Tuesday night. After leaving the nuptials, perhaps a little worse for wear, the victim waited outside his house for his relatives to let him in. Three men, spotting an easy target, approached him and took his money and a ring before fleeing the scene. The victim filed a complaint, but he couldn’t make out the thieves’ faces in the dark. DEUM AMPIL
Innocent student conned by thieving school friend A YOUNG woman in Pursat town found out that a little learning is indeed a dangerous thing after loaning out some books led to the disappear-ance of her moto on Tuesday. Police said a friend of the young student had come by to borrow some books, and the young woman obliged. Her good deed done, she went about her business around the house only to find later that her moto – which had been parked under the house – had disappeared. She filed a com-plaint with police, who are looking for her so-called friend. KAMPUcHEA THMEY
Sihanoukville stroll no holiday for poor tourist A PEAcEFUL stroll on the beach in Sihanoukville on Tuesday soon turned stressful for a female tourist. carrying the usual tourist items – cash and a camera – the woman was approached by two men, aged 25 and 27. Exhibiting some handiwork, one of them snatched the bag from the woman and they both made a dash for it along the sand. Their getaway skills weren’t quite as polished, however, and police soon arrested them. KAMPUcHEA THMEY
Poipet thief learns gun no accident protectorIT WAS a case of “stop or I’ll shoot” – and it would likely have ended in one of those scenarios had the armed robber not crashed his motorbike. A man who attempted to rob another rider while tailing him through the streets of Poipet on Tuesday is nursing serious injuries after losing control of his moto as he waved his gun around. The failed robber will face court – and the prospect of prison – once doctors discharge him from hospital. KOH SANTEPHEAP
translated by Sen David
Water workA young boy walks along a chain of boats near his village late in the afternoon to unload plants that were harvested from the river in Meanchey district’s Chak Angre Krom commune last week. HONG MENEA
Firm ‘logging in sanctuary’May titthara
a cOmPaNY in mon-dulkiri’s Sok San commune has been gradually cutting
down a community forest, pushing more than 100 fami-lies off their land, villagers said yesterday.
“That land belongs to us, the government granted it to us in 1999. But the company invaded and let us do nothing on it,” mao
Theoung, 62, from the Pnorng minority, said yesterday.
a council of ministers report, dated January 3, 2012, said that the government agreed to allow master Kson co Ltd to invest in agro-industry, rubber planta-tions and wildlife conservation and to develop sport hunting over 70 years in a 6,892-hectare concession in Phnom Prech wildlife sanctuary. however, Theoung said the firm has done little but cut down trees.
“They told us that they planted rubber, but we saw only a few rubber plants. What they did was cut our commu-nity forest and use chainsaws to fell trees for trade,” he said.
according to Theoung, 150 of the 250 hectares that 137 families call home have been affected.
San chin, first assistant to the commune chief, said vil-lagers were simply asking for their land back.
“The authorities treated people badly and satisfied the company even though it de-stroyed trees. The authorities do not care,” chin said.
But mil Soueng, Kok Nhek district governor, said no one has reported the matter to the authorities.
“No one bans them from farming,” he said.
representatives of master Kson could not be reached for comment.
hrW says Uighurs detained then expelledcontinued from page 1
total], nine males and six females, and 10 of them were children,” the source said.
according to Thai media reports cited by the New York Times, the Uighur group had travelled from Vietnam to cam-bodia and were planning on moving through Thailand to malaysia and then, hopefully, Turkey, which shares ethnic links with Uighurs and is home to a large Uighur community.
On march 13, a group of 220 suspected Uighurs found by authorities in a jungle camp in southern Thailand claimed to be Turkish and asked to be repatriated to Turkey.
another group of 112 people suspected to be Uighurs were detained in Sa Kaeo in the days before the 15 were arrested, according to hrW, though it is unclear whether they also travelled through cambodia.
The Uighurs, a mostly mus-lim minority group, say they are oppressed by the chinese government in the northwest-ern Xinjiang Uighur autono-mous region, where violence between the minority and eth-nic han chinese has been
increasing in recent years. In 2009, cambodia became
the subject of international outcry when it forcibly returned 20 Uighur asylum seekers to china even though they had been registered as “persons of concern” by the local office of the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNhcr), which has since been shuttered.
Yesterday, So channary, commander of the 911 border police unit in Banteay meanchey province, said his forces had not recently arrest-ed any groups of foreigners attempting to enter Thailand.
“We have not recently arrest-ed any foreigners trying to cross the border or trying to get in and out of cambodia or Thailand. The situation along the border here is very compli-cated and not easy to cross. We are strictly monitoring along the border.”
Immigration police chief Pin Piseth said: “I have no idea. I don’t know anything, and I have no comment.”
council of ministers spokes-man Phay Siphan said although he had not heard about the case, if people illegally tried to enter cambodia, they should
be deported back to where they arrived from.
”Whoever gave them the chance or opportunity to get through; those countries have to take them back. We are not a final destination,” he said.
“Don’t blame cambodia for this.”
Vivian Tan, a spokesperson at the UNhcr in Bangkok, said yesterday she had not heard about the group of 15 being arrested.
While adding she did not “want to speculate”, Tan said that if the group had told cam-bodian authorities they want-ed to seek asylum when they were arrested, the government may have violated interna-tional customary law if they turned them away.
“Forcing out these 15 Uyghurs once again shows how incredibly deficient cam-bodia’s refugee protection
procedures are,” hrW’s rob-ertson said.
cambodia is a signatory to the 1951 UN refugee conven-tion and its 1967 protocol.
cheng hong Bo, spokesman at the chinese embassy, said yesterday that he had no infor-mation about the group, or
whether they had been detained in cambodia.
“actually, if the cambodian authorities have the [people] that you mentioned, they would inform us. But right now we don’t have that kind of information,” he said.
according to the US State Department, 16 of the Uighurs that were returned to china
from cambodia in 2009 have been given prison sentences ranging from 16 years to life.
rights groups have called for all the Uighurs recently arrest-ed in Thailand to not be sent back to china and to have access to UN asylum applica-tion procedures.
alim Seytoff, spokesman at the World Uyghur congress, could not be reached for com-ment yesterday, but on Tues-day he said he did not believe there were links between the group of 15 and the previous group of 112 that was also arrested in Sa Kaeo.
“We don’t believe they are related to the first group. Due to severe chinese repression of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan, we are witnessing an exodus of refugees from china. We hope Thailand and other Southeastern asian countries will work with UNh-cr and settle them in a safe third country,” he said.
Forcing out these 15 Uyghurs once again shows how
incredibly deficient Cambodia’s refugee
protection procedures are
7THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
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Bangladeshi labourers work in a tannery in Dhaka in February. A report has identified Bangladesh as one of 10 strong emerging economies. AFp
New wave of emerging economiesAurélia End
INDONESIa, Bangladesh and Ethiopia are among 10 coun-tries set to take over as emerging economies from the powerful
BrIcS nations as they struggle with growing pains, a French credit body said on Tuesday.
“after 10 years of frenetic growth” the big five emerging economies of Brazil, russia, India, china and South africa, the BrIcS, “are slowing down sharply”, trade credit and insurance group coface said.
In a report entitled Coface identifies 10 emerging countries hot on the heels of the BRICS, the organisation said that average economic growth by the
BrIcS this year would be 3.2 percent-age points less than the average in the last 10 years. But “at the same time, other emerging countries are accel-erating their development”, it said.
The growth of emerging economies and the effect this has on world trade flows is closely analysed because of the huge impact on every aspect of the global economy and power balances.
coface broke the 10 new emerging economies it has identified into two groups. The first comprises Peru, the Philippines, Indonesia, colombia and Sri Lanka, which it named the PPIcS.
They had “strong potential con-firmed by a sound business environ-ment”, coface said. The second group comprises Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia,
Bangladesh and Ethiopia. But these countries are marked by “very dif-ficult or extremely difficult business environments which could hamper their growth prospects”, coface said.
however, coface head of country risk Julien marcilly said that in 2001 “the quality of governance in Brazil, china, India and russia was compa-rable to that of Kenya, Tanzania, Zam-bia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia today”.
But the 10 “new emerging coun-tries” currently accounted for only 11 per cent of the world population whereas the BrIcS had accounted for 43 per cent of the population in 2001. The total gross domestic product of the new 10 was only 70 per cent of the output of the BrIcS in 2001, and they
had a current account deficit of about 6 per cent of GDP whereas the BrIcS had run a surplus on average.
On a positive note, the new 10 had inflation which was about 2.8 per-centage points lower than BrIc infla-tion in 2001, and their public debt was about 40 per cent of output compared with 54 per cent for the BrIcS at that time. coface said that growth in the BrIcS was slowing down, despite fa-vourable trends for consumption, be-cause of an adjustment in supply and “a marked slowdown in investment”.
marcilly said that the BrIcS were moving into a new phase since their exports were becoming less com-petitive, and because they were not yet competitive in offering products
that come with very high added value.In its quest to identify the next wave
of emerging markets, coface looked for potential annual growth exceed-ing 4 per cent, a diversified economy without undue dependence on the sale of raw materials, and some ca-pacity to absorb economic shocks. It also looked for a financial system capable of supporting investment, without raising risks of overheating.
The use of the word PPIcS as an acronym comes in a line of attempts by economists to group various types of new emerging economies. among these are mINT for mexico, Indone-sia, Nigeria and Turkey, or cIVETS for colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South africa. AFp
cambodia’s logistics praised but still much to improveDaniel de Carteret
DESPITE reforms contributing to an increase in its world ranking on trade facilitation perform-ance, cambodia still lags behind its regional peers, data presented yesterday by the World Bank show.
Streamlined customs procedures and enhance-ments to port infrastructure have lifted cambo-dia up to number 83 on the World Bank’s 2014 Logistics Performance Index (LPI), said Gerard mcLinden, a senior trade facilitation specialist in the World Bank’s International Trade Unit.
cambodia was ranked 101st in 2013’s LPI.“There has been a huge improvement in
import, export and transit operations and that comes in part from risk management and streamlining of procedures,” he said during a presentation on the index at the World Bank in Phnom Penh yesterday.
The LPI rankings are based on a survey of logistics companies worldwide. Evaluations relate to a country’s customs management, logistics competence and trade timeliness.
Government officials from the ministry of commerce and General Department of customs
and Excise said that recent reforms reducing red tape on certificate of origin requirements, automation of trade confirmation and greater information provided on tariffs and regulations had all led to the improved position.
But not everyone was ready to hail the achieve-ment. It is within a regional context that policy-makers should focus, said Srinivasa madhur, director of research at the cambodia Develop-ment resource Institute, pointing to the World Bank's logistics rankings that place cambodia above only Laos and myanmar.
“Especially because come 2015 you have the
aSEaN economic community bloc and hence the focus should really be not a global improve-ment but where does cambodia stand in an aSEaN context,” he said.
The World Bank survey backs this up. comparing responses from firms based in dif-
ferent aSEaN countries, it shows that cambodia has the lowest reputation when it comes to improving customs processes.
among all its neighbours in the economic and political bloc, cambodia also had the biggest problem with informal payments causing delays at the border.
Business8 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Thai official vows to find new ways to pay farmersChatrudee Theparat and Wichit Chantanusornsiri
ThE caretaker Thai government has pledged to find additional funds of nearly 20 billion baht ($613.6 million) to pay suffering rice farmers by april, a senior official said after a cabinet meet-ing in Bangkok on Tuesday.
The source disclosed that caretaker Deputy Prime minis-ter and Finance minister Kit-tiratt Na-ranong reported to the meeting, chaired by care-taker Prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, that the govern-ment can borrow tens of bil-lions of baht to ease the burden of farmers who have been wait-ing for rice-pledging payments since last October.
Kittiratt did not inform the meeting how he would obtain the funds. however, another source said this would be an extremely tough task since even if it could borrow that amount of money to pay farm-ers, the government was obliged to find another 20 bil-lion baht for the central budget that was recently borrowed by the commerce ministry as an advance fund to pay farmers. The repayment is due in may.
“The most possible way to get funds is to sell rice in stocks, as the government is not in a posi-tion to borrow money within a week. But how can it sell enough to get 20 billion baht?” asked the senior official.
Even if the central budget payment is made by the end of this month, the government still owes the farmers 97 billion baht.
The caretaker government has failed to pay farmers for the
rice it bought in the 2013-14 season that began last October. It has also failed to sell massive stocks, as it has been buying rice from farmers at more than 40 per cent above market price for three years.
The government is short of liquidity to finance the scheme, while the fiasco has scared away lenders, including state-owned financial institutions, which fear a caretaker govern-ment may not be legitimate as a loan guarantor or able borrow new funds for policies that affect votes.
“mr Kittiratt told the meeting that he could find the money for sure. Even though the gov-ernment is unable to pay out the total pledged money for the latest main crop in april, he vowed that at least one-fifth of a total of 96 billion baht would definitely be achieved,” the source said.
chularat Suteethorn, direc-
tor-general of the Public Debt management Office, said his office is attempting to borrow from the money market to solve the problem.
Somchai Sujjapongse, direc-tor-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said his office has dis-cussed concerns over loans with the Thai Bankers’ associa-tion (TBa).
The TBa is demanding a con-firmation letter that says the caretaker government guaran-tees the legality of funding for the rice scheme.
relevant parties are ready to proceed to ensure the rice farmers are paid as soon as possible, Somchai said.
another channel for seeking funds is to sell rice stocks through the agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (aFET). however, its goal of selling as much as 1 million tons through aFET is far from being achieved. BANGKOK POST
A Thai vendor carries a variety of rice to refill a bag at his shop at a market in Bangkok. AFP
Toyota to buy back own stockCraig Trudelland Go Onomitsu
TOYOTa motor corp, the world’s largest carmaker, said it will buy back stock for the first time in five years as its cash pile swells and profit climbs.
Toyota will repurchase as many as many as 60 million shares, equivalent to a 1.9 per cent stake, for 360 billion yen ($3.5 billion), and cancel 30 mil-lion of those shares by the end of June, according to a state-ment yesterday. Toyota last bought back shares in 2009.
Toyota’s growing cash pile fueled calls from the likes of Takaki Nakanishi, Institutional Investor magazine’s top-ranked Japanese car industry analyst, for the company to return money to shareholders or invest in new factories. The maker of the camry sedans and Prius hybrids has forecast a record 1.9 trillion yen profit for the year ending on march 31.
Toyota has said it aims to pay 30 per cent of net income as dividends and that the com-pany won’t build any new fac-tories until at least 2015 as it focuses on improving efficiency at existing plants. BLOOMBERG
DuPont on myanmar plansBridget Di Certo
FOr hsing ho, the best business approach is to think globally and act locally, a method
the new DuPont operation in myanmar plans on taking se-riously as it turns its expertise toward the fragile food chain in the long isolated nation.
“We believe that as a glob-al company there is a lot to be learned at each locality. The local characteristics are unique – for example in the farming community, unique-ness around the weather, the soil, the conditions and so on and so forth that is very locally based,” ho said at the launch of DuPont in myanmar.
as DuPont aSEaN manag-ing director, ho has seen a natural marriage between the US-born science company’s new focus on agriculture and the food chain and the needs of predominantly agricultural economies in the region.
“myanmar today and in the past has been an agriculture economy and the kinds of agriculture development that would be relevant and im-portant for myanmar is first and foremost rice,” ho said of the primary food chain
needs in the country. “as you may know, rice was the num-ber one export commodity for myanmar for many years, several decades ago,” he said on a recent trip to myanmar to launch the DuPont opera-tion there.
“myanmar wants to drive
in that direction and regain that position as a major rice producer. So rice is important to the country and also to us because in DuPont we have a significant initiative in our research and development effort focusing on rice so we believe that we can support
the country’s direction in developing higher yield and higher productivity.”
higher productivity is espe-cially critical for accelerating the process of urbanisation, a characteristic linked to growth of GDP, ho said.
“For a country to grow in a
sustainable manner at a high rate, it needs to continue to urbanise.”
Improving agricultural yields and productivity freed up an element of the rural workforce that would turn toward urbanisation and pro-vide human capital for mod-ern industry and manufac-turing, ho explained.
as GDP grows and the country looks to modernise, reliance on rice will be sup-plemented with an increased demand for meat, ho said, adding that DuPont was also working on corn technology projects in this respect.
“as the country of 60 mil-lion people begin to develop, as the people begin to get bet-ter income, they will want to eat probably more meat and more nutrition and more protein, and as the demand of that goes up, the demand for corn and the feed for live-stock will go up significantly,” he said.
“That’s our experience in Thailand where the con-sumption of feed is quite high. We believe that myan-mar is going to move in that direction for increasing the demand for corn as well.” THE
MYANMAR TIMES
Hsing Ho (left), director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Thant Lwin Oo (centre) and Sittideth Sriprateth cut a ribbon at the opening of DuPont Myanmar last month. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Markets9THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Business
hyundai looks at china expansionRose Kim
hYUNDaI motor co, South Korea’s largest automaker, is considering building a fourth car plant in china to meet demand in the world’s biggest auto market.
chairman chung mong Koo will sign an agreement today with the government of chong-qing city to study the possibil-ity of locating a plant there, hyundai said in an emailed statement. The city is the most likely site for the factory, the Seoul-based company said.
hyundai faces rising compe-tition in china, its largest mar-ket, as sales at Toyota motor corp and Nissan motor co have recovered from anti-Jap-anese boycotts touched off in 2012 by a territorial dispute.
The Korean carmaker joins rivals including Volkswagen aG and General motors co in seek-ing to make and sell more cars in china as economic growth and urbanisation stoke demand for vehicles.
“To increase or at least keep its market share, the decision to build a new plant would have been inevitable for the company,” said Lee Sang hyun, an analyst at Nh Invest-ment & Securities co.
The carmaker’s annual sales in china surpassed 1 million
vehicles last year for the first time, according to data com-piled by Bloomberg. It sold 640,698 units in South Korea and 720,783 in the US.
The fourth plant would have a capacity of 300,000 cars a year, bringing hyundai’s chi-na output to as many as 1.51 million vehicles, according to the statement.
This year, the company fore-casts its sales in the nation will total 1.13 million vehicles, including trucks, helped by
china-specific models includ-ing the mistra sedan and the completion of its commercial-vehicle manufacturing plant in Sichuan, chief Financial Officer Lee Won hee said back in January.
The company expects china’s overall auto demand to reach 20.06 million units by 2016, according to the statement. hyundai needs to increase out-put in the country to keep pace with rivals, the company said.
hyundai began production
in china in late 2002 and makes 10 models in the country, including the Langdong sedan and the Santa Fe sport-utility vehicle, the company said in an emailed response to a Bloomb-erg query. It isn’t exporting any cars from china.
hyundai’s three existing chi-nese car plants are in Beijing. Its commercial-vehicle busi-ness also has a new plant under construction in Sichuan expected to open in the first half of this year. BLOOMBERG
Hundreds of snow-covered Hyundai Motor vehicles sit parked at a delivery centre at the company’s factory in Asan, South Korea, in January. BLOOMBERG
Iain McDonaldand Narayanan Somasundaram
aUSTraLIa plans to sell the country’s largest health in-surer, medibank Private Ltd, through an initial public of-fering before June 2015 as the government seeks to rein in a budget deficit.
The government will appoint joint lead managers for the IPO, which is the best option to se-cure the highest price, Finance minister mathias cormann said yesterday. Nomura hold-ings Inc. Sydney-based ana-lyst Toby Langley values the insurer at about a$4 billion ($3.7 billion) based on peer-group analysis, he said yester-day by phone.
The IPO “will potentially lead to a greater level of competition in the australian private health insurance market”, Langley said. “We expect significant at-tention around expenses and efficiency where medibank lags the broader private health insurance market despite its significant scale.”
australia’s government faces a budget deficit forecast to bal-loon to a$47 billion in the year to June 30 and Treasurer Joe hockey has pledged spending cuts in an economy weighed by
an elevated currency and slow-ing mining investment. he is also encouraging state govern-ments to sell assets to fund new infrastructure projects and buoy business investment.
“The independently pre-pared scoping study reaffirmed our long-held view that there is no compelling reason for the government to own medibank Private,” cormann said in a statement. “medibank Private is a commercial business op-erating in a well-functioning, well-regulated competitive pri-vate health insurance market with 34 competing funds.”
australia provides citizens with free or subsidised health care through medicare. It also encourages people through tax benefits to take out private health insurance. around 47 per cent of australians are covered by private insurers for hospital treatment while 55 per cent are covered for other services such as dental and optical, according to govern-ment data.
medibank Private’s operating profit before tax rose 14.2 per cent in the 12 months ended June 30, 2013 to a$185 million, driven by a 9.4 per cent gain in revenue, the insurer said on October 8. BLOOMBERG
australia seeks sale of insurer to help budget
Singapore LNG touts credentialsChou Hui Hong
SINGaPOrE LNG corp is tout-ing its experience running Southeast asia’s biggest liq-uefied natural gas terminal as
a sign it can manage a second facility planned for the city-state.
“We are always ready,” John Ng, the company’s chief executive, said in an interview at his office on march 20. “Do we have the capability to build, design and operate the termi-nal? The answer is yes.”
as asia overtakes Europe as the world’s biggest natural-gas import-er, Singapore wants to tap burgeon-ing demand for cargoes and cement its place as the region’s LNG trading hub. The country, which uses gas for more than 90 per cent of its electric-ity, is studying locations on the east of the island for a second terminal to support industries and fuel power stations, Prime minister Lee hsien Loong said last month.
“The SLNG team will probably be the operator because they will be more experienced and the govern-ment will be comfortable replicating the same model,” said Tony regan, a Singapore-based energy consul-tant at Tri-Zen International Inc. he expects the terminal to start opera-tions after 2020.
asia accounts for 46 per cent of global gas trade, according to the International Energy agency, which identifies Singapore as best-placed to be a centre for LNG trading.
The region consumed 75 per cent of the world’s LNG last year, data from the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers show.
Singapore’s second terminal will have a capacity similar to the first, according to the Energy market au-thority, the regulator that oversees the country’s energy industry.
The existing facility has three tanks
that can handle 6 million metric tons a year. a fourth will be added by 2017, increasing capacity to 9 million tons.
The site can accommodate as many as seven tanks that could process 15 million tons annually, Lee said at the official opening last month.
Japan, which is the world’s biggest importer, consumed about 87.5 mil-lion tons in 2013.
Sharon Tan, a spokeswoman for the Ema, said the regulator doesn’t
have information yet about the pro-cess it will use to identify and select an operator.
Singapore has the only LNG termi-nal in asia that can reload cargoes from storage, allowing traders to store gas during low-consumption peri-ods before selling them during peak demand seasons in winter and sum-mer. SLNG may use the third tank for short-term trade, Ng said.
Germany’s E.ON Se and Glencore
Xstrata Plc (GLEN) are among com-panies that have hired LNG traders in the city as the market grows.
Qatar Liquefied Gas co, the world’s largest producer, is looking to expand in the region, abdulla al-hussaini, the company’s marketing director, said in an October interview.
more terminals in the region will help boost trade volumes and estab-lish more competitive and respon-sive LNG prices, according to Ng.
about 27 per cent of LNG supplies, or 65 million tons, are traded on a short-term and spot basis, according to the International Group of Lique-fied Natural Gas Importers.
The rest is bought and sold in long-term supply contracts with prices typ-ically linked to the cost of crude oil.
LNG which is to be shipped over the next four to eight weeks to North asia dropped to $15.80 per million British thermal units in the week ended march 24, down 20 per cent from a record $19.70 on February. 3, according to New York-based Energy Intelligence.
The Energy market authority is studying whether to build the plant offshore on a floating facility, its cEO chee hong Tat said on February 26.
SLNG, owned by the Singapore government, was formed in June 2009 by the Ema to operate the S$1.7 billion ($1.3 billion) first terminal on Jurong Island that began operating in march last year.
“I’m quite confident we have the ca-pability to do the second terminal as a floating one,” said Ng, who became chief executive on December 1, tak-ing over from Neil mcGregor. “The challenges are no less or no more than a land-based one.”
a floating storage and regasifica-tion unit, or FSrU, may be a better choice for Singapore’s eastern termi-nal as technology improves, accord-ing to regan.
FSrUs typically consist of LNG vessels anchored offshore to receive and store shipments before the su-percooled gas is sent into an onshore pipeline system.
“FSrUs are cheap, quick to build and start, you can put in a second unit five years later to increase ca-pacity and it gives Singapore, which is a small country, a lot more options where to place the second terminal,” regan said. BLOOMBERG
MISC Bhd liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Seri Angkasa is seen in Singapore in 2012. Singapore uses natural gas for more than 90 per cent of its electricity. BLOOMBERG
Exchange debut
Firm making robot suit is now trading
CYBERDYNE, the maker of a battery-powered exoskeleton robot suit,
made its stock market debut on Tuesday, as it looks to raise money to boost its research.
The Japanese robot venture provided 10.85 million shares, which did not trade in the early session. But things took off in the afternoon, with the price swinging between ¥7,950 and ¥10,010, before settling on ¥9,600 at the close.
The offering was made at the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Mo-thers market, a forum aimed at providing venture compa-nies access to funds at an early stage of their development.
Cyberdyne, based in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, has developed a robot suit that can help the elderly or di-sabled get around. Its Hybrid Assistive Limb, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs.
The company has also produced a robot suit that allows wearers to don heavy radiation protection without feeling the weight, possibly of-fering utility to workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. AFP
Business10 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
IrS to tax bitcoin as propertyRichard Rubin and Carter Dougherty
ThE US government will treat bitcoin as property for tax purposes, applying rules it uses to govern stocks and
barter transactions, the Internal rev-enue Service said in its first substan-tive ruling on the issue.
Yesterday’s IrS guidance will pro-vide certainty for bitcoin investors, along with income-tax liability that wasn’t specified before. Purchasing a $2 cup of coffee with bitcoins bought for $1 would trigger $1 in capital gains for the coffee drinker and $2 of gross income for the coffee shop.
The IrS, faced with a choice of treat-ing bitcoins like currency or property, chose property. That decision could reduce the volume of transactions conducted with the virtual currency, said Pamir Gelenbe, a venture partner at hummingbird Ventures, which in-vests in technology businesses.
“It’s challenging if you have to think about capital gains before you buy a cup of coffee,” he said.
charles allen, chief executive of-ficer of BitcoinShop Inc, an online marketplace, said he’d like to see the IrS reconsider its decision as virtual currencies develop.
“The implications this decision will have on the bitcoin ecosystem are far reaching, and will be burdensome for both individual users of bitcoins,
bitcoin-focused business and for the general adoption of virtual curren-cies,” he said, adding that bitcoin us-ers will adapt to the rules.
Bitcoin, the most popular digital currency, emerged from a 2008 paper written by a programmer or group of programmers under the name Sa-toshi Nakamoto.
The bitcoin network uses a public ledger to record transactions made under pseudonyms, a technological breakthrough that allows purchases and sales without using a trusted
third party, such as Visa Inc or West-ern Union co.
Powerful computers that record the transactions and guard against dou-ble-spending the same currency gen-erate new bitcoins, a process referred to as mining. mining has made some early bitcoin adopters wealthy in dol-lar terms.
Others bought into the currency in early 2013, before its price rose more than 50-fold to peak at $1,200 in early December. a bitcoin was worth $584.35 at 4:02pm New York time yes-
terday, according to the coinDesk Bit-coin Price Index. That’s less than 0.3 per cent below yesterday’s high.
The IrS ruling means bitcoin in-vestors will be treated like stock in-vestors. Bitcoins held for more than a year and then sold would face the lower tax rates applicable to capital gains, a maximum of 23.8 per cent compared with the 43.4 per cent top rate on property sold within a year of purchase.
“The Internal revenue Service’s guidance today provides clarity for taxpayers who want to ensure that they’re doing the right thing and play-ing by the rules when utilizing Bitcoin and other digital currencies,” Senator Thomas carper, a Delaware Demo-crat, said in a statement.
For investors with losses, US tax law allows taxpayers to subtract capital losses from any capital gains. They can also subtract as much as $3,000 of capital losses a year from ordinary in-come. If bitcoin were treated as a for-eign currency, ordinary (not capital gains) tax rates would apply. Losses would be easier to deduct, however.
as with stocks, bitcoin dealers will be subject to different rules that wouldn’t allow for capital gains treatment.
Bitcoin miners will have to report their earnings as taxable income with a value equal to the worth on the day it was mined. If they mine as part of a business, they would have to pay pay-roll taxes as well. BLOOMBERG
A man talks on a mobile phone in a shop displaying a bitcoin sign in Hong Kong. The digital currency will be treated as property for tax purposes in the US. AFP
Markets11the phnoM penh post march 27, 2014
Business
International commoditiesEnergy
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Markets
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Thai Set 50 Index, Mar 25
FTSE Straits Times Index, Mar 25 FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, Mar 25
Hang Seng Index, Mar 25 CSI 300 Index, Mar 25
Nikkei 225, Mar 25 Taiwan Taiex Index, Mar 25
Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Mar 25
14,477.16
2,171.0521,905.56
1,836.733,140.36
592.96920.56
8,737.27
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KOSPI Index, Mar 25 PSEI - Philippine Se Idx, Mar 25
Laos Composite Index, Mar 25 Jakarta Composite Index, Mar 25
BSE Sensex 30 Index, Mar 25 Karachi 100 Index, Mar 25
S&P/ASX 200 Index, Mar 25 NZX 50 Index, Mar 25
5,376.75
26,825.4922,156.93
4,728.821,306.84
6,348.501,964.31
5,124.89
Item Unit Base Average (%)
Gasoline R 5250 5450 3.81 %
Diesel R 5100 5200 1.96 %
Petroleum R 5500 5500 0.00 %
Gas Chi 86000 76000 -11.63 %
Charcoal Baht 1200 1300 8.33 %
Energy
Construction equipmentItem Unit Base Average (%)
Rice 1 R/Kg 2800 2780 -0.71 %Rice 2 R/Kg 2200 2280 3.64 %Paddy R/Kg 1800 1840 2.22 %Peanuts R/Kg 8000 8100 1.25 %Maize 2 R/Kg 2000 2080 4.00 %Cashew nut R/Kg 4000 4220 5.50 %Pepper R/Kg 40000 24000 -40.00 %Beef R/Kg 33000 33600 1.82 %Pork R/Kg 17000 18200 7.06 %Mud Fish R/Kg 12000 12400 3.33 %Chicken R/Kg 18000 20800 15.56 %Duck R/Kg 13000 13100 0.77 %
Item Unit Base Average (%)
Steel 12 R/Kg 3000 3100 3.33 %
Cement R/Sac 19000 19500 2.63 %
Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits
Cambodian commodities(Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)
CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)
Crude Oil (WTI) USD/bbl. 99.49 -0.11 -0.11% 3:09:33
Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 107.26 0.27 0.25% 3:09:37
NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu 4.37 -0.04 -0.93% 3:09:51
RBOB Gasoline USd/gal. 289.63 0.54 0.19% 2:10:18
NYMEX Heating Oil USd/gal. 292.9 1.74 0.60% 2:47:04
ICE Gasoil USD/MT 900.75 -0.25 -0.03% 3:09:32
CommodIty UnIts PrICE ChAngE % ChAngE tImE(Et)
CBOT Rough Rice USD/cwt 15.38 0.04 0.26% 0:28:13
CME Lumber USD/tbf 331.2 -2.2 -0.66% 23:30:30
hTc sells new One modelScott Moritzand Tim Culpan
hTc corp has released a new version of its main-stay One smartphone, a device it’s counting on
to help restore profitability.The hTc One m8 features a
5-inch (13-centimetre) high-defini-tion screen, Qualcomm Inc’s Snap-dragon 801 processor and a micro SD slot, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company said in a presentation on Tuesday in New York.
Its physical design mirrors that of last year’s hTc One model, which suffered production delays and a shortage of components. The shares rose to their highest level in four months after news of the phone’s release.
Nine consecutive quarters of sales declines pushed hTc to its first annual loss last year as its mar-keting budget shrank, and it faced stiffer competition from apple Inc, Samsung Electronics co and Lenovo Group Ltd devices.
hTc has worked to solve produc-tion problems it faced last year, and a wider line-up of mid-range phones will help it reach more con-sumers this year, chief Financial Officer chang chialin told inves-tors last month.
“The new hTc One is certainly an impressive device, the design is stunning,” said avi Greengart, an analyst with current analysis who was at the hTc press event.
“It should sell well to early adopt-ers who are looking for premium
design, but hTc will need effec-tive marketing to break through to mainstream consumers who are starting, and usually ending, their buying process with apple or Samsung.”
Shares of hTc rose 1.6 per cent to NT$155 on Tuesday, the high-est close since November 27. The benchmark Taiex index added 0.6 per cent.
Pre-orders for the One m8 started on Tuesday at US carriers Verizon communications Inc, Sprint corp and aT&T Inc, which is selling the phone at $199.99 on a two-year contract. The device will be avail-able at all major carriers in april.
The phone’s camera will auto-matically sync photos and video so they’re stored online. The de-vice includes free replacement of broken screens for the first six months.
hTc is betting features like those will succeed where the previous One model fell short. a sleek metal case, a new camera that captures more light and stereo speak-ers weren’t enough to end a sales slump when hTc introduced the second-generation One in Febru-ary 2013.
a limited supply of the camera’s components was among the bot-tlenecks that forced hTc to delay
a wider release of the device by about two months.
revenue dropped 30 per cent last year to NT$203 billion ($6.6 bil-lion).
a loss is expected by analysts this quarter.
The company faces a trough in sales before revenue increases sequentially through the year, it said last month.
Sales of the One product line rose in 2013 from the prior year, with a drop in other models contributing most to the decline in revenue and income, chang said.
To ensure the new One device helps reverse those declines, hTc is starting an advertising campaign on television and billboards to highlight the critical acclaim it has received.
The commercials, with actor Gary Oldman and the slogan “ask the Internet”, were scheduled to start running last night in prime time in the US, said John mcGoni-gle, an executive vice-president at advertising firm Deutsch, which represents hTc.
The company previously signed robert Downey Jr to star in its commercials. In addition, hTc is preparing to release its first wear-able device by christmas, Wang said in an interview last month.
Executives were to give a private preview of a watch based on Qual-comm’s Toq design platform at the mobile World congress trade show last month, a person with direct knowledge of the plans said at the time. BLOOMBERG
A htC Corp employee talks on the telephone inside one of the company’s stores in taiwan late last year. BLOOMBERG
AdvertisementVacancy Announcement
National AIDS Authority (NAA)The office of sub-recipient for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and MalariaThe National AIDS Authority (NAA) is designated as the Sub-recipient to receive grant from PR/NCHADS on behalf of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. The Program Title Continued achievement of Universal Access of HIV/STI prevention, treatment and care services in Cambodia. The NAA invite applications from qualified and experienced candidates to apply for the position of: Drivers (4 Persons)
I. Duties and ResponsibilitiesUnder the general supervision of the functional director of department, the incumbent performs the following duties: - Drivers the National AIDS Authority Officials and staff within Phnom Penh and to provinces. - Collects and delivers mail or documents when required - Responsible for day-to-day maintenance of the assigned vehicle, checks oil, water, battery, brakes, tires etc., performs minor repairs and arranges other repairs and ensures the vehicle is clean. - Logs official trips, daily mileage, gas consumption, oil changes, greasing etc. - Ensures that the steps required by rules and regulations are taken in case of involvement in accident. - Performs other duties required by Director of Administrator and Finance Department. - Duty station National AIDS Authority, Phnom Penh II. Qualifications - Cambodian - Knowledge and skills in secondary education - Valid driver’s license - Skills in minor vehicle repair - Well knowledge on streets in Phnom Penh and ProvinceApplicants without prior knowledge of TOR will not be accepted. Interested candidates should submit their CVs, including a cover letter, by Thursday, 10th April 2014 at 17:00 pm with attention to: Ms. Muth Seineada, Administrative Officer Email: [email protected] AIDS Authority ,Building #16, Street corner 271 & 150, Sangkat Toek La-ark 2, Khan Toul Kork.
Tel: 023 885 129, 012 824 047Only short listed candidates will be contacted for further interview.
Note: Please visit our websites www.sovannaphumi.edu.kh for the details of the above positions.
Salary and Benefit: We are offering a competitive salary depending largely on your experience and educational background.
How to apply: Interested candidates meeting the requirement must submit their cover letter, CV, and necessary documents with 4x6 recent photos, qualifications, and references to below e-mail no later than Friday, March 28, 2014 at 5:00pm. Only short listed candidates will be contacted for interview.
Contact Details Name : Mr. BivSovireak, HR Officer, NTC Group H/P : (855) 12 990 395 E-mail : [email protected] : No.100, Pasteur Street, SangkatPhsarThmey III, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh.
Daun Penh Campus : #100, St. Pasteur (St.51 St.200),
Sangkat Phsar Thmey III, Khan Daun Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
(t): 023 991 279 / 015 838 001 / 015 838 002
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Sovannaphumi School is ful ly committed to achieving a high standard of excel lence in education, in partnership with MoEYS in the development of human resources in Cambodia. We are urgently seeking qual ified Cambodian national for the fol lowing positions:
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12 the phnom penh post march 27, 2014
WorldWorst can be avoided with action now: IPcc chiefThe United Nation’s head of climate change issues stressed yesterday that the earth’s warming trend, almost cer-tainly caused by humans, can still be eased. rajendra Kumar Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change (IPcc), said soci-eties have to decide whether to take a path to deterioration or to make moves that will conserve the planet.
“Yes, of course it is difficult,” he said on the sidelines of an IPcc gathering, held this week in Japan for the first time. “But what is going to be even more difficult, substantially more dif-ficult, is to deal with alternatives.”
Some 550 scientists and officials from around the world are meeting behind closed doors this week to ham-mer out a 29-page summary of a mas-sive report, which is expected to detail impacts and ways to reduce risks asso-ciated with climate change.
The report will serve as the second volume in the long-awaited Fifth assessment report, which is likely to shape policies and climate talks for years to come.
Global warming has resulted in reduced yields of wheat, rice and corn, increasing food security risks as the world’s population expands, a draft of the summary says.
The draft also spells out the possibil-ity of increased floods, drought, con-flict and economic damage if carbon emissions continue unchecked.
he urged the public not to confuse weather patterns and climate change, as recent winter chills in North amer-ica have prompted many to joke about global warming and have fuelled scepticism.
extreme heat waves and precipita-tion are on the rise as climate change progresses, bringing heavy rain and snow falls in “upper latitude” regions during winter, Pachauri said. AFP
Shooting risks raising Ukraine heata
Far-rIGhT Ukrainian leader was shot dead early on Tuesday by special forc-es in an incident likely to
raise tensions between Kiev’s new interim government and restive ultra-nationalist groups.
Oleksander muzychko – known as Sashko Bily, or Sasha the White – was killed in a shoot-out in the west-ern city of rivne, Ukraine’s interior ministry said. Police tried to arrest him in a cafe when he opened fire on them, they added.
muzychko was a prominent mem-ber of Praviy Sektor, a far-right paramilitary outfit that took part in the maidan uprising against Viktor Yanukovych. The group has no role in government, although its leader Dmytro Yarosh has announced he intends to stand in may’s presiden-tial election. his volunteers occupy several buildings in the capital. rus-sia points to Praviy Sektor as evi-dence that Yanukovych’s overthrow last month was a “fascist coup”.
On Tuesday, Yarosh demanded that Ukraine interior minister arsen ava-kov resign over the killing. avakov, however, refused. Unrepentant, he said his ministry would take tough measures against any “armed ban-dits”, whatever their political orienta-tion, if they threatened public order.
The episode highlights the fragility of the new opposition-led coalition, which has so far failed to persuade militia groups to disarm. Though marginal, Praviy Sektor could become a growing headache for the authori-ties, especially if its activists refuse to leave the maidan, and the downtown hotel where they are camping out.
The killing came as Ukraine’s par-liament, the rada, accepted the resignation of the defence minister, Ihor Tenyukh, as thousands of Ukrai-nian troops began to evacuate from Kremlin-controlled crimea.
Tenyukh rejected criticism that he had failed to give clear orders to soldiers trapped in their bases for up to three weeks. But he agreed to step
down. Deputies appointed col Gen mykhailo Koval as his replacement.
according to Tenyukh, about 6,500 Ukrainian soldiers and their family members are leaving crimea – about a third of the 18,000-strong Ukrainian military force based there. The other two-thirds plus dependents had opt-ed to stay on the peninsula, which the russian Federation annexed last week. “4,300 servicemen and 2,200 family members who wish to contin-ue serving in Ukraine’s armed forces will be evacuated,” Tenyukh said.
Officials in Kiev, meanwhile, de-scribed the meeting on monday between russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart andriy Deshchytsia in The hague as “a positive move”. It was the first direct contact between both sides since russian troops seized crimea last month. They agreed some confidence-building measures. Following a blackout over the weekend, Deshchytsia promised
that Kiev would not cut off crimea’s electricity and water supply. Lavrov said russia was not preparing a fur-ther military incursion into south-ern and eastern Ukraine.
Speaking on Tuesday, however, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister Danylo Lubkivksy said there could be no “normalisation” of relations while russia continued to occupy Ukrainian territory. he said: “Peo-ple in the crimea are beaten and tortured. russian militants abduct people. They seize Ukrainian prop-erty.” he also said large numbers of russian troops were still poised on Ukraine’s eastern border.
russia, meanwhile, indicated that it would continue its uncompromis-ing stance towards the government in Kiev, which it views as illegiti-mate. Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Pu-tin’s press spokesman, said moscow was likely to raise the price Kiev has to pay for gas. Ukraine was no longer entitled to a discount since russia’s
Black Sea fleet, based in crimea, was not on Ukrainian territory, Peskov argued. Ukraine had failed to settle its debts to Gazprom, the russian state energy giant, he added.
according to Ukraine’s authorities, muzychko was the leader of a crimi-nal gang. The first deputy interior minister Volodymyr Yevdokimov said officers of the “Sokol” special unit had killed him as he tried to escape. “at the moment of arrest, at shouts of ‘Stop! Police,’ muzychko fled, jump-ing through a window, and opened fire,” Yevdokimov said. “he was still alive as they were arresting him – but then the paramedics who arrived at the scene found that he had died,” he said. Three other gang members were detained, he added.
muzychko’s associates, however, dispute the official version of what happened. One said that special forc-es shot him in the leg and then shot him again as he tried to flee through a window. another, the indepen-dent lawmaker Oleksander Doniy, claimed on his Facebook page that the ultra-nationalist leader had been executed. “he was then thrown out of the vehicle, with his hands cuffed behind his back, and with two gun-shot wounds to his heart.”
It is clear that the thug-like muzy-chko had become an embarrassing liability for the authorities in Kiev. Last month he stormed into the office of the local rivne prosecutor. he then slapped and humiliated a hapless of-ficial, shouting abuse and yanking the unfortunate man’s tie. rT, the Kremlin propaganda channel, broadcast the video. In another recent YouTube ad-dress muzychko acknowledged that the authorities might try to kill him, signing off: “Glory to Ukraine.”
russia issued an international warrant for muzychko’s arrest ear-lier this month. moscow claims that muzychko fought alongside separat-ist chechen rebels during the first chechen war in the mid-1990s, and was guilty of the murder and torture of several russian soldiers. AFP
Police and forensic experts examine the body of far-right nationalist leader Olek-sandr Muzytchko after he was shot dead the day before. AFP
World13the phnom penh post march 27, 2014
arab leaders fully back a Pal-estinian refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, a fi-nal arab summit statement said yesterday.
“We express our total rejec-tion of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state,” said the declaration, issued at the end of the two-day meet in Kuwait city.
The Palestinians recognised Israel at the start of the peace process in the early 1990s, but Israeli Prime minister Ne-tanyahu insists they now ac-knowledge it as the national homeland of the Jewish peo-ple, a move that would effec-tively end the “right of return” for Palestinians. The arab League rejected it this month.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is facing an uphill battle to keep peace talks on track beyond an april 29 deadline.
Palestinian president mah-mud abbas has made it clear that he will never recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu has placed the recognition dispute at the forefront of the talks, de-scribing arab rejection of the Jewish state as the “root of the conflict”. AFP
Israel is not Jewish only: arab meet
‘Satellite shows 122 potential objects’ D
ozeNS of floating objects detected at sea provided fresh evidence yester-
day that the difficult search for flight mh370 debris was on course, as US lawyers fired the first salvo in an expected barrage of lawsuits on behalf of grieving families.
malaysia said satellite imag-es taken in recent days showed “122 potential objects” in the remote southern Indian ocean, a discovery likely to energise an international ef-fort to recover suspected de-bris from the missing plane that has been frustrated by stormy weather.
Transport minister hisham-muddin hussein cautioned that it was impossible to de-termine whether the objects were related to the malaysia airlines boeing 777 which crashed on march 8 with 239 people aboard after it myste-riously disappearing.
“Nevertheless, this is an-other new lead that will help direct the search operation,” he told a daily press briefing, calling it “the most credible lead that we have”. The imag-es were provide by european aerospace giant airbus and depicted some objects as long as 23 metres (75 feet), he said.
however, australia’s search operation ended yesterday with no confirmation of the potential debris field. The French images were taken on Sunday before severe weather forced the suspension of the search operation on Tuesday.
Indeed, searchers racing to find flight mh370’s “black box” face daunting hurdles ranging from undersea volca-noes to mountainous seas as they operate in one of earth’s most remote locations, ex-perts said yesterday.
They warned there was no guarantee that an unprec-edented international search operation involving the mili-taries of six nations would succeed in retrieving wreck-age of the doomed malaysian airlines plane.
australian Prime minis-ter Tony abbott yesterday said the search zone – in the southern Indian ocean some 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth – was “as close to nowhere as it’s possible to be”.
University of New South Wales oceanographer erik van Sebille said the crash site was in an area known as “the roar-ing Forties”, notorious among mariners for its hostile seas.
“In general, this is the windi-est and waviest part of the ocean,” he said. “In winter, if a storm passes by you can ex-pect waves of 10 to 15 metres.”
The Soufan Group, a US-based strategic security intel-ligence consultancy, likened searching for debris in such conditions to “finding a drifting needle in a chaotic, colour-changing, perception-shifting, motion-sickness-in-ducing haystack”.
“even if the search does find verifiable wreckage from mh370 on the surface, ge-ologist robin beaman said underwater volcanoes would probably hamper efforts to recover the black box flight recorder from the depths.
beaman said that the Southeast Indian ocean ridge cut directly through the search area, meaning the sea bed was rugged and con-stantly being reshaped by magma flows.
he said the ridge was an “extremely active” range of volcanoes sitting at an aver-age depth of 3,000 metres
(1.86 miles), which marked the point where the antarc-tic and australasian tectonic plates collide.
“It’s very unfortunate if that debris has landed on the active crest area, it will make life more challeng-ing,” beaman, who special-ises in underwater geology at Queensland’s James cook University, said.
“It’s rugged, it’s covered in faults, fine-scale gullies and ridges, there isn’t a lot of sedi-ment blanketing that part of the world because it’s fresh [in geological terms].”
Finding the flight and cock-pit voice data will be crucial in determining what caused the boeing 777 to deviate inexplicably off course and fly thousands of miles in the wrong direction.
malaysia believes the plane was deliberately diverted by someone on board.
University of Sydney avia-tion expert Peter Gibbens said searchers faced a race against time, with acoustic signals from the black box set to fall silent in about two weeks when its battery expires.
“They’re going to be push-ing it with time, the chances are stacked against them,” he said. AFP
Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein shows pictures of possible debris in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. AFP
World14 the phnom penh post march 27, 2014
Three Venezuelan air force generals accused of plotting a coup against the leftist gov-ernment of President Nico-las maduro were arrested on Tuesday, amid a widening crackdown on the opposition.
The unidentified generals were in contact with opposi-tion politicians and “were try-ing to get the air Force to rise up against the legitimately elected government,” maduro told a meeting of South amer-ican foreign ministers.
“This group that was cap-tured has direct links with sectors of the opposition and they were saying that this week was the decisive week,” maduro said.
The stunning disclosure – the first known significant threat from within maduro’s government – comes amid a growing crackdown on the
president’s opponents after more than six weeks of street protests that have left at least 34 people dead.
In a further blow to the op-position, the mayor of the town of San cristobal where the protests started was sen-tenced to a year in prison. Daniel ceballos was convicted of failing to prevent violence and the blockading of streets.
he was the second mayor convicted and sentenced, and quickly. enzo Scarano, mayor of San Diego in the north, was arrested, tried and sentenced to 10 months in prison. It all happened in a matter of hours last week.
an opposition leader, Leo-poldo Lopez, has been de-tained since last month and is awaiting trial. he is accused of instigating violence against the government. AFP
Three generals held over maduro ‘coup’
Booze news
President’s men get sent home: report
Secret Service agents protecting President Barack Obama in
Amsterdam this week were sent home and put on leave after a night of drinking, the Washington Post reported.
“One of them was found drunk and passed out in a ho-tel hallway,” the Post reported, citing three unnamed people familiar with the case.
the latest eyebrow-raising incident recalls the April 2012 scandal involving Secret Service Agents and prostitutes in cartagena, colombia.
And in this case “the alleged behaviour would vio-late new Secret Service rules adopted” after the scandal in colombia that involved agents drinking and bringing prostitutes to their hotel before Obama arrived in the colombian caribbean resort city, the Post reported.
Secret Service spokesman ed Donovan confirmed the agency “did send three em-ployees home for disciplinary reasons” and that they were put on administrative leave pending an investigation. Do-novan declined to comment further, the Post added. AFP
Two hurt as Israel hits tobacco boats for Gaza Two Palestinians were wound-ed yesterday when Israeli navy vessels destroyed two Gaza-bound boats smuggling ciga-rettes and tobacco from Egypt, Palestinian and Israeli sources said. Palestinian witnesses and medical sources said the navy opened fire at the vessels as they were heading towards Rafah, moderately wounding two people, while the rest of the crew managed to escape. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the incident, saying a naval vessel had been dam-aged by Palestinian gunfire in the exchange. She said naval forces had identified two Pales-tinian vessels trying to reach southern Gaza from Egyptian territorial waters in a “suspect-ed smuggling attempt”. AFP
Abbott under fire over knights and damesMonARchIST Prime Minister Tony Abbott was accused yesterday of sending Australia into a “time warp” by reintroducing knights and dames to the country’s honours list. The conservative leader announced the move on Tuesday with ministers revealing he went straight to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Australia’s head of state, for approval without consulting his Liberal Party. opposition Labor lawmakers ridiculed the move, asking why he was not focusing on important issues such as health and unemployment instead. “I’m concerned the Abbott government thinks this is a priority,” Labor leader Bill Shorten said. he later asked: “Are we in a time warp?” his colleague Ed husic said it was proof Abbott was out of date. “As sure as knight follows dame, you know Tony Abbott’s going to take us back to the good old days,” he said. AFP
china to have nuclear sea deterrent soon: US admiral
assad’s home village under threat from rebels
chINa for the first time will likely have submarines equipped with long-range nuclear missiles later this year, part of an increasingly potent submarine fleet, a high-rank-ing US officer said yesterday,
The head of US Pacific com-mand, admiral Samuel Lock-lear, said the latest class of chinese subs would be armed with a new ballistic missile with an estimated range of 7,500 kilometres.
“This will give china its f irst credible sea-based nuclear deterrent, probably before the end of 2014,” Lock-lear told the Senate armed Services committee.
Locklear was referring to the production of china’s JIN-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile sub and the new JL-2 missile on board the vessel.
“china’s advance in subma-rine capabilities is significant. They possess a large and increasingly capable subma-rine force,” the admiral said.
In October, chinese state media for the first time showed images of the country’s nucle-ar-powered subs, touting it as a “credible second-strike nuclear capability.”
Locklear said china’s sub-marine modernisation effort was impressive.
“I think they’ll have in the next decade or so a fairly well modernised force of probably 60 to 70 submarines, which is a lot of submarines for a region-al power,” he said.
china now possess five nuclear attack submarines, four nuclear ballistic missile submarines, and 53 diesel attack submarines, according
to Jess Karotkin of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
china’s production of sub-marines has moved at a quick annual pace. Between 1995 and 2012, Beijing produced 2.9 submarines a year, accord-ing to the congressional research Service.
Locklear, repeating the Pentagon’s view of china’s military profile, said Beijing is investing in new weapons and naval power in part “to deny US access to the western Pacific during a time of crisis or conflict and to provide the means by which china can bolster its broad maritime claims in the region”.
he added that chinese mil-it a r y operat ion s were “expanding in size, complex-ity, duration and geographic location.” AFP
SYrIa’S civil war edged closer to the home village of Bashar al-assad on Tuesday, with opposition groups mounting their second sustained attack on the area in the conflict.
The push, which is entering its second week, has seen government troops and paramilitaries rush to reinforce a coast-al enclave near the president’s ancestral home, Qardaha, and the port city of Latakia in the country’s north-west, minutes from the Turkish border.
The area has proved impenetrable to opposition groups, which have remained 10 miles to the north and were repelled by a regime counterattack last august after briefly seizing 12 ala-wite villages during a summer offensive. That rebel attack led to the killing of around 200 civilians, an act labelled a war crime by international observers.
rebel groups, among them the jihad-ist Jabhat al-Nusra, say they are trying to reach the mediterranean coast, where they hope to open a supply line, a difficult thing to achieve with the Syr-ian military maintaining dominance over air and sea.
regime warplanes continued to bomb opposition positions on Tues-day, two days after Turkey downed a Syrian jet which it claimed had flown into its air space while on bombing runs near the border.
The downing of the Syrian jet marked the third aerial clash between the two former allies since an uprising against assad began in march 2011. Syria shot down a Turkish jet in 2012, and Turkey downed a Syrian helicopter last year. all three clashes have been in the same bitterly contested corner of the war
ravaged country. Opposition groups have mounted several offensives in northern Syria after ousting radical jihadist fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq in Sham (ISIS) over three months of brutal battles.
ISIS had maintained a stronghold in the northern Latakia region. Its influ-ence spread across the countryside and into aleppo, Syria’s largest city. how-ever, the recent battles have seen the group retreat to the town of al-Bab, just east of aleppo, from where it controls much of eastern Syria and anbar prov-ince in Iraq. The opposition is now in control of the Kassab border crossing to Turkey, and the armenian christian town of the same name.
attacks on the alawite areas to the east have so far been sporadic; how-ever, a cousin of the Syrian president,
hilal al-assad, was killed on Sunday in a nearby village, apparently by a rebel rocket attack.
assad led a local unit of the National Defence Front (NDF), a loyalist group drawn mainly from the alawite sect, which is deployed in large numbers in the area. The NDF, the Syrian military, and an Iraqi militia, abu al-Fadl al-abbas, are also defending the area.
The renewed fighting in the north has been matched by relative quiet else-where. Battered forces from both sides appear to have drawn breath in Damas-cus and the south. and regime forces continue mopping-up operations in the Qalamoun mountains near Lebanon, where hezbollah and regime troops last week succeeded in ousting opposition groups after more than four months of brutal fighting. ThE GUARDIAn
cop’s wife casts doubt on verdicts of 529T
he wife of the police-man whose murder led to death sentenc-es for 529 egyptians
on monday has suggested that only two of them may be re-sponsible for his killing.
The sentences caused glob-al outcry on monday after it emerged that the 529 had been convicted of the murder of officer mostafa al-attar last august in a case that lasted just two court sessions.
Speaking to an egyptian news presenter after the case ended, al-attar’s wife, magda abbas, inadvertently cast fur-ther doubt on the strength of the prosecution by saying that her joy at the sentences was tempered by the fact that the two men who killed him were still in hiding.
al-attar was wounded by a mob at a police station and later taken to hospital, where abbas said two doctors killed him. “Those who killed mo-stafa are not [in prison],” ab-bas said. “They are fugitives.”
Local lawyers protested against the death sentences by boycotting a second mass trial of 683 people on Tues-day, which was presided over by the same judge who ruled
in the first case. Judge Saeed Youssef elgazar went ahead regardless – a decision defence lawyers said was illegal.
“I have never seen anything like this in all my life as a law-yer,” said adel aly, one of the defence counsel who chose not to attend Tuesday’s trial of defendants including the head of the muslim Brotherhood, mohamed Badie. ahmed Sha-beeb, another lawyer involved
in the boycott, said: “[el-gazar’s] decision infringed all the procedures guaranteed by law and the constitution – as if he wanted to say that he’s the uppermost god.”
according to local me-dia, elgazar has a history of controversial judgements, most prominently in Janu-ary last year when he acquit-ted policemen accused of murdering protesters during
the 2011 revolution. Further draconian sentences were avoided as Tuesday’s trial was adjourned until april 28. But violence broke out in minya, the southern city where both trials took place, as students clashed with police.
The head of the local stu-dent union said some pro-testers had been hit by police shotgun pellets. clashes were also reported in the northern city of alexandria.
The death sentences sparked a global outcry, culminating in the UN’s human rights of-fice judging that the case had breached international law.
“a mass trial of 529 people conducted over just two days cannot possibly have met even the most basic require-ments for a fair trial,” said the UN’s human rights spokes-man, rupert colville.
But reaction in egypt was more mixed. The identities of the 529 are not all known, but many egyptians assume they are supporters of the muslim Brotherhood, the group be-hind ousted president mo-hamed morsi. many in egypt instinctively blame the Broth-erhood for all new outbursts of violence, and believe the 529
deserved their punishment.One lawyer from the area,
ali Delgawy, said: “They’re li-ars, so they deserve whatever happens to them.”
Both state and private me-dia have consistently backed the actions of the post-morsi regime, and monday’s trial was no exception. “Today, we got justice, the justice that we want. We are tired of your violence. We will build the country despite your war,” said rania Badawy, a presenter on the private Tahrir channel.
a presenter for the Sada al-Balad channel, ahmed mous-sa, said: “I salute the fairness and justice of our judiciary in defiance of those killers and all those who attack it. egypt’s judiciary is clean and fair.”
analysts argued that while the judgment may have been made independently, egypt’s judiciary was not a neutral in-stitution. “Parts of the judicial apparatus are fully on board with the new repressive order, at least for now,” said Nathan Brown, a professor at George Washington University.
But he added: “I think it is more a matter of a common mentality than direct coordi-nation.” ThE GUARDIAn
Relatives gather outside the courthouse on Tuesday in the central Egyptian city of Minya, during a session of the trial of some 700 Islamists charged with deadly rioting in an Egypt city. AFP
15the phnom penh post march 27, 2014
World
hundreds of dog skins have been found dumped in an area of northeastern Thai-land notorious for exporting canine parts as a delicacy or for use as a leather substitute, police said yesterday.
acting on a tip-off, police made the gruesome discovery in bags left next to a large pile of dog bones in a forest bor-dering Laos on Tuesday.
“The skins would be bleached – some are then sent [by smugglers] to other coun-tries to be made into gloves for playing golf,” Lamai sakolpi-tak, from a special police unit to suppress smuggling and the trade in animal parts, said.
“experts say dog skins are also used for instruments such as drums,” Lamai said, adding that it is illegal to kill canines to sell their parts in Thailand or abroad. Lamai said the find was likely linked to a recent raid on two nearby makeshift factories where skins were stripped from dogs.
“some people were afraid
that we would find the skins at their houses . . . so they dumped them,” he added.
Local campaign group, Watchdog Thailand, con-demned the killing of dogs for sale, explaining that exporters pay around $10 for every live dog, including pets and strays from the surrounding areas.
They then butcher the ani-mals, skin them and blow-torch the carcasses to preserve the meat for sale – mainly to buyers in Vietnam and china where it is a delicacy.
“The skins are used for golf gloves, hats, purses and wal-lets,” a member of Watchdog Thailand said. “cow-leather products are more expensive and are not always used to make small products.”
The group said the raid earli-er this year also yielded scores of dog carcasses and skins.
In may last year around 2,000 dogs kept in cages – and apparently destined for the dinner table – were rescued in the province. AFP
hundreds of dog skins found by Thai police
Eggs-traordinary effortVolker Kraft decorates his apple tree with Easter eggs on Tuesday in Saalfeld, eastern Germany. More than 10,000 eggs hang on the tree, attracting thousands of spectators during Easter. AFP
US landslide death toll rises to 24: fire chiefEmErgEncy workers have recovered two more bodies after a US landslide and located another eight corpses in the debris, officials said on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 24. “Unfortunately, we didn’t find any signs of life,” Snohomish county fire district chief Travis Hots told an evening briefing, three days after the massive mudslide in the northwestern US state of Washington. The number of reports of people unaccounted for remains at 176, although that could include double-counting and people who may turn up elsewhere, and so likely does not represent how many more fatalities may be found. A total of 49 dwellings in the rural town were hit by the one square mile wall of mud, rocks and trees, which also destroyed part of a highway. AFP
Cop-shooting teens left suicide notes: officialsTHE two teenagers suspected of killing a Florida police officer, then killing themselves, left suicide notes, police said on monday. Brandon goode, 18, and his British-born girlfriend Alex Hollinghurst, 17, were found dead on Saturday shortly after they were suspected of having shot and killed police officer robert german as he made a routine patrol of the wealthy Orlando suburb of Windermere. The Orange county sheriff’s office said that before the fatal incident, the pair had been considered “missing endangered” after the discovery of their suicide notes. The sheriff’s office said the contents of the notes “will not be revealed at this time, as the investigation is active and open”. german, 31, stopped goode and Hollinghurst at around 4am on Saturday and called for backup, but when the officers arrived they found him fatally injured. The officers heard more shots and found the two teenagers dead of an apparent suicide. AFP
humans: diminuative monsters of death?George Monbiot
You want to know who we are? really? You think you do, but you will regret it. This ar-ticle, if you have any love for
the world, will inject you with a ven-om – a soul-scraping sadness – with-out an obvious antidote.
The anthropocene, now a popular term among scientists, is the epoch in which we live: one dominated by human impacts on the living world. most date it from the beginning of the industrial revolution. But it might have begun much earlier, with a kill-ing spree that commenced two million years ago. What rose onto its hind legs on the african savannahs was, from the outset, death: the destroyer of worlds.
Before homo erectus, perhaps our first recognisably human ances-tor, emerged in africa, the continent abounded with monsters. There were several species of elephants. There were sabretooths and false sabret-ooths, giant hyenas and creatures like those released in The Hunger Games: amphicyonids, or bear dogs, vast predators with an enormous bite.
Professor Blaire van Valkenburgh has developed a means by which we could roughly determine how many of these animals there were. When there are few predators and plenty of prey, the predators eat only the best parts
of the carcass. When competition is intense, they eat everything, including the bones. The more bones a carnivore eats, the more likely its teeth are to be worn or broken. The breakages in car-nivores’ teeth were massively greater in the pre-human era.
not only were there more species of predators, including species much larger than any found on earth today, but they appear to have been much more abundant – and desperate. We evolved in a terrible, wonderful world – that was no match for us.
homo erectus possessed several traits that appear to have made it in-vincible: intelligence, cooperation, an ability to switch to almost any food when times were tough and a throwing arm that allowed it to do something no other species has ever managed – to fight from a distance (the increasing distance from which we fight is both a benchmark and a determinant of human history). It could have driven giant predators off their prey and har-ried monstrous herbivores to exhaus-tion and death.
as the paleontologists Lars Werde-lin and margaret Lewis show, the dis-appearance of much of the african megafauna appears to have coincided with the switch towards meat eating by human ancestors. The great extent and strange pattern of extinction (concen-trated among huge, specialist animals
at the top of the food chain) is not easy to explain by other means.
at the oxford megafauna conference last week, I listened as many of the world’s leading scientists in this field mapped out a new understanding of the human impact on the planet. al-most everywhere we went, humankind erased a world of wonders, changing the way the biosphere functions. For instance, modern humans arrived in europe and australia at about the same time – between 40 and 50,000 years ago – with similar consequences. In europe, where animals had learned to fear previous versions of the bipedal ape, the extinctions happened slowly. Within some 10 or 15,000 years, the continent had lost its straight-tusked elephants, forest rhinos, hippos, hy-enas and monstrous scimitar cats.
In australia, where no hominim had set foot before modern humans ar-rived, the collapse was almost instant. The rhinoceros-sized wombat, the ten-foot kangaroo, the marsupial lion, the monitor lizard larger than a nile crocodile, the giant marsupial tapir, the horned tortoise as big as a car – all went, in ecological terms, overnight.
These species were not just orna-ments of the natural world. In austra-lia, the sudden flush of vegetation that followed the loss of large herbivores caused stacks of leaf litter to build up, which became the rainforests’ pyre:
fires (natural or man-made) soon transformed these lush places into dry forest and scrub.
In the amazon and other regions, large herbivores moved nutrients from rich soils to poor ones, radically alter-ing plant growth. one controversial pa-per suggests that the eradication of the monsters of the americas caused such a sharp loss of atmospheric methane (generated in their guts) that it could have triggered the short ice age which began about 12,800 years ago, called the Younger dryas.
and still we have not stopped. Poach-ing has reduced the population of af-rican forest elephants by 60 per cent since 2000. The range of the asian el-ephant – which once lived from Turkey to the coast of china – has contracted by 97 per cent; the ranges of the asian rhinos by over 99 per cent. elephants distribute the seeds of hundreds of rainforest tree species; without them these trees are functionally extinct.
Is this all we are? a diminutive monster that can leave no door closed, no hiding place intact, that is now doing to the great beasts of the sea what we did so long ago to the great beasts of the land?
or can we stop? can we use our in-genuity, which for two million years has turned so inventively to destruc-tion, to defy our evolutionary his-tory? THE gUArDIAn
un warns of increased shebaab threat in east africa The united nations warned this week of an increased threat of attacks from somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al-shebaab as a major offensive launched against them this month gath-ers momentum.
“coinciding with the offen-sive and even ahead of it, al-shebab have become more active,” un envoy to somalia, nicholas Kay, said.
“They feel threatened and endangered, and so they have carried out significantly more terrorist attacks in mogadishu in the last couple of months.”
un-mandated african union
troops have been battling al-shebaab militants in somalia since 2007, but earlier this month launched a fresh offen-sive, fighting alongside somali government forces.
Kay said the operation is pushing the rebels out of key bases, which could prompt them to stage attacks in mogadishu, as well as other countries in the region such as uganda and Kenya.
security sources report some shebaab members are fleeing to mountains in northern somalia’s Puntland region, but some foreign fighters may seek
to cross to Yemen, or flee southwards into neighbouring ethiopia and Kenya. “They’re fleeing into the bigger cities, there are more of them enter-ing mogadishu,” Kay added.
“some of them are looking to flee perhaps the country and are heading to the remoter cor-ners,” he said, speaking after an au peace and security council meeting in the ethiopian capi-tal. shebaab gunmen have largely fled ahead of the au advance, only to later stage guerrilla attacks.
But the Islamists have also vowed to retaliate against the
troop-contributing nations, with soldiers in the 21,000-strong force coming from Burundi, djibouti, ethiopia, Kenya, sierra Leone and ugan-da. In Kenya, where the shebab claimed responsibility for the massacre of at least 67 people six months ago in nairobi’s Westgate mall, police last week arrested two men driving a vehicle packed with explosives in the port city of mombasa.
Gunmen also killed six in an attack on a church near mom-basa on sunday.
In uganda, where al-she-baab killed at least 76 people
in the capital Kampala in 2010, officials warned last week of shebaab plans to use fuel tankers as bombs.
Kay said the size of the mis-sion was sufficient for the time being, but was in dire need of helicopters. The un has authorised and funded heli-copters, but au member states have failed to provide them.
“What is needed, and has been needed for a long time, are helicopters,” Kay said. “It is up to african union member states to come forward with transport and attack helicop-ters.” AFP
Opinion16 the phnOm penh pOst march 27, 2014
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ThE old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is no less relevant today. and one picture which appeared
on the front pages of most daily news-papers in Thailand on Tuesday, or the video clip that went viral in the social media, tells a story so blatant, so un-Buddhist that no words are really needed at all.
Nevertheless, some background to the pictures and video does need to be told.
a monk came out of a nearby lane and walked toward the office of the National anti-corruption commission where a few hundred followers of the so-called People’s radio for Democracy group, a Nonthaburi-based faction of the red-shirt movement, was evicting a small group of anti-government pro-testers from the scene after having bro-ken through a police cordon.
The monk, later identified as Phra Prat Supavirut from a temple in Kala-sin, north-eastern Thailand, reported-ly criticised the red-shirt demonstra-tors’ conduct and, as a consequence,
he was beaten up – with the assault caught on video.
The attack occurred in broad day-light in the presence of the media, the police and many other people. Yet the assailants, men and women, appeared unperturbed and unashamed that they had ganged up to bash the unfor-tunate monk.
Beating up a monk in broad daylight, in public, simply because he had criti-cised their actions, or because they sus-pected he might not be a real monk, is totally unthinkable and unacceptable. It was a barbaric act, deserving to be condemned in the strongest terms.
I wonder what the red-shirt leaders have to say about this shameless, senseless assault by a handful of their red followers? I hope they and the other red huggers do not come to their defence, claiming that the assailants were fake red-shirts, or that the monk was not really a monk at all.
This unprovoked attack on a monk is totally unjustified. It was not a sponta-neous emotional outburst either, because this group of red-shirt follow-ers was not under any pressure or har-assment by their opponents to the point that they could justifiably vent their anger or exact revenge on just
anyone they suspected to be in the opposite camp.
It was purely barbaric, fuelled by extreme hatred of their perceived ene-my – be it a monk, a child, a woman or an elderly person.
many in Thailand remember the scene at a recent red-shirt rally when the audience broke into cheers and hand clapping when a leader took to the stage to announce the lethal attack on a rally of the People’s Democratic reform committee near a market in Trat province.
Five people, including an innocent child who happened to be at a food stall near the protest site, were killed in that attack. and yet they applauded.
Something must be wrong with the minds of these freaks – these people who can senselessly and without any remorse beat up a defenceless monk, or can go up on the stage to jubilant-ly announce the killing of innocent people.
The unbecoming behaviour of this minority of people is probably the result of the hate propaganda they have been fed day after day after day by their rabid red-shirt community radio stations.
That reminds me of the role of the
Yankroh radio station in the days ahead of the October 6 bloody crackdown on leftist students in 1976. The station broadcast hate rhetoric directed against the students around the clock, and allowed its audience to phone in to add fuel to the fire.
I was shocked then to see a dead body, someone accused of being Viet-namese, being dragged across Sanam Luang, a big, open area in Bangkok. Then, there was the boy who sat on the body, smiling, as if it were some sort of toy.
I wondered then how could we, human beings, Thais, have allowed ourselves to fall so low that we could do such a thing to other Thais, just because of political differences.
One thing I found out later is that it was the hate propaganda that poisoned their minds and souls. and the same hate propaganda from both sides of the political divide is again poisoning the minds of Thais these days.
This must stop if we are ever to restore order and sensibility, and lis-ten to our collective conscience. BANGKOK POST
commentVeera Prateepchaikul
There’s no excuses for beating a monk
Veera prateepchaikul is a former editor of the bangkok post.
A monk is assaulted by red-shirt supporters near the National Anti-Corruption Commission office in Bangkok on Monday after criticising the supporters of blocking traffic. BANGKOK POST
17THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
LifestyleLifestyleIn brief
Mick Jagger mourns at private funeral in LA
A GRIEVING Mick Jagger bid farewell on Tuesday to his fashion designer girlfriend L’Wren Scott in a private funeral with family and celebrity friends, a week after she killed herself. Nicole Kidman, her husband musician Keith Urban and rocker Bryan Adams were among guests for the cremation service at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, media reports said. AFp
Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow call it quits OSCAR-WINNING actress Gwyneth paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin announced their separation on Tuesday, signalling the end of the A-list couple’s 11-year marriage. In a statement entitled “Conscious Uncoupling” posted on paltrow’s website Goop.com, the stars said they had decided to “remain separate” after battling unsuccessfully to save their marriage over the past year. AFp
‘No make-up selfies’ trend raises millions A SOCIAL media craze involving women around the world posting selfies while wearing no make-up has raised millions of pounds for a British cancer charity – despite some money accidentally going to the United Nations children’s fund. The charity Cancer Research UK announced on Tuesday that the trend had sparked donations that raised £8 million ($13.1 million) in the space of six days. It later emerged that some people intending to donate to the charity had accidentally sent their cash to UNICEF instead. AFp
Gay marriage legal in England and WalesWHEN the clock strikes midnight on Friday, gay and lesbian couples across England and Wales will begin exchanging vows as an historic law legalising same-sex marriage finally comes into force. It was a day many thought would never come. “When I came out in 1983 when I was 20, the age of consent was 21. My first sexual relationship was with another 20-year-old, and we could have both been sent to prison,” said Matthew Toresen, a community worker from Northampton in central England. “To go from that to getting married, in one little lifetime – I never imagined that day would come.” AFp
hijab turns style accessory at fashion week in TokyoHarumi Ozawa
amONG the aspiring asian designers com-peting for the lime-light at Tokyo Fashion
Week, one of the most striking was an Indonesian label’s bid to blend a traditional muslim headscarf with haute couture.
The twice-yearly show, which wraps up on Saturday, saw NurZahra roll out its autumn/winter collection Layers of Fi-delity, turning the modest hi-jab into sophisticated fashion.
The label – whose name means “the luminous light” in arabic and takes from Fatimah Zahra, the daughter of Prophet mohammed – wanted to prove that the female hair-and-neck-covering wrap, common in the Islamic world, could still take on playful elements.
“The modest hijab is not actually a restriction” in fash-ion, designer Windri Widiesta Dhari told reporters after her stylish designs hit the catwalk.
“It’s how you cover yourself and look more elegant in a way that has a loose fit.”
The wearing of the Islamic veil, limited historically to conservative Gulf monar-chies, has gained ground since the 1979 Iranian revo-lution and the creation of an Islamic republic.
Use of the veil spread quickly as Islamist movements grew in the wake of the arab Spring.F
France has outraged many muslims with a law against full face-covering veils, while the use of the hijab in sport, including football, has some-times stirred cultural clashes.
But Dhari sees the tradition-al scarf as not just a modesty
covering, but also a stylish, comfortable accessory.
“We want to inspire people to think that wearing hijab is not something difficult, and could be worn by anyone,” she said.
her collection also bucks a contemporary design trend that is in favour of simplicity and minimalism.
Blending cotton or silk into her hijab, she includes natural dye prints that rely on a tradi-tional Japanese tie-dye tech-nique called shibori and the
Indonesian batik method.With patterns ranging from
mini mandalas to Turkish geo-metrics, Dhari plays with mul-tiple layers of fabric to freely shape her silhouettes.
another eye-catching ele-ment of the collection was a hat that spreads wide in the back, a throwback to the ’60s with elements resembling a long-ago royal head piece.
“The concept of the hat was actually inspired by the style in one from 1963,” Dhari said. “I was looking for vintage hats
that could be used to cover your hair and also your neck.
“I used that inspiration and then mixed it with a traditional ethnic concept, so it becomes something very unique.”
Tokyo has long been the centre of cool, renowned the world over for its far-out fashions that see young wom-en donning gothic-inspired “Lolita” outfits and chiseled young men with highly coiffed haircuts.
But at the latest Tokyo Fash-ion Week, it was newcomer
brands from asian fashion houses outside Japan, such as NurZahra, which breathed fresh air into the show in the Japanese capital.
another Indonesian brand, major minor, hit the runway for the first time, showcasing styles incorporating mono-chrome tones and simple sil-houettes.
The opener of the event was Thai brand Sretsis – “sisters” in reverse – led by designer Pim Sukhahuta, who works along-side two female siblings. AFp
Indonesian fashion designer Windri Widiesta Dhari greets visitors at the end of her brand’s autumn/winter collection show. AFp
Indonesia next in line to ban crowe’s NoahINDONESIa has banned hollywood bib-lical epic Noah starring russell crowe, censors said on Tuesday, the latest mus-lim country to stop the film being screened due to concerns it contradicts Islamic values.
censors in the world’s most populous muslim-majority country said they decid-ed to ban the film, which had been set for release on Friday, as the depiction of prophets is forbidden under Islamic law.
as well as being a biblical figure, Noah is also a prophet for muslims.
“We rejected the screening of the film in Indonesia,” Zainut Tauhid Saadi, a member of the Indonesian censorship Board, said.
“The visual depiction of a prophet is forbidden in Islam,” he said, adding: “The film will hurt both christian and muslim communities.”
It came after the Paramount film based on the story of Noah’s ark, which stars crowe as Noah and is directed by Darren aronofsky, was banned by Qatar, Bahrain and the United arab Emirates earlier this
month. Egypt’s top Islamic body, the al-azhar institute, has called for Noah not to be screened in the country.
The film has also angered some chris-tian institutions in the United States due to crowe’s reportedly unconventional portrayal of Noah.
The controversy over the film, which also stars Jennifer connolly and Emma Watson, prompted Paramount to say it would add an explanatory message to future market-ing materials for the movie.
It issued a joint statement with the US-based National religious Broadcasters body, announcing the move “to help audiences better understand that the feature film is a dramatisation of the major scriptural themes and not a line-by-line retelling of the Bible story”.
Indonesia has banned films in the past, including Balibo, which tells the story of australian-based journalists allegedly killed by Indonesian troops in East Timor as Jakarta prepared to invade.
Jakarta claims the reporters were killed in crossfire. AFp
A scene from the banned film Balibo screened in a Jakarta cinema house in 2009. Noah has now also been banned by Indonesia. AFp
Rachel O’Brien
AHANDFUL of fed-up residents in one of the world’s noisi-est cities have taken
on a daunting challenge: per-suading Indian drivers to stop honking their car horns.
Non-stop beeping has be-come the dominant soundtrack to Mumbai as clattering rick-shaws, public buses, clapped-out taxis, weaving motorbikes and private cars fight for space on the traffic-clogged roads.
Now two separate teams in the city have come up with de-vices aimed at instilling some peace: one by forcing overzeal-ous horn-users to open their wallets, and another by simply attacking drivers’ consciences.
“People blow their horns just for no sake,” said Jayraj Salga-onkar, who with a group of engi-neers has developed the “Oren horn usage metre” (the name Oren derives from local pro-nunciation of the word horn).
The metre does not prevent the horn from working but al-lows for a limited amount of honking, after which it causes the vehicle’s tail-lights to flash and alert the traffic police, who could then issue a fine.
The driver gets green, amber and red-light warnings over his honk allowance and can top up his metre “like a pre-paid phone card”, said Salgaonkar.
He is in talks with local au-thorities to get the device man-dated city-wide.
“I have invested money and time and emotion,” he said, re-lating his years of exasperation with the city’s cacophony.
“People take pride in honk-ing their horn. There’s an ego trip over having a car. Until you make people pay for their us-age of the horn, it’s not going to work,” said the publisher turned activist, who is hoping that the potential revenues brought by the system will help persuade authorities to adopt it.
The second invention, also vying for official sanction, less publicly castigates the honkers.
“Project Bleep” involves a red button on the dashboard that beeps and flashes with a frown-ing face, “to make the driver conscious that he just honked and make him deliberate why he did it”, said Mayur Tekchan-daney, one of its creators.
“Mostly it’s habitual. The driv-er doesn’t realise he’s doing it.”
After testing the device on 30 drivers over six months, Tekchandaney and his team at
Mumbai design firm Briefcase found an average 61 per cent reduction in honking.
“The benefit is to other peo-ple on the road, society in gen-eral. It creates a nuisance for the driver,” said Tekchandaney.
Their goal may sound ambi-tious in a country where honk-ing is so pervasive that foreign carmakers, such as Audi and Volkswagen, fit their Indian vehicles with longer-life horns.
Nationwide, the messages “Horn OK Please” or “Blow Horn” are colourfully painted
on the back of most trucks and lorries, encouraging drivers to make their presence audibly known as they overtake.
And the noise is only set to increase as more vehicles pile into densely-packed Mumbai, where the middle-class is grow-ing and whose shoddy infra-structure and crowded trains do little to encourage the use of public transport.
There are now about 900,000 cars, 10,000 buses and two mil-lion two-wheelers plying the roads of the financial capital
with a population of some 12 million, according to local trans-port expert Ashok Datar.
Their horns are not just an annoyance, say anti-noise cru-saders, who warn that honking is taking a worrying toll on the health of Indian city-dwellers – especially when combined with construction projects, road-works and various religious festivals.
“In hospitals I know people who have suffered very severe-ly, even in intensive care units, because of the noise (out-
side),” said Sumaira Abdulali, founder of the Awaaz Founda-tion which campaigns against noise pollution.
She said sound levels in busy parts of Mumbai continuously exceed 85 decibels, breaking the limits recommended by health experts and contributing to high blood pressure, hearing loss and heart disease.
“A lot of people in Mumbai are suffering these things and the medical costs are quite high. Cutting down noise would cost much less,” she said. afp
Motoring18 THE PHNOM PENH POST MArCH 27, 2014
BMW i3: a different electric car that’s full of clever tricks
A BMW i3 vehicle at a motor show in Japan. bloomberg
India: a horn-blowers’ heaven
Mumbai’s traffic-clogged roads mean the city is a cacophony of car horns honking. afp
Sam Wollaston
FOr the first time in, well, maybe ever, I have a new car that is not only inter-esting and innovative, but also likable. There are loads of electric cars now, most of which are much like any oth-er car, only they’re powered in a dif-ferent way.
Greener, quieter, you can feel better about yourself, but on the downside they’re very expensive and don’t go very far. This one has those issues (though there is a version with a small additional petrol engine to extend the range, but it costs more). But in other ways it’s brilliant.
For one, it’s different, not just a car with an electric motor. BMW has rethought the whole thing. Look at it! It’s made of carbon fibre, it’s light and strong – strong enough to do away with the B pillar between the front and the back.
Open the front door, then the back door, which swings the other way, like the previous generation of London taxis, and now it’s properly open, wel-coming. Step in!
Inside, it’s light and airy, unclut-tered, futuristic. Materials are inter-
esting. I think Kevin McCloud would approve. My son certainly does. His window is low enough to see out of. Not that he wants to; there’s way more interesting stuff going on inside.
To drive, once I’ve figured out how to, it’s a blast. Quick (up there with a hot hatch away from the lights), well-balanced and responsive. range is between 80 and 120 miles, depend-ing on how you drive it and what set-ting you have it on: EcoPro+ for more miles but fewer comforts (such as heating); the version with the petrol engine approximately doubles that range.
The i3 has loads of clever tricks up its sleeve. It avoids collisions, with cars and pedestrians. It will stay in its lane on the motorway. And the self-parking is the best I’ve seen. You press a button and it parks – finds the space, turns the wheel, goes backwards and forwards, until it’s in. Free of stress, free of sexism.
I’m practically redundant (that’s fine, I didn’t like driving that much). There really is a sense that this car is heading towards the future. And it’s good to know the future isn’t joyless. THe gUarDIaN
Travel19THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Lights shoot out in the sky in memory of the World Trade Center in New York. A new 9/11 museum is set to open in May. afp
museum for 9/11 victims set to openWill Coldwell
Tickets go on sale today for the long-awaited museum dedicated to the victims of the
September 11 terrorist attacks, which will open its doors to the public on 21 may.
The days preceding the open-ing will be marked by a six-day dedication period, during which the National Septem-ber 11 memorial museum at the World Trade center site in New York will remain open for 24 hours a day and only those directly affected by the attacks – families of victims, survivors
and rescue and recovery work-ers – will be allowed to visit.
The museum includes two main exhibitions: “In memo-riam”, which pays tribute to the 2,983 people killed on 9/11 and in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade center; and a historical exhibition telling the story of what happened during and after the attacks.
The history will be told through artefacts, photographs, audio and video footage, first-person testimonials and personal possessions and memorabilia. The ambi-tious project occupies 111,000 square feet deep inside the “archaeological heart” of the World Trade center site.
Davis Brody Bond are the ar-chitects of the underground museum, while the entry pa-vilion has been designed by Oslo and New York based firm Snohetta. To enter the museum, visitors will descend a ramp to
the subterranean site. New York city plans to create a new rest-ing place in the museum for the unidentified remains of victims from the attacks, which will be moved there later this year.
The “remains repository”, which won’t be accessible to the general public, will be located behind a wall engraved with a quote by Virgil reading: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
New York’s mayor, Bill de Bla-sio, said in a statement: “The 9/11 memorial museum is for all of us. It is for those of us who witnessed the events, either with our own eyes or on TV, and
are still struggling to make sense of it. It is for future generations who will first encounter 9/11 as history, but who must come to understand it as something real and terrible, something that must never happen again.”
he added: “But most of all, it is for the survivors, the families, the rescue and recovery work-ers, the first responders. We thank them for sharing the sto-ries with the world, so that we may learn from them.”
This week’s announcement of an opening date comes af-ter repeated delays caused by funding disputes, construction problems and damage caused by hurricane Sandy.
The World Trade centre me-morial plaza, which opened on 11 September 2011 and fea-tures two fountains at the origi-nal base of the Twin Towers, will continue to be free to enter. Last year, over five million people visited the plaza. the guardian
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULEFROM PHNOM PENH TO PHNOM PENHFlighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival
PHNOM PENH - BANGKOK BANGKOK - PHNOM PENH
K6 720 Daily 12:05 01:10 K6 721 Daily 02:25 03:30
PG 938 Daily 06:40 08:15 PG 931 Daily 07:55 09:05
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TG 581 Daily 10:05 11:10 PG 933 Daily 13:30 14:40
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PHNOM PENH - DOHA ( Via HCMC) DOHA - PHNOM PENH ( Via HCMC)
QR 965 ..34..7 16:10 22:45 QR 964 ..34..7 01:05 14:30
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PHNOM PENH - HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY - PHNOM PENH
QR 965 ..34..7 16:10 17:10 QR 604 ..34..7 13:30 14:30
QR 967 12...6. 22:40 23:40 QR 966 12...6. 19:50 20:50
VN 841 Daily 14:00 14:45 VN 920 Daily 15:50 16:30
VN 3856 Daily 19:20 20:05 VN 3857 Daily 18:00 18:45
PHNOM PENH - HONG KONG HONG KONG - PHNOM PENH
KA 207 1.2.4.7 11:25 15:05 KA 208 1.2.4.6.7 08:50 10:25
KA 207 6 11:45 22:25 KA 206 3.5.7 14:30 16:05
KA 209 1 18:30 22:05 KA 206 1 15:25 17:00
KA 209 3.5.7 17:25 21:00 KA 206 2 15:50 17:25
KA 205 2 19:00 22:35
PHNOM PENH - INCHEON INCHEON - PHNOM PENH
KE 690 Daily 23:40 06:40 KE 689 Daily 18:30 22:20
OZ 740 Daily 23:50 06:50 OZ 739 Daily 19:10 22:50
PHNOM PENH - KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR - PHNOM PENH
AK 1473 Daily 08:35 11:20 AK 1474 Daily 15:15 16:00
MH 755 Daily 11:10 14:00 MH 754 Daily 09:30 10:20
MH 763 Daily 17:10 20:00 MH 762 Daily 3:20 4:10
PHNOM PENH- PARIS PHNOM PENH - PARIS
AF 273 2 20:05 06:05 AF 273 2 20:05 06:05
PHNOM PENH - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI - PHNOM PENH
FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:50 23:05 FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:30 22:40
PHNOM PENH - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE - PHNOM PENH - SIEM REAP *
MI 601 1.3.5.6.7 09:30 12:30 MI 602 1.3.5.6.7 07:40 08:40
MI 622 2.4 12:20 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 11:25
3K 594 1.3.5.6 15:10 18:10 3K 593 1.3.5.6 13:20 14:25
3K 592 .2.4..7 21:05 0:05 3K 591 .2.4..7 19:15 20:20
3K 598 .2.4..7 16:00 19:25 *3K 597 .2.4..7 13:50 15:15
MI 607 Daily 18:10 21:10 MI 608 Daily 16:20 17:15
2817 1.3 16:40 19:40 2816 1.3 15:00 15:50
2817 2.4.5 09:10 12:00 2816 2.4.5 07:20 08:10
2817 6 14:50 17:50 2816 6 13:00 14:00
2817 7 13:20 16:10 2816 7 11:30 12:30
PHNOM PENH -TAIPEI TAIPEI - PHNOM PENH
BR 266 Daily 12:45 17:05 BR 265 Daily 09:10 11:35
PHNOM PENH - VIENTIANE VIENTIANE - PHNOM PENH
VN 840 Daily 17:30 18:50 VN 841 Daily 11:30 13:00
QV 920 Daily 17:50 19:10 QV 921 Daily 11:45 13:15
PHNOM PENH - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP
8M 402 1.3.6 13:30 14:55 8M 401 1.3.6 08:20 10:45
SIEM REAP - PHNOM PENH
8M 401 1.3.6 11:45 12:30
SIEM REAP - BANGKOK BANGKOK - SIEM REAP
Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival
K6 700 Daily 12:50 2:00 K6 701 Daily 02:55 04:05
PG 924 Daily 09:45 11:10 PG 903 Daily 08:00 09:00
PG 906 Daily 13:15 14:40 PG 905 Daily 11:35 12:45
PG 914 Daily 15:20 16:45 PG 913 Daily 13:35 14:35
PG 908 Daily 18:50 20:15 PG 907 Daily 17:00 18:10
PG 910 Daily 20:30 21:55 PG 909 Daily 18:45 19:55
SIEM REAP - GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU - SIEM REAP
CZ 3054 2.4.6 11:25 15:35 CZ 3053 2.4.6 08:45 10:30
CZ 3054 1.3.5.7 19:25 23:20 CZ 3053 1.3.5.7 16:35 18:30
SIEM REAP -HANOI HANOI - SIEM REAP
K6 850 Daily 06:50 08:30 K6 851 Daily 19:30 21:15
VN 868 1.2.3.5.6 12:40 15:35 VN 843 Daily 15:25 17:10
VN 842 Daily 18:05 19:45 VN 845 Daily 17:05 18:50
VN 844 Daily 19:45 21:25 VN 845 Daily 17:45 19:30
VN 800 Daily 21:00 22:40 VN 801 Daily 18:20 20:00
SIEM REAP - HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY - SIEM REAP
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VN 3820 Daily 17:45 18:45 VN 3821 Daily 15:55 16:55
VN 828 Daily 18:20 19:20 VN 829 Daily 16:20 17:40
VN 3822 Daily 21:35 22:35 VN 3823 Daily 19:45 20:45
SIEM REAP - INCHEON INCHEON - SIEM REAP
KE 688 Daily 23:15 06:10 KE 687 Daily 18:30 22:15
OZ 738 Daily 23:40 07:10 OZ 737 Daily 19:20 22:40
SIEM REAP - KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR - SIEM REAP
AK 281 Daily 08:35 11:35 AK 280 Daily 06:50 07:50
FLY DIRECT TO MYANMAR MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
YANGON - PHNOM PENH PHNOM PENH - YANGONFLY DIRECT TO SIEM REAP MONDAY, WEDNESDAY & SATURDAYSIEM REAP - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP
#90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.Tel 023 881 178 | Fax 023 886 677 | www.maiair.com
REGULAR SHIPPING LINES SCHEDULES CALLING PORT ROTATION
LINE CALLING SCHEDULES FREEQUENCY ROTATION PORTS
RCL (12calls/moth)
1 Wed, 08:00 - Thu 16:00 1 Call/week SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN
2 Thu, 14:00 - Fri 22:00 1 Call/week HKG-SHV-SGZ-HKG(HPH-TXGKEL)
3 Fri, 20:00 - Sat 23:59 1 Call/week SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN
MEARSK (MCC)(4 calls/moth)
1 Th, 08:00 - 20:00 1 Call/week SGN-SHV-LZP-SGN- HKG-OSA-TYO-KOB- BUS-SGH-YAT-SGN- SIN-SHV-TPP-SIN2 Fri, 22:00- Sun 00:01 1 Call/week
SITC (BEN LINE (4 calls/onth) Sun 09:00-23:00 1 Call/week
HCM-SHV-LZP-HCM-NBO-SGH-OSA-KOB-BUS-SGH-HGK-CHM
ITL (ACL)(4 calls/month) Sat 06:00 - Sun 08:00 1 Call/week SGZ-SHV-SIN-SGZ
APL(4 calls/month) Fri, 08:00 - Sun, 06:00 1 call/week SIN-SHV-SINCOTS(2 calls/month) Irregula 2 calls/month BBK-SHV-BKK-(LZP)
34 call/monthBUS= Busan, KoreaHKG= HongKongkao=Kaoshiung, Taiwan ROCKob= Kebe, JapanKUN= Kuantan, MalaysiaLZP= Leam Chabang, ThailandNBO= Ningbo, ChinaOSA= Osaka, JapanSGN= Saigon, Vietnam
SGZ= Songkhla, ThailandSHV= Sihanoukville Port CambodiaSIN= SingaporeTPP= TanjungPelapas, Malaysia TYO= Tokyo, JapanTXG= Taichung, TaiwanYAT= Yantian, ChinaYOK= Yokohama, Japan
AIRLINES
Air Asia (AK)Room T6, PP International Airport. Tel: 023 6666 555 Fax: 023 890 071www.airasia.com
Cambodia Angkor Air (K6)PP Office, #90+92+94Eo, St.217, Sk.Orussey4, Kh. 7Makara, 023 881 178 /77-718-333. Fax:+855 23-886-677 www.cambodiaangkorair.comE: [email protected]
Qatar AirwaysNo. 296 Blvd. Mao Tse Toung (St. 245), Ground floor, Intercontinental Hotel PP Tel: +23 42 40 12/13/14www.qatarairways.com
Myanmar Airways International#90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.T:023 881 178 | F:023 886 677www.maiair.com
Dragon Air (KA)#168, Monireth, PPTel: 023 424 300Fax: 023 424 304 www.dragonair.com/kh
Tiger airwaysG. floor, Regency square, Suare, Suite #68/79, St.205, Sk Chamkarmorn, PPTel: (855) 95 969 888(855) 23 5515 888/5525888E: [email protected]
Koreanair (KE) Room.F3-R03, Intelligent Office Center, Monivong Blvd,PPTel: (855) 23 224 047-9www.koreanair.com
Cebu Pacific (5J)Phnom Penh: No. 333BMonivong Blvd. Tel: 023 219161Siem Reap: No. 50,Sivatha Blvd.Tel: 063 965487 E-mail: [email protected]
SilkAir (MI)Regency C,Unit 2-4, Tumnorb Teuk, Chamkarmorn Phnom PenhTel:023 988 629www.silkair.com
AIRLINES CODE COLOUR CODE2817 - 16 Tigerairways KA - Dragon Air 1 Monday
5J - CEBU Airways. MH - Malaysia Airlines 2 Tuesday
AK - Air Asia MI - SilkAir 3 Wednesday
BR - EVA Airways OZ - Asiana Airlines 4 Thursday
CI - China Airlines PG - Bangkok Airways 5 Friday
CZ - China Southern QR - Qatar Airways 6 Saturday
FD - Thai Air Asia QV - Lao Airlines 7 Sunday
FM - Shanghai Air SQ - Singapore Airlines
K6- Cambodia Angkor Air TG - Thai Airways | VN - Vietnam Airlines
This flight schedule information is updated about once a month. Further information, please contact direct to airline or a travel agent for flight schedule information.
MH 765 3.5.7 14:15 17:25 MH 764 3.5.7 12:10 13:15
SIEM REAP - MANILA MANILA - SIEM REAP
5J 258 2.4.7 22:30 02:11 5J 257 2.4.7 19:45 21:30
SIEM REAP - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE - SIEM REAP
MI 633 1, 6, 7 16:35 22:15 MI 633 1, 6, 7 14:35 15:45
MI 622 2.4 10:40 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 09:50
MI 630 5 12:25 15:40 MI 616 7 10:40 11:50
MI 615 7 12:45 16:05 MI 636 3, 2 13:55 17:40
MI 636 3, 2 18:30 21:35 MI 630 5 07:55 11:35
MI 617 5 18:35 21:55 MI 618 5 16:35 17:45
SIEM REAP - VIENTIANE VIENTIANE - SIEM REAP
QV 522 2.4.5.7 10:05 13:00 QV 512 2.4.5.7 06:30 09:25
SIEM REAP - YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP
8M 402 1. 5 20:15 21:25 8M 401 1. 5 17:05 19:15
PREAH SIHANOUK - SIEM REAP SIEM REAP - PREAH SIHANOUK
Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival
K6 130 1-3-5 12:55 13:55 K6 131 1-3-5 11:20 12:20
It is for future generations who will first encounter 9/11 as
history, but who must come to understand it as something real
and terrible, something that must never happen again.”
Entertainment20 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Thinking caps
ACROSS 1 Health resorts 5 Praise a performance 9 Blind components 14 “Reader’s Digest” co-founder
Wallace 15 Surprise-party command 16 Tiny amounts 17 Military team 18 Avis’ wings 19 ___ Park, Colo. 20 Famed footwear of film 23 DNA shape 24 Nicholas II was the last 25 Afro and bob, briefly 28 Q-tip, say 30 Sarcastic literature 32 St. Louis athlete 35 Black Sox fielder Jackson 38 Nice notion 40 Keats work 41 Small lake 42 Traffic ticket enforcers 47 Replies of refusal 48 Lead source 49 Made a statement 51 “Mr. Blue Sky” grp. 52 Chew on rawhide 55 Camel relatives 59 Formal slip-on 61 Nail-___ (tense situation) 64 Merit 65 Court statement 66 Like visiting teams, often 67 Settled 68 Fasting season 69 ___ and whey 70 Cozy rooms 71 To be, to Nero
DOWN 1 Disparaging comments 2 Cheesecake photo 3 Accused’s story 4 Merry creatures of myth 5 Sabbath bread 6 Caron film of ’53 7 Modify for use 8 Chicks’ chatter 9 Sharply pointed mountain ranges 10 At a ___ (puzzled) 11 Communications giant (with “&”) 12 ___ kwon do 13 Sound of a lit fuse 21 Familiar sayings 22 “... with the greatest of ___ “ 25 French mustard 26 University of Maine locale 27 Ripened ovules 29 ___ tube (“television” informally) 31 Cookbook amt. 32 Long chain of hills 33 “Let’s Make ___” 34 Edison’s park 36 Old Tokyo 37 Many folks with August birthdays 39 First lady 43 Surrounds 44 Summoned the butler 45 Innate abilities 46 Window part 50 Mottle 53 One way to set a clock 54 Moby Dick, for one 56 Pack animals 57 Revival cries 58 Sudden outpouring 59 Mind 60 “___ go bragh!” 61 British TV network 62 Signed promise to pay 63 Rocky outcropping
“IN STEP”
wednesday’s solutionwednesday’s solution
legend cinema
300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (3D)Greek general Themistokles leads the charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.Citymall: 11:05am, 5pm, 10pmToul Kork: 11:30am, 7:55pm
DIVERGENTIn a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.Citymall: 1:40pm, 6:35pm, 9:15pmToul Kork: 9:15am, 4:15pm, 9pm
NEED FOR SPEEDFresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head.Citymall: 11:50am, 4:55pm, 7:05pm, 9:35pmToul Kork: 9:15am, 1:45pm, 6:55pm
MUPPETS MOST WANTEDWhile on a grand world tour, The Muppets find themselves wrapped into a European jewel-heist caper headed by a Kermit the Frog look-alike and his dastardly sidekick.Citymall: 11:25am, 4:20pmToul Kork: 9:15am, 3:45pm
PlaTinUm cinePleX
DIVERGENT(See above.)9:20am, 1:20pm, 3:45pm, 6:10pm
NEED FOR SPEED(See above.)1:10pm, 3:35pm, 8pm
MUPPETS MOST WANTED(See above.)11:15am, 6pm
NOW SHOWING
Art @ Sofitel HotelWithin the framework of the Galerie des Arts exhibition, Theo Vallier exhibits some recent paintings on metal.
Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, 25 old Auguste site, Sothearos Boulevard. Ongoing
Art @ Romeet Gallery
Artist Bo Rithy draws parallels with Cambodia’s historical struggles and current political turmoil with his new installation at Romeet Gallery.
The artist, who comes from Battambang, said that his new installation, entitled Longvaek’s Bamboo, is based on the fall of Longvaek, the old Khmer capital during the fighting with the Thais. It also refers to the leaders of today grasping onto power.
Romeet Gallery, #34 Street 178. Ongoing
Film @ Meta HouseLiving in Emergency is a window into humanitarian aid work in war zones of Liberia and the Congo. Four volunteer doctors struggle to provide emergency healthcare, under extreme conditions. It’s a challenge.
Meta House, #37 Sothearos Boulevard. 4pm
TV PICKS 1:20pm - THE GUILT TRIP: As inventor Andy Brewster is about to embark on the road trip of a lifetime, a quick stop at his mom’s house turns into an unexpected cross-country voyage with her along for the ride. HBO
1:25pm - SCARY MOVIE 4: Cindy finds out the house she lives in is haunted by a little boy and goes on a quest to find out who killed him and why. Also, Alien “Tr-iPods” are invading the world. FOX MOVIES
6:20pm - HOURS: A father struggles to keep his daughter alive in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. FOX MOVIES
9:35pm - CON AIR: A newly released ex-con and former US Ranger finds himself trapped in a prisoner transport plane when the passengers seize control. FOX MOVIES
10:25pm - ROCK OF AGES: A small town girl and a city boy meet on the Sunset Strip, while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. HBO
Artist Bo Rithy with his installation at Romeet Gallery. CHARLOTTE PERT
Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen star in The Guilt Trip. BLOOMBERG
DJ @ Pontoon Pulse Visiting Berlin DJ Marvin Hey started out with hip hop but soon moved to electronic music, with which he has several years’ experience. He plays regular shows at Berlin’s best clubs.
Pontoon Pulse, #80 Street 172. 11pm
SportTHE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014 21
Gov’t spends nearly $1 million on sports starsGovernment officials handed out close to US$1 million to medal winning athletes and coaches during a prize giving ceremony held on tuesday at the national olympic Committee of Cambodia headquarters. Deputy Prime minister Sok An, noCC President and tourism minister thong Khun and education minister Hang Chuon naron presided over the event, which saw amounts totalling 3.92 billion riel (US$981,400) given to national team members for their successes at international tournaments such as last December’s 27th SeA Games in myanmar. Five other sports events in which Cambodians grabbed podium places included the 16th and 17th Asian Petanque Championships held in vietnam and Indonesia respectively, the 7th Francophone Games in nice, France, the 2nd Southeast Asian vovinam Championships in Siem reap, and the 9th Francophone taekwondo Championship in vietnam. YeUn
PonLoK, trAnSLAteD BY CHenG SerYrItH
NOCC, Boxing Federation announce 63.5kg eventstHe national olympic Committee of Cambodia, in cooperation with the Cambodian Amateur Boxing Federation, have confirmed dates and venues for the first three of seven preliminary tournaments of the 2014 Black Panther Premium Stout Boxing Championships. noCC Secretary General vath Chamroeun told journalists during a press conference yesterday at noCC headquarters that the first event of the series for fighters in the 63.5kg super lightweight category would be held on April 4 at tor Damnak High School in Kampong thom province’s Baray district. the next would be on April 19 at the outdoor volleyball court of Kampong Cham town while the last one would be hosted at Svay rieng Provincial Hall on may 2. each fight card starts at 5pm and features six match-ups. YeUn
PonLoK, trAnSLAteD BY CHenG SerYrItH
NRL player in induced coma after neck injuryAUStrALIAn national rugby League player Alex mcKinnon has been placed in an induced coma after suffering a broken neck and a “devastating spinal injury”. the 22-year-old newcastle Knights forward underwent emergency surgery on tuesday to stabilise his neck following a lifting tackle by three melbourne Storm players in a 28-20 defeat by the Storm the previous day. “Alex had additional scans on tuesday afternoon, which confirmed a devastating spinal injury,” the club said in a statement, adding that recovery could take up to two years. AFP
Japan’s Darvish pulled from Rangers openerJAPAneSe ace pitcher Yu Darvish will not take the mound for the texas rangers’ season opener next monday because of a stiff neck, the major League Baseball club announced on tuesday. the rangers pulled Darvish from a pre-season training start last Friday. AFP
IOc should mull sports overhaul, says cooksonT
he International Olympic committee (IOc) should con-sider moving sports such as track cycling, judo and bad-
minton to the Winter Games, accord-ing to the president of world cycling’s governing body, the UcI.
Brian cookson, in an interview with Press association Sport released on Tuesday, said such a change could take the pressure off the “overheated” Sum-mer Olympics and allow those sports to have more events and more medals.
“If you have a problem with Sum-mer Olympics where the whole thing is perceived as over-heated with too many facilities, too many sports, too many competitors and so on, why not look at moving some of the other sports that traditionally take place in the winter in the northern hemi-sphere indoors,” cookson said.
“So why not look at combat sports like judo, or other indoor sports like badminton, you could even say what about putting track cycling in the Winter Olympics?
“If we moved track cycling to the Winter Olympics and that allowed us to have more track cycling events and more medals then that could be a pretty good outcome.
“So let’s talk about those things and see what the stakeholders, the national federations, the teams and the compet-itors have to say about those options.”
IOc president Thomas Bach has an-nounced a review of the whole Olym-pic program with the results to be presented at a special session in mo-naco at the end of this year.
cookson, who unseated Ireland’s Pat mcQuaid last September as UcI president, said cycling has enjoyed huge success in the Olympics but that sports’ leaders should not just accept the status quo.
he added: “If you look at the London Olympics the lesson from there is the
cycling events were incredibly success-ful from the point of view of attendance and media coverage, and there were huge crowds for the road races.
“But we shouldn’t just accept the status quo without thinking ‘what are the possibilities here?’.
“Thomas Bach has instituted a de-bate about the format for the Games and let’s think about the Winter Olympics, why does it have to be snow and ice?
“The reality these days is that the base for the Winter Olympics the last few times has been two or three hours drive away from the mountains.”
Turning to doping, something which has plagued cycling in recent years, cookson warned that every sport needs to be aware that some of their athletes will be doping.
“There are two categories of sport, those that have a doping problem and are trying to do something about
it and cycling, I would suggest, is one of the leaders there,” he said.
“The second category is those that have a doping problem and are in de-nial about it because there are forms of doping that affect all forms of sport.
“If you are running your sport and think that you don’t have a dop-ing problem then I think you need a wake-up call because there will be a form of doping that you need to do something about.” AFP
Nadal, murray, Federer, Djokovic advanceTOP seed rafael Nadal turned in a commanding perform-ance in the middle of a secu-rity alert on Tuesday as the entrance to the aTP and WTa miami masters was blocked for more than an hour.
as police closed the lone public entrance and exit to the grounds and shut down most traffic on the main highway of Key Biscayne island on the basis of an unattended back-
pack, Nadal took to the court and demolished out-of-sorts Italian 14th seed Fabio Fogni-ni 6-2, 6-2 in 62 minutes.
Fog n i n i played wh i le injured as he lost to the Span-iard for the fourth time.
“Today was a very strange match. I’m sorry for Fabio,” said Nadal. “he felt some-thing from yesterday near the ribs. It was not easy for him to play this match.
“I managed the situation well in the wind. I played the right match.”
Nadal will next play cana-dian 12th seed milos raonic, who beat Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 to win his 100th career hardcourt match.
Defending champion andy murray and Novak Djokovic will meet for the first time since last year’s Wimbledon final after advancing with ease.
Wimbledon winner murray dispatched French 11th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-1 meanwhile second seed Djok-ovic gave away a second-set point in a sporting gesture to Tommy robredo during a 6-3, 7-5 triumph.
Swiss fifth seed roger Fed-erer easily ousted French ninth seed richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-2 in 49 minutes to book a quarter-final date with Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
Federer was on fire against Gasquet, who set up two Fed-erer match points with a backhand error and took the loss moments later as he could not reach a drop shot in the windy conditions.
“The wind was the same for both of us, but I’ve had a lot of experience playing in it,” Fed-erer said. “I made him work for his points.
Federer, who lost to Djokovic earlier this month in the Indian Wells final, won the miami title in 2005 and 2006. his 79 career crowns include a record 17 Grand Slam titles.
Serena, Maria eye rematchmaria Sharapova and Sere-
na Williams will have a rematch of their 2013 final in the aTP and WTa miami mas-ters semi-finals today after both advanced in formidable style on Tuesday.
Sharapova, who has not beaten the world number one american since 2004 and has lost 14 consecutive matches in the rivalry, regained her big-match confidence after twice being pushed to three sets by defeating Petra Kvi-tova 7-5, 6-1.
Top seed Williams pounded German fifth seed angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2, taking 62 min-utes and ending with seven aces and four breaks of serve in
windy conditions. “When the wind picked up I just had to concentrate,” said Williams, who holds six miami titles. “I felt better today than in any of my other matches.
“When you’re facing a top-10 player, you have to lift your game, That’s what I was able to do.”
Fourth seed Sharapova’s 90-minute victory over Kvitova, a fellow Wimbledon champion, was a relief for five-time miami finalist Sharapova, who had faced huge battles in her previ-ous two victories.
This time, it was relatively straightforward for the crowd-pleaser as she bids for her first miami crown.
“I didn’t have a good first few games, so I was happy that I was steady, that I kept trying to do the right thing, kept try-ing to be aggressive,” said Sharapova.
Four-time Grand Slam cham-pion Sharapova broke four times as she was untroubled by Kvitova after the early stages, in which she lost the opening game but got the break back midway through the set. AFP
Rafael Nadal returns a shot to Fabio Fognini during their Sony Open match at Carndon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida. AFP
Brian Cookson, the head of cycling’s governing body the UCI, has called for a radical overhaul of the Summer and Winter Olympics. AFP
22 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
MMA
ONE Fc adds three bouts for manila meleeDan Riley
ONE Fighting cham-pionship (ONE Fc) has added three more blockbuster
mixed martial arts bouts to its ONE Fc: rise of heroes event at the 20,000-seater Sm mall of asia arena in manila on may 2.
The fight card will now in-cude a clash of two of the best heavyweights in the world when England’s James mc-Sweeney squares off against chris Lokteff of australia.
aung La N Sang will also make history as the first mixed martial artist from myanmar to compete in the ONE Fc cage when he takes on Egypt’s mahmoud Salama.
Filipina boxing champion Jujeath Nagaowa will also make her ONE Fc debut when
she meets Jeet Toshi of India.mcSweeney is an expert
mixed martial artist and kick-boxer, now on the best streak of his career with eight wins in his last 10 fights. The 33-year-old is a proven finisher with his fights having gone to a decision only once in 23 occasions.
Lokteff is one of the top heavyweight prospects in the world, amassing an impressive record of 12 wins and one loss at only 27 years of age.
In a remarkable ONE Fc debut, the australian convinc-ingly defeating famed ameri-can wrestler Tony Johnson last November.
The ONE Fc heavyweight division remains without a champion and the winner of this bout will likely earn a spot in the inaugural title bout.
aung La N Sang is a member
of the Kachin, a group of indig-enous people now embroiled in civil war with the myanmar army. he left myanmar to study in the United States, where he discovered Brazilian jiu-jitsu and subsequently mma.
The 28-year-old is nick-named “The Burmese Python” for his constricting ability which has led him to nine sub-mission wins.
Salama, 37, is a veteran of the Egyptian mma scene and has never been defeated in his home country, racking up all four of his wins by TKO.
he boasts power in both hands and will look to knock out any opponent standing in his way. This clash against aung represents the classic striker against grappler match-up with Salama as the striker.
Nagaowa is set to become the first Filipina appearing in
asia’s largest mixed martial arts organisation.
The former WBc asia atom-weight champion will be mak-ing the transition from boxing with an impressive resume that features 12 professional victories.
The 26-year-old has nifty footwork that she uses to get out of her opponents’ punch-es and is strong in both fists. She will be looking to demon-strate her boxing skills along
with her newly acquired mma techniques as she makes her ONE Fc debut in front of her fellow countrymen.
Toshi is a seven-time kick-boxing champion from India, and has done coaching and training stints in Bahrain and australia.
as the pioneer for female mma in her homeland, she has paved the way for more women in the populous country to participate in the
sport and will look to make a statement by emerging vic-torious in ONE Fc: rise of heroes.
In the main event, ONE Fc bantamweight world cham-pion Bibiano Fernandes of Brazil tries to defend his title against No 1 contender masakatsu Ueda of Japan in what ONE Fc cEO Victor cui is touting as “the biggest ban-tamweight fight asia has ever witnessed”.
Australia's Chris Lokteff (right) swings a punch at Tony Johnson of the US during their heavyweight bout at ONE FC: Warrior Spirit in Kuala Lumpur's Putra Indoor Stadium on November 15, 2013. ONEFC.COM
FootballTHE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014 23
Hosts Australia draw S Korea for Asian CupAustrAliA were handed an early challenge against fellow heavyweights south Korea at next year’s Asian Cup as the hosts got a difficult draw at a lavish ceremony in sydney yesterday. the socceroos, who have never won the Asian Cup and are hosting it for the first time, will open the tournament against Kuwait in Melbourne on January 9, and will also face Oman in Group A. Defending champions Japan were placed in Group D with Jordan, 2007 winners iraq and the as-yet-unknown winners of this year’s AFC Challenge Cup, to be held in the Maldives in May. third-ranked Asian team uzbekistan were the top seeds in Group B along with three-time winners saudi Arabia, China and North Korea. triple Asian champions iran head Group C, which also includes the united Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, following the draw at sydney Opera House. AFP
Doctors to face trial over player’s deathtHrEE doctors will be tried for negligent homicide after the death of livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini in a game in April 2012, a court in the city of Pescara announced on tuesday. Pescara doctor Ernesto sabatini, livorno’s Manlio Porcellini and Vito Molfese of the emergency services will go on trial, starting on December 1. According to a commission of experts interviewed as part of the investigation, the use of the defibrillator available at the stadium on the day of Morosini’s death could have saved his life. AFP
Goalscorer Schmeichel follows father’s leadit WAs a case of a chip off the old block in more ways than one as goalkeeper Kasper schmeichel headed in a late equaliser to give English Championship leaders leicester a 1-1 draw at home to Yeovil on tuesday. schmeichel’s goal on the stroke of full-time was reminiscent of the equalising header his father Peter, one of football’s greatest goalkeepers, scored for English giants Manchester united against rotor Volgograd in a uEFA Cup tie in 1995. AFP
manchester United sup-porters vented their anger at the former manager sir alex Ferguson at the end of the shambolic 3-0 derby defeat to manchester city at Old trafford.
In the first signs of open re-volt at David moyes, fans furi-ously questioned Ferguson’s decision to appoint the scot as his replacement.
With moyes also receiving verbal abuse from support-ers and stewards being asked to guard “the chosen One” banner that hangs at the sta-dium’s stretford end after the 167th manchester derby, the ire shown towards Ferguson, who is a club director, will cause serious questions at boardroom level.
moyes has consistently spoken of how Ferguson has stood by him throughout his overseeing of a dismal title defence. this defeat guar-antees United will end with their poorest ever points tally in the Premier League era, with their previous low-est being 75.
city took only 43 seconds to take the lead through edin Dzeko, who also scored again in the 56th minute, before Yaya touré sealed United’s
humiliation with a third for city at the end. that provoked fans to target Ferguson as he sat in the directors’ box at the final whistle.
the 72-year-old was the driving force in moyes being appointed as his successor at the end of last season, with the former everton manager be-ing summoned to Ferguson’s house to be offered his job.
While the loss made it six home defeats in the league for the first time since the 2001-2 season to leave United 18 points behind the leaders, chelsea, and 12 from a cham-pions League berth, moyes re-fused to blame his players.
asked to explain how a squad minus only the retired Paul scholes has gone so far backwards this year after win-ning the title by 11 points, the manager said: “I take respon-sibility. I have to be the one who plays them, picks them and that is what it is.
“I think there are a lot of re-ally good players there, some can play better, but there are a lot of really good players in the squad, a lot of inter-national players and players who I think on their day can be a match for most players.” tHE GuArDiANs.
Ferguson verbally abused by United fans over moyesKewell to hang up boots
harrY Kewell, acclaimed as australia’s greatest-ever foot-baller, yesterday announced his retirement after 18 years in the game.
the former Leeds United, Liverpool and Galatasaray star said it was time to call it quits. he will play his last game for melbourne heart in australia’s a-League on april 12.
“I felt it was the right time to go out on my terms,” the 35-year-old said at a news conference.
Kewell, whose latter years were beset by injuries, said fitness had not played any part in his decision to hang up his boots.
“the body’s great. I wanted to be able to finish where I could still do things outside of football, all the things I couldn’t do as a footballer. I can do these things now,” he said.
Kewell said it was a “privi-lege” to have played 18 years as a professional and “walk out not holding my back or
my knees and still be able to push my body if I wanted to train”.
he has not been part of the australian setup in recent games and he said it was time for younger players to stand up and be counted at this year’s World cup in Brazil.
Kewell, who left home as a 15-year-old to play in Leeds United’s youth team, became the socceroos’ youngest debu-tant against chile in 1996 at the age of 17 years and seven months.
he went on to score 17 goals in 56 internationals and played in two consecutive World cups – Germany in 2006 and south africa in 2010.
During his spell with Liver-pool he won the Fa cup, the UeFa champions League and UeFa super cup.
In 2012, Kewell was voted by fans and experts as australia’s greatest-ever footballer.
“It was an incredible honour and that’s a title I will always remember and be extremely proud of,” he said.
more than 15,000 public votes were cast during that selection process, while a pan-el of current and former play-ers, administrators and com-mentators also helped determine the winner. AFP
Pep delights in record titleP
eP Guardiola secured the Bundesliga title in record time on tuesday, then promptly praised the work of his Bayern
munich predecessor Jupp heynckes, whose record the spaniard broke.
Bayern claimed their 24th German league title with a 3-1 win at hertha Berlin as Guardiola’s european cham-pions claimed the domestic league title with seven games to spare.
the Bavarian giants broke their own record for the earliest confirmed league title win, set last april under heynckes en route to the treble of european, league and cup titles, by one match.
“We won the title with hard work and when you see what Jupp heynck-es achieved last season, that was the only way we were going to better that,” Guardiola said.
“he laid the foundations.”In his debut season, Guardiola has
now won three titles in nine months after last august’s UeFa super cup triumph and December’s club World cup success having won 14 titles in four years at Barcelona.
“Obviously I’m delighted that we have retained the title,” Guardiola said as his side opened up an unas-sailable 25-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
“I want to thank my players and the club who have helped me achieve this.
“We had a lot of injuries in recent months and we have not always played well, but my players showed character.
“tonight we were very active from the start, but in the second half we lost a little of our control.
“I am just happy we have finally managed it.
“It didn’t matter when we got it just as long as we won the title for this great club. We’ll celebrate today and tomorrow.”
Bayern’s 19th consecutive Bundes-liga win also extends their record
unbeaten league run to 52 matches. they are still on course to become the first side to finish a Bundesliga season unbeaten.
“It’s unbelievable to clinch the title on the back of an unbeaten record,” winger arjen robben said.
“We’re all unbelievably proud of the team and our achievements this season.”
midfielder toni Kroos slammed home an early strike before mario Go-etze headed their second as Bayern went 2-0 up after 14 minutes.
hertha’s colombia striker adrian ra-mos converted a second-half penalty before France winger Franck ribery came off the bench to net a superb
third 11 minutes from time. It is now mathematically certain that Bayern cannot be caught by their rivals, al-though in truth the title race has been over for weeks.
Germany midfielder Bastian sch-weinsteiger, who has won the Bundes-liga title for the seventh time in his ca-reer, said the players would party long into the Berlin night.
“I’ve given the assistant coaches a few tips, but we’ll definitely enjoy the party tonight, wherever it is,” the 29-year-old said.
Germany coach Joachim Loew, who was in the stadium, said Bayern’s suc-cess could only help the national team during June’s World cup in Brazil.
“to win the title so early is an incred-ible achievement,” Loew said.
“Pep Guardiola has developed the team and made his mark in terms of dominance and possession.
“Bayern have a mentality that de-mands unconditional success.”
Jurgen Klopp, coach of rivals Borus-sia Dortmund offered Guardiola his congratulations.
“It’s unbelievable the way you have torn things up down there,” said Klopp, whose second-placed side were held to a goalless draw at home to schalke in the ruhr derby.
“You’re so far ahead, we’d need a telescope to see you. It’s a fantastic achievement.” AFP
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller addresses fans as he and teammates celebrate clinching the Bundesliga title. AFP
Australia’s Harry Kewell will end his playing career next month. AFP
English Premier League Arsenal 2 Swansea 2 Newcastle 0 Everton 3
Spanish La Liga Malaga 1 Espanyol 2 Elche 0 Athletic Bilbao 0
German Bundelsiga Borussia Dortmund 0
Schalke 0 Eintracht Braunschweig 3
Mainz 1 Werder Bremen 1
Wolfsburg 3Italian Serie A Roma 2 Torino 1
TuESdAy’S RESuLTS
Spanish La Liga Getafe v Villarreal – 2am Real Sociedad v
Real Valladolid – 2am Almeria v Valencia – 4am Levante v Real Betis – 4am
Italian Serie A Inter Milan v Udinese
2:45am
TONIGHT’S fIxTuRES
24 THE PHNOM PENH POST march 27, 2014
Sport
Indian duo ready to turn up the heat on EuropeIndIan young guns anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar will be aiming to pull the rug from under Team Europe when the inaugural Eurasia cup begins today in Kuala Lumpur.
Team asia will be led by play-ing captain Thongchai Jaidee,
asian Tour number one Kira-dech aphibarnrat, Prayad marksaeng, Koumei Oda, hideto Tanihara, Kim hyung-sung, Siddikur rahman and nicholas Fung.
Lahiri hopes the hot and humid conditions at the Glen-marie Golf and country club’s
Garden course will give the home side an edge over Team Europe, which is skippered by miguel angel Jimenez.
“We need to turn the micro-wave up – we are used to these conditions. We play most of our golf in asia and grew up playing on these grasses,” Lahiri said.
“The conditions are in our favour and the people in asia are behind us. We’ve got a lot of things going for us and hopefully we can use all those factors into getting a win.”
Bhullar and Lahiri have won a combined eight asian Tour titles in their burgeoning careers and knows that victory for Team asia at the ryder cup-style tournament will enhance their growing reputation.
“This is a different kind of format,” said Bhullar, a five-time asian Tour winner.
“I think it is a great sense of achievement for the 10 guys
who qualified for Team asia. We are here to represent the continent.”
Lahiri added: “The team has been working hard together and when the matches begin, we will all be hoping to create an upset.”
meanwhile miguel angel Jimenez’s European Team is ready to replicate its famous ryder cup camaraderie this week.
World number 14 Graeme mcdowell, the highest ranked player at the Eurasia cup, is no stranger to ryder cup glory, having holed the winning putt in 2010 and been part of the 2012 team that produced the miracle at medinah.
The northern Irishman, who joined teammates Jimen-ez, Victor dubuisson and Pablo Larrazabal at Europe’s first tournament press confer-ence before they took on Thongchai Jaidee’s asian
Team, was keen to stress how important the Eurasia cup will be for the 10 European Tour players in Jimenez’s team who are all in with a great chance of qualifying for the 2014 ryder cup side.
“One of the toughest parts of the ryder cup is putting pair-ings together, and getting four-somes pairings right,” mcdow-ell said.
“That’s why a tournament like this, the Eurasia cup, to me is something that’s very, very important for both the Euro-pean Tour and the asian Tour. asia is the main area of growth for the game of golf in the world, so it's a natural place for the European Tour.
“It’s obviously a big part of the European Tour and to have a Europe versus asia match is something that our schedule needs from a ryder cup point of view.
“We need this event to
become something very spe-cial, something the guys look forward to and something that is part of ryder cup Team building; a chance to put ten guys together, come out here and play against a good team and try some pairings and really enjoy playing team golf.
“Team golf is very different from what we are used to as individuals because you're playing for each other. You just don't want to let your team-mates down and there is a lot of extra pressure from that, but it’s also one of the main reasons why European Teams have been so successful.”
The format of play for the Eurasia cup, presented by drB-hIcOm, will see five four-ball matches played on the first day followed by five foursomes matches on day two and 10 sin-gles matches on Saturday’s final day at Glenmarie’s Garden course. THE ASIAN TOUR
Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri (left) and Gaganjeet Bhullar pose with the EurAsia Cup yesterday. The tournament kicks off today. AFP
Bangladesh flag ban criticisedF
OrmEr Pakistani players yesterday hit out after Ban-gladesh banned their own fans from waving non-Ban-
gladeshi flags at the ongoing World Twenty20 tournament.
hosts Bangladesh issued the order after an outcry over images of locals waving Pakistani flags during the re-cent asia cup.
Bangladesh was part of Pakistan before the 1971 war of indepen-dence, in which it says three mil-lion people were killed – most at the hands of the army of the Islamic re-public and its allied militias.
The Bangladesh cricket Board (BcB) made the ruling on Tuesday, on the eve of the country’s 44th in-dependence day.
Former Pakistan captain Javed miandad said the move violated the spirit of the game.
“I am surprised at the decision,” miandad told aFP. “cricket is a game which harbours sportsman spirit and this decision violates that spirit.”
another former captain, moham-mad Yousuf, urged the BcB to re-think the ban.
“I am sure that the BcB will take this decision back because it defies logic and I am sure the International cricket council will seek some ex-planation,” Yousuf said.
Yousuf, who played 90 Tests and 288 OdIs for Pakistan, said he had always been warmly received in Bangladesh.
“I have seen the home fans want to support Pakistan whenever their own team is not competing against us,” he said.
Younis Khan, another former cap-tain, agreed Bangladesh should re-consider their decision.
“It is against the spirit of the game as you cannot stop anyone from supporting his favourite team,” Khan said.
Bangladesh and Pakistan face each other in a potentially crucial
World T20 group match in mirpur on Sunday.
Bangladesh lost by 73 runs to the West Indies in dhaka on Tuesday, with dwayne Smith smashing 72 off 43 balls before spinner Samuel Ba-dree claimed 4-15.
The defending champions, who needed a win to stay in contention for the semi-finals after losing to In-dia on Sunday, piled up 171-7 and
then bowled out Bangladesh for a paltry 98 in the Super-10 group two match. chris Gayle hit a run-a-ball 48 in an impressive batting display by the West Indies after the hosts won the toss and elected to field be-fore a sell-out crowd of 25,000 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
Parnell released for court caseSouth african paceman Wayne
Parnell has been released from World Twenty20 duties in chit-tagong to appear in court in India on drug charges, team management said yesterday.
he is due to appear in court in mumbai today on charges linked to a late-night party after an Indian Premier League game in 2012, dur-ing his stint at the Pune Warriors.
Parnell was among nearly 100
people detained for medical test-ing after the party at an upmarket mumbai hotel was raided by police, who found drugs at the premises.
he denies any wrongdoing.
Today’s Fixtures Netherlands v South Africa
4:30pm England v Sri Lanka – 8:30pm
Bangladesh cricketer Al-Amin Hossain watches as his teammate Tamim Iqbal tries take a catch to dismiss West Indies batsman Dwayne Bravo on Tuesday. AFP
