"Economic adviser" to Obama charged with forgery in Cambodia

Ray Dam (C) and Suos Saroeun (R) (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Dec 23, 2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Police in Cambodia arrested a man claiming to be an adviser to US President Barack Obama and head of an international finance organization that stores its assets in caves and sunken ships.

Ray Dam and associate Soush Saroeun were charged with forgery Monday after being arrested at Dam's home in Phnom Penh. They were accused of forging documents alleging connections with HSBC Bank, the US government and the United Nations.

The pair had been operating a self-described international real-estate consultancy known as Asia Real Property out of modern offices in the Cambodian capital.

Asia Real Property's promotional materials identified the firm as a subsidiary of a group called the Office of International Treasury Control that claimed to be 'the largest single owner of gold and platinum bullion in the world,' holding cash and treasure in a variety of clandestine locations.

'Much of the treasure is buried in tunnels, bunkers and caves and in sunken ships,' the group said in an investment presentation. 'Further treasures are hidden all around the world.'

Dam is identified on the group's website as the 'sole arbiter ... of the Tripartite Gold Commission,' which was a post-World War II organization that searched for gold stolen by Nazi Germany and was dissolved in 1998. The website also said Dam was an adviser to Obama and his predecessor George W Bush.

Police said Dam and Saroeun had been advertising financial services to foreign joint venture partners in company documents claiming a connection to HSBC Bank. If convicted, they face a maximum of 16 years in prison.

According to an investigation report from police, Dam was born in Cambodia, fleeing the country for the US in the 1970s before returning in the early '90s. US embassy officials said they had been unable to confirm whether he holds US citizenship.

Officials from Cambodia's Ministry of Finance lodged a complaint against Dam and Saroeun after learning that the pair were operating without a real-estate licence. A government spokesman said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had ordered an investigation after learning that Dam had been posing as an adviser to the president of Cambodia's Senate

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The view from outside the city

Thursday, 23 December 2010
Neang Sokchea & Kounila Keo
The Phnom Penh Post

Ever since urban centres were formed in Cambodia, usually around centres of trade and industrythere has been an understanding gap between people living in the rural areas and people who became accustomed to life in the city.

Ethnic groups tended to stay in the rural areas, and because they have been separated from places like Phnom Penh, they are seen, and often see themselves as foreigners in their own country when they come to the capital city.

In order to facilitate a greater sense of understanding and community between rural and urban populations, Khmer Community Development, officially established in 2005, invited 750 youth from 7 minority groups in Cambodia to join each other for a weekend of dialogue, activities and developing relationships.

Ngach Pheaktra, a tenth grader from Mondulkiri province, took part in the camping activity and said that, because this was his first trip to Phnom Penh, he sometimes felt like an outsider.

“I feel strange walking along the buildings and houses here. They are all made of brick, while our houses back in our villages are made of wood,” he said, adding that his home doesn’t have too many mosquitoes and he rarely goes on difficult journeys, but his homeland does have mountains, trees and wild animals.

Ngach Pheaktra says Phnom Penh seems much more dangerous, with all of the vehicles moving around the city. “I do not feel secure at all when I am in Phnom Penh. I heard of robbery and rape,” he said. “Compared to Phnom Penh, my village is much better off and safer,” he added.

For Kham Sopheap, a 17-year-old and twelfth grader from Rattanakiri province who is part of one of the ethic minorities in the area, told Lift that she can hardly breathe in Phnom Penh, unlike here village where there are plenty of trees and therefore lots of fresh ait. As a child, she faced a discrimination from students who asked her why she even came to school when she could not speak any Khmer. By the time she was eight, however, she was able to speak Khmer well enough to converse with her classmates.

“There are some things I like about Phnom Penh and other things I don’t like,” she said. “I like it for its amusement parks and the Royal Palace, but I certainly do not like when Phnom Penh is too crowded.”

Lat Bunart, an eleventh grader from Ratanakiri, said that she feels like Phnom Penh is a place only for wealthy people, whereas her village doesn’t require people to be rich. “People in my village are so friendly and welcome the poor and the rich, but people here seem so busy with their businesses and work,” she said. “In our village we spend the day farming and have much more free time to enjoy life.”

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Lakeside deadline looms [-How would Kep Chuktema like to be offered 5 million riels ($1,250) to be evicted from his house?]

Residents of Village 23 on the edge of Boeung Kak lake dismantle their homes yesterday to make way for a controversial lakeside development. (Photo by: Pha Lina)

Thursday, 23 December 2010
Chhay Channyda
The Phnom Penh Post

Tuol Kork district authorities have given 18 families living in Boeung Kak lake’s Village 23 one week to dismantle their houses, accept compensation and relocate to Dangkor district.

Affected residents say their homes, which lie in the path of a planned access road to the controversial Boeung Kak lake development, will be bulldozed if they fail to meet the deadline.

Resident Ou Norleak, 38, said on Thursday that in a Wednesday meeting between deputy district governor Pich Keo Mony and the families, authorities said they will take drastic measures against those who resist.

“We can’t accept this because we have lived here for years,” Ou Norleak said. “Please Samdech Hun Sen, help your children. We will not be able to build a new house with this compensation.”

Huy Sokhon, another resident from Village 23, described the authorities’ actions as “dictatorship”.

In October, district governor Seng Ratanak told the families to remove their homes and accept a land plot in Dangkor district and 1 million riels (US$250), to make way for the widening of the access road R8 by developer Shukaku Inc.

Ek Yoeun, an official at the Tuol Kork district office, said Thursday that he did not join the meeting, but claimed the authorities had increased the compensation payout to 5 million riels ($1,250), up from the previous offer of 1 million.

“I heard some people asked for $50,000. The government’s policy is only to give a land plot in Kork Ksach village [in Dangkor district] and a small amount of money,” he said.

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Duch appeal hearings set for March

(Photo: Reuters)

Thursday, 23 December 2010
James O’Toole and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

The Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Supreme Court Chamber will hear the appeal of former Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav in March of next year, the court said in a statement Thursday.

The notorious jailer, better known as Duch, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in July by the court’s Trial Chamber after being found guilty of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The court said his appeal hearings will take place “during the last week of March 2011”, adding that the exact dates and times of the hearings will be announced “in due course”.

“We expect that [the hearings] will be public,” court spokesman Reach Sambath said. “I think the court will always be full of people.”

Duch’s lawyers filed an appeal against the judgment last month, charging that their client falls outside the court’s mandate to investigate “senior leaders” and those “most responsible” for crimes committed under the regime of Democratic Kampuchea.

The appeal followed the shocking turnabout last year during closing arguments when, after accepting limited responsibility and essentially pleading guilty through months of hearings, Duch asked to be acquitted and released.

The court’s prosecutors have also appealed against the July verdict, claiming that judges had given “insufficient weight to the gravity of Duch’s crimes and his role and his willing participation in those crimes”.

They have called on the Supreme Court Chamber to sentence the defendant to 45 years in prison, reduced from a life sentence due to Duch’s unlawful pre-trial detention.

“There comes a point where the crimes committed are sufficiently grave and the offender sufficiently notorious, or in such a position of authority, that the highest sentence must be imposed,” the prosecutors wrote in their appeal. “That point was reached and passed here.”

41 civil parties have also appealed, requesting either that the court declare their claims admissible or amend their reparations award.

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Cambodia: New Penal Code Undercuts Free Speech

Seng Kunnaka, a Cambodian employee of the World Food Programme in Phnom Penh, was imprisoned for incitement under article 495 of the penal code after he shared articles with two co-workers that he had printed from the internet. (Source: KI-Media)

Man Jailed for Sharing Web Articles With Co-Workers

December 23, 2010
Source: Human Rights Watch

"Charging someone with incitement for sharing web articles is a profound setback for free expression in Cambodia." - Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

(New York) - The Cambodian government's use of its new penal code against a man who shared web articles with his co-workers is a huge step backward for free expression in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. The man was quickly convicted on incitement charges and sentenced to prison.

Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to amend the penal code, which went into effect on December 10, 2010, to remove provisions that limit the peaceful expression of political views so that the law fully complies with international standards.

"Charging someone with incitement for sharing web articles is a profound setback for free expression in Cambodia," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Cambodia's new penal code should have put an end to abusive practices, not encouraged new ones."

On December 18, Seng Kunnaka, a Cambodian employee with the United Nations World Food Program in Phnom Penh, was arrested on charges of incitement under article 495 of the new penal code after he shared an article with two co-workers. While the contents of the article are unclear, it was printed from KI-Media, a website that publishes news, commentaries, poetry, and cartoons that are sharply critical of the government, including a recent series of opinion pieces lambasting senior officials regarding a border dispute with Vietnam.

On December 19, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court hastily tried and convicted Kunnaka, sentencing him to six months in prison and fining him 1 million riels (US$250). December 19 was a Sunday, when the courts are normally closed.

During the last two years, more than 10 critics of the government, including journalists and opposition party activists, have been prosecuted for criminal defamation and disinformation based on complaints by government and military officials under the former penal code.

The new penal code places greater restrictions on free expression, Human Rights Watch said. Responding to media inquiries about the case, Cambodia's information minister, Khieu Kanharith, said: "Before, using the argument of ‘freedom of expression' and opposition party status, some people could insult anybody or any institution. This is not the case now."

"A dubious arrest so soon after the new penal code came into effect shows that the Cambodian government is ready to use its new legal powers to criminalize peaceful expression and political dissent," Robertson said. "And Cambodia's pliant courts seem all too willing to throw any perceived government critic in prison after a rushed trial."

Under the new penal code, incitement is vaguely defined in article 495 as directly provoking the commission of a crime or an act that creates "serious turmoil in society" through public speech, writings or drawings, or audio-visual telecommunication that are shared with, exposed to, or intended for the public. It does not require the alleged incitement to be effective for penalties to be imposed, which include prison terms of six months to five years and fines.

The new penal code also allows criminal prosecutions for defamation and contempt for peaceful expression of views "affecting the dignity" of individuals and public officials, as well as of government institutions. It makes it a crime to "disturb public order" by questioning court decisions.

"The new penal code makes it more risky for civil society activists to criticize corrupt officials, police, and military officers who commit abuses or question court decisions," Robertson said. "This is particularly troubling in Cambodia, where the judicial system is weak and far from independent, with court decisions often influenced by corruption or political pressure."

KI-Media is a controversial website that describes itself as "dedicated to publishing sensitive information about Cambodia." The website's editors, who have never publicly identified themselves, compile information from a variety of sources, including leaked and public government documents, Cambodian-language newspaper articles, and Chinese, Cambodian, and Western wire service reports. It also posts hard-hitting commentaries, blog articles, cartoons, and poetry from its readers - most of whom are sharply critical of the government.

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The Viet ambassador meets Viet businesses in Phnom Penh, would the Xmer ambassador dare to meet Khmer Krom in Prey Nokor?

Meeting with Vietnamese businesses in Cambodia held

12/23/2010
VOV News (Hanoi)

A meeting with Vietnamese businesses took place in Cambodia on December 23.

Addressing the event, Ngo Anh Dung, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia, reviewed the achievements and advantages in multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in 2010.

Two-way trade turnover in the first 11 months of 2010 reached over US$1.5 billion. Vietnam’s exports turnover to Cambodia gained US$1.3 billion, up 36 percent compared to the same period last year.

Currently, Vietnamese investments in Cambodia are worth nearly US$570 million, mainly in such fields as rubber planting, industrial crops, aviation, banking, services and tourism.

At the meeting, Vietnamese businesses expressed their hope that in 2011, the two governments will continue to simplify the trade and investment procedures to increase the value of trade exchange to reach US$2 billion.

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Phnom Penh groovers

Street dancers show their moves at Phnom Penh’s Sisowat Quay. JOHN CLEWLEY

Purveyors of classic Khmer rock'n'roll, The Cambodian Space Project plan to take on the world

24/12/2010
John Clewley
Bangkok Post

It's been eight years since I last made a trip to Cambodia and had the chance to stock upon some Khmer sounds. Last week I was in Phnom Penh for a few days, and I must say, the capital is buzzing; it's a veritable hive of activity and commerce.

I went for a walk down Sisowat Quay on the banks of the Mekong at dusk one evening, always a good time to take photographs, and I thought for a moment that I had been transported back to Harajuku in Tokyo on a Sunday, when all the wannabe bands and poseurs play and strut to groups of dancing fans. Down on Sisowat the scene was bustling with groups of dancers, some doing aerobics to dance grooves, while other more exclusive groups focused on the latest K-Pop moves. People of all ages joined in the public groups or chatted while they watched the K-poppers.

In that area there are music stores but they don't sell Khmer music, so on Saturday morning I headed for the so-called Russian market, where among the tourist stalls and DVD shops, you can find vendors who have a good selection of different kinds of Khmer music. I stocked up on some Sin Sisamouth collections (the top musical icon of popular music), along with a compilation featuring his duets with top female singers from the '60s and '70s, Ros Sereysothea and Pan Ron. I found a tasty phleng kar (wedding song) collection, as well as songs by Meng Pichanda, who sings a local moody style, not unlike Thai luk thung music, called ramkbach, and some interesting Khmer rap.

Later I found myself in the back of a cyclo with one of Pan Ron's biggest fans, Srey Thy, singer with the new band The Cambodian Space Project and the band's founder and leader, Australian guitarist Julien Poulson. Srey, upon finding out that my son's relatives are from Buri Ram in Thailand's lower Northeast, launched into several stirring renditions of kantrum hits, which Cambodians call "Khmer Surin" music.

We were on our way to a birthday party for the band's Breton accordionist, during which I met the revolving personnel of this unusual music collective. The band plays covers of Khmer rock'n'roll from the late '60s to early '70, when Phnom Penh was a regional entertainment centre, but with a multinational twist. Many of the great Khmer musicians of the period perished during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime but interest was revived with the Cambodian Rocks compilations of the '90s, and then by the US-based Khmer/US band, Dengue Fever. Unlike Dengue, though, The Cambodian Space Project is actually based in Phnom Penh.

Julien said that he originally went to Cambodia to make some music documentaries but was so taken with the singing ability of Srey after he saw her sing in a karaoke bar, that he decided to set up a band. Cambodian, French-Cambodian and French members make up the rest of the band. Interest was generated immediately, not only among the expat population but also among local Cambodian music fans. In the just a year, the band has played over 200 gigs in Cambodia, as well gigs in France and Hong Kong. In the new year, the band will jet off for its first major tour that will encompass Australia, Europe and the US. Total world domination can't be far way.

The band's first recording has just been released, a 7" vinyl maxi-single that features, on the A-side, a killer version of Pan Ron's hit, I'm Unsatisfied. The B-side features a catchy song written by Srey called If You Go, I Come Too. Julien says that he noticed that Srey is a natural songwriter, so the band usually plays a mix of covers and self-penned songs. He says that the single is the first vinyl to be released in Cambodia since the early '70s.

Here's how he describes the global process: "The single was recorded in Cambodian at Cambodian Living Arts - a small studio which boasts a collection of mics donated by Peter Gabriel. It was mixed by Lindsay Gravina of Birdland Studios in Australia. The mixes were sent to London, then the masters sent via Rough Trade to the Czech Republic. We picked up our 'band copies' from a little record store in Bretagne, France called Rockin' Bones. A round-about kinda production but very rewarding to launch this vinyl in Cambodia... not too many turntables here but the vinyl's thick enough to mash chilli and chop vegetables in the village kitchen."

I've just heard an advance copy of the band's debut album, the title of which, in translation from the original Khmer goes something like The Moon's Apsara Rides The Cosmic Golden Swan-Goose. Groovy.

The album's standouts are a distinctive cover of Pan Ron's I'm Sixteen, which features some great blues harp and the two Srey penned songs, Kangaroo Boy (great for pogo-ing to and I predict will go down a storm in Australia) and Have Visa, No Rice. It's a fun album that is likely to raise the band's international profile.

The Cambodian Space Project is not the first band to rediscover and play '60s/'70s Khmer rock'n'roll but it is the first one based in Cambodia. If you liked all those great Cambodian Rock compilations and Dengue Fever, you'll certainly enjoy The Cambodian Space Project, several members of whom are stretching their wings to fly into Bangkok to play on Christmas Day.

The Cambodian Space Project play at the WTF Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 51 on Dec 25 at 9pm. For more information, call 02-662-6246.

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More Appeals for Thai Approval of Border Agreements

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 23 December 2010

“I will try to promote a full border resolution between the two countries.”

The National Assembly is now urging for its Thai counterpart to approved a series of documents necessary for both sides to move ahead on border demarcation.

National Assembly Nguon Nhel told a Thai parliamentary delegation here on Thursday that the approval of a series of border meeting minutes was crucial for stability between the two countries.

“Through the visit of Thailand’s National Assembly delegation, we would like to urge and to demand the National Assembly of Thailand to approve the minutes of three joint border commission meetings to eliminate the conflict between our two countries and two peoples, so that we can build up a peaceful and friendly border demarcation,” Ngun Nhel said.

Thai parliament has not ruled on the meeting in part due to extreme political instability there. But officials in Phnom Penh have continued to push the Thais to do so.

Earlier this week, the same message was delivered to a delegation led by Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Pirumya and Thai army chief Paryuth Chan-ocha.

Ngun Nhel’s appeal went straight to parliament, with the delegation led by Gittipot Viriyaroj, the head of the foreign affairs committee and chairman of the Thai National Assembly’s Thailand-Cambodia Friendship Group.

Gittipot told reporters on Thursday he would push for approval of the meetings.

“I will try to promote a full border resolution between the two countries,” he said. “Our only purpose is to bring development and progress to our respective countries.”

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Khmer Surin Get Support From US Group

Khmer Surin child learning Khmer language

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 23 December 2010

"All Khmer overseas have come together as one voice to support Khmer Surin in teaching Khmer language and safeguarding Khmer culture.”

A group of US Cambodians has begun looking for ways to encourage an increase in interest of the Khmer language in the Thai province of Surin.

That province was once part of a wider Khmer empire that encompassed parts of modern-day Thailand and Vietnam.

On Saturday, the Supporting Khmer Surin Committee held its first meeting, after a visit by some of its member to the province earlier this year. Members discussed the need to promote Khmer language in the area and the challenges faced by the so-called Khmer Surin people.

“There are many Cambodians doing business across the borders, so it will be easy for them to communicate,” said Srey Ayuthyia, the committee’s vice president, from Los Angeles.

Srey Ayuthyia said he had met with a Buddhist monk who taught the Khmer language and a number of Khmer Surin who expressed their need for more support.

While some Khmer Surin can speak Khmer, few can write it, but the there is a program that started four years ago that Srey Ayuthyia said he strongly supported.

The Supporting Khmer Surin Committee was only recently created, but its founders say they have already raised some funds to help their cause.

“We are not alone,” said Eang Bunthan, president of committee. “We are united around the world. All Khmer overseas have come together as one voice to support Khmer Surin in teaching Khmer language and safeguarding Khmer culture.”

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Tribunal To Decide on Duch Appeals in March

Duch was arrested in May 1999 and was later charged by the tribunal for war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and homicide.

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 23 December 2010

“The public needs to know the final decision on the punishment of Duch.”

The Supreme Court Chamber of the Khmer Rouge tribunal is scheduled to rule on all appeals in the case against torture chief Duch in March 2011, the court announced Thursday.

The chamber must decide on an appeal by prosecutors to lengthen his sentence; an appeal by defense to release him; and an appeal by civil complainants for some kind of public reparation.

Duch was sentenced to a commuted 19 years earlier this year, but prosecutors say this was too lenient for a man accused of overseeing the torture and execution of more than 12,000 people at Tuol Sleng prison. They want a sentence of 45 years.

However, defense lawyers claim Duch was following orders of the regime and shold be released.

Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said the chamber had determined a detailed schedule and would begin informing interested parties and the public.

Latt Ky, a tribunal monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the final decision must be well disseminated.

“The public needs to know the final decision on the punishment of Duch,” he said.

Survivors of the prison and those who lost family there say they want him sentenced for life, said Chum Mey, who lived through his incarceration at Tuol Sleng and has formed a support association for other victims.

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Former Argentine Dictator Gets Life in Prison [-This should serve as a lesson to the current dictator in Phnom Penh!]

Former Argentine general and dictator Jorge Rafael Videla (L) and former army general Luciano Benjamin Menendez await for their sentence in the trial for the murder of 31 political prisoners. (AFP/Getty Images)

DECEMBER 23, 2010
By MATT MOFFETT
The Wall Street Journal

BUENOS AIRES—Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, on trial for the first time since the country's Supreme Court rescinded his amnesty, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal court for the murder of 31 political prisoners in 1976.

Mr. Videla ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1981 and presided over the so-called Dirty War in which at least 10,000 people suspected of working against the regime, and perhaps as many as 30,000, were "disappeared" and killed, according to historians and human-rights groups.

After the country returned to democracy, Mr. Videla was sentenced in a landmark 1985 trial to life in prison for abuses committed during his rule. He served five years before he and other figures from the dictatorship were pardoned by President Carlos Menem, who said he was trying to close the book on a divisive era in Argentine history. The Supreme Court struck down the pardons in 2007, paving the way for new cases to be brought against officials from the dictatorship.

Wednesday's sentence was the culmination of a six-month trial in the city of Cordoba revolving around the case of 31 prisoners suspected of opposing the regime, who were rousted from their cells and executed following the coup that brought Mr. Videla to power. A three-judge panel issued the sentence, which it specified should be served in a common prison facility, as opposed to in a military jail or under house arrest.

Mr. Videla, 85 years old, sometimes appeared to doze off during the trial. He was defiant when he did speak.

"I don't speak of 'Dirty War,' I prefer to speak of 'just war,' " he said on Tuesday, asserting that his government had implemented a legitimate defense strategy against leftist guerrilla groups.

He took thinly veiled swipes at the government of President Cristina Kirchner, who has acted aggressively to bring former officials of the dictatorship to justice. "The enemies of yesterday achieved their goal and govern the country and they try to set themselves up as champions of human rights," Mr. Videla said.

Convicted along with Mr. Videla were 29 other security officials from the dictatorship, including former Gen. Luciano Benjamin Menendez, who headed anti-guerrilla operations in a large section of the country.

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Meaning of Color of Roses:

-Red: Sincere Love & Respect, Courage & Passion Send red roses to convey the message of your passionate love for that someone; saying “I love you”

-Pink: Grace and Gentility, the roses of sweet thoughts Send deep pink roses to show our appreciation &gratitude; saying “Thank you” Send light pink roses to convey admiration and sympathy

-Yellow: In the Victorian times, yellow roses meant jealousy. But to day, they signify friendship, joy, gladness and freedom, the promise of a new beginning. Sent yellow roses to brighten up someone’s day; to congratulate your friends and loved ones during Joyous occasions.

-White: Spiritual love and Purity, the rose of confession, the bridal roses; “You are heavenly”, “I am worthy of you ”Commonly used as traditional bridal bouquet during weddingsto symbolize a happy love. You can nevertheless use them to convey the message of “You are heavenly, I miss you”

-Lavender: Love at the first sight and enchantment Send lavender roses of course, to convey the message of your“love at first sight” with that special someone. You cannevertheless also send them it you would like to make aspecial impression.

-Orange: Passionate desire, pure enthusiasm and fascination. An excellent choice for a new relationship that you wish topursue further. It can nevertheless also be referring to a new business partnership.

Meaning of Number of Roses:

- 1 Rose Love at the first sight; you are the one

- 2 Roses Mutual love between both, deeply in love with one another

- 3 Roses I love you

- 6 Roses I want to be yours

- 7 Roses I am infatuated with you

- 9 Roses An Eternal love, together as long as we live

- 10 Roses You are perfect

- 11 Roses You are my treasured one; the one I love most in my life

- 12 Roses Be my steady

- 13 Roses Secret admirer

- 15 Roses I am truly sorry, please forgive me

- 20 Roses Believe me, I am sincere towards you

- 21 Roses I am devoted to you

- 24 Roses Can’t stop thinking about you, 24 hours everyday

- 33 Roses Saying “I love you” with great affection

- 36 Roses I will remember our romantic moments

- 40 Roses My love for you is genuine

- 50 Roses Regretless love, this is

- 99 Roses I will love you for as long as I live

- 100 Roses Harmoniously together in a century; remaining devoted as couple till ripe-old age

- 101 Roses You are my one and only love

- 108 Roses Please marry me

- 365 Roses Can’t stop thinking about you, each and everyday

- 999 Roses Everlasting and Eternal love

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Last-ditch plea

Hundreds of workers from Tack Fat garment factory hold up portraits of Prime Minister Hun Sen during protests outside the factory in Phnom Penh on Saturday. The workers, frustrated by a sudden halt in production, are demanding more compensation than the owners have offered.

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Where the rubber meets the robe

Monks hitch a ride on a farmer’s mini-tracker on National Road 10 in Battambang province last week.

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A panorama of zoning chaos

By Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:25:00 10/07/2009

The gigantic task of clearing up the debris left by Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) has just begun, following the total collapse of the drainage and waste disposal infrastructure of Metro Manila, a metropolis of 20 million people. The flooding exposed the inadequacy of the drainage system. Esteros, creeks and canals are choked by... garbage, as municipal and even national relief services appear puny to cope with the scale of the cleanup.

The garbage pile-up crisis and its origins are described in a 2001 University of the Philippines study by Doracie B. Zoleta-Nantes. According to this study, the population of Metro Manila stood at 200,000 at the turn of the 20th century. The lack of opportunities in the countryside and the rapid urbanization of Metro Manila encouraged a massive influx of rural migrants into the megacity. The NCR had a population of 9.93 million as of May 2000 and an annual growth rate of 2.25 percent. At current projected rates of growth, Metro Manila is estimated to have a population of 19 million by 2016. Metro Manila has an average population density of 15,610 per sq. km. This population explosion has caused the expansion of poor squatters’ colonies. It has contributed to the deterioration of the infrastructure and the quality of urban services in the metropolis.

On the average, a person generates 0.5 to 0.6 kilos of garbage a day in the megacity, according to the study. As of 1999, the nine million residents of Metro Manila generated approximately 6,000 tons of garbage a day. Yet, only 71 percent of the solid waste generated daily was collected by dump trucks, and disposed of by government and private waste collection agencies. The remaining 29 percent or 1,800 tons of garbage, was left on street corners and vacant lots, or thrown into storm drains and other waterways. Along with sewage leaks from septic tanks and other hazardous materials, this type of solid waste seriously clogged the network of drainage canals.

“Only 10 percent (or a total of 50 km) of the drainage facilities is dredged, de-clogged and maintained each year by the Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila,” according to the UP study. “This figure is equivalent to a total of only 14 meters every day. Most of the drainage facilities are not accessible because many of the drainage canals’ service roads have been encroached upon by different types of residential, government and business structures.”

This description draws a nightmarish panorama of zoning chaos so embedded in the metropolis that has prompted urban planning architects and real estate developers to call for the obliteration of the jumble of structures in Metro Manila—a colossal project that suggests a “total solution” that requires nothing less than dropping an atomic bomb on the metropolis.

Real estate developers call for the rezoning of Metro Manila back to the original plans of Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who designed Baguio. But developers, who are partly responsible for this zoning anarchy, are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. They have little credibility blaming other factors for this urban chaos and huge human tragedy.

Enter the problem of the choking of the drainage system. The UP study points out:

“Meanwhile, indiscriminate dumping of trash seriously clogs the esteros, which are modified systems of natural channels and brackish water from coastal lakes that were intended to relieve flooding and improve waterborne transportation.

“The estero system worked well in the 19th and 20th centuries. But as the channels were filled in to provide building sites and refuse dumps for a rapidly growing urban population, the esteros have gradually become incapable of serving their original purpose.

“Encroachment by adjacent private property owners on the formerly protected banks of the esteros has been reported since the beginning of the 20th century.

“It would now be difficult to reopen these waterways because of the accumulated changes that have taken place (e.g. landfills, squatter settlements, emplacement of major roads and prominent buildings, deterioration of water quality, etc.). Thus rapid urbanization, encroachment of squatters on river banks, silting of waterways and lack of sewerage and drainage facilities worsen the flood hazards of Metro Manila.

“Since 1953, floods have affected Metro Manila on many occasions, including at least a dozen times that drew extensive coverage in the local mass media: August 1953; September 1956; May 1960; July 1961, 1962, 1964; June 1967; August 1970; July 1972; October 1988.

“Several trends may be observed in the flood events from the 1950s and 1990s. Flooded areas spread from the low-lying areas in the coastal parts of Manila, Navotas and Malabon, and along the banks of the San Juan and Pasig Rivers in the 1950s to the suburban areas of Manila, Quezon City, Pasay, San Juan and Caloocan in the 1960s and 1970s. The squatter areas that mushroomed along the banks of the esteros and rivers and in other marginal locations were regularly inundated several times each year.

“Flood incidence expanded in the 1980s in the increasingly urbanized low-lying areas in Pasig and Marikina and along the shores of Laguna de Bay most particularly in Taguig and Pateros. [The map of the flooded areas struck by Ondoy confirms this trend.]
“Costly subdivisions built on former agricultural lands were not spared the consequences of flooding. Indeed, flooding has become prevalent even in relatively high places. Quezon, Makati, Manila, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Pasig and San Juan have not been spared the consequences of flooding in the 1990s mainly due to substandard subdivision drainage infrastructure.”

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Silver lining to downturn

Carbon dioxide emissions, the main driver of global warming, could fall 3 percent worldwide in 2009 due to the global economic crisis, the International Energy Agency said in Bangkok.

This would be the steepest drop in CO2 emissions for 40 years, chief IEA economist Fatih Birol said, adding that... average annual growth in global carbon output until now has been 3 percent.

Birol said this silver-lining drop in carbon pollution was a "unique window of opportunity" for the world to put itself on a path to limit the increase in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, the threshold for dangerous global warming.

The recession-driven fall would lead to CO2 emissions in 2020 being 5 percent lower than the IEA forecast from a year ago, even if no further action is taken to curb global warming, he added.

The IEA estimate is part of its World Energy Outlook report, an excerpt of which was released at UN climate talks under way in Bangkok.

The talks are running out of time to deliver a new global climate treaty at a December conference in Copenhagen. Rich and poor nations are divided over how to share the burden of cutting greenhouse gases, and who will pay for it.

At the same time, aid agencies said the rise in Asian weather disasters should serve as a wake-up call for negotiators to intensify their efforts.

Pointing to recent typhoons, floods and droughts in Asia, World Vision and the Red Cross said poor nations like the Philippines and Vietnam will be the ones to suffer most if world leaders fail to reach a climate pact by the end of the year.

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IDP safety and resettlement is Sri Lanka’s top priority: diplomat

Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Southern India, during an interaction in Chennai on Tuesday.


CHENNAI: The newly appointed Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Southern India, Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, said his objective was to strengthen the “excellent relations” of his country with...
southern India, especially with Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to The Hindu on a range of issues, Mr. Krishnamoorthy, a Tamil of recent Indian origin whose ancestors migrated from Ramanathapuram three generations ago, said the two countries shared political, economic and cultural ties. “Today we are looking at the SAARC and South Asia, but bilaterally we are close neighbours,” he added. “We have also signed a free trade agreement with India. So India could become number one in terms of imports and exports. In terms of our bilateral relations we have the best of times. In my time I will work towards strengthening it.”

The Deputy High Commissioner expressed his gratitude for India’s help in rehabilitation and resettlement programmes, adding that the welfare camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) were “in very good condition.”

He explained that his government had adequately addressed the concerns raised over the preparedness of the camps to tackle the monsoon. “The government’s priority,” he reiterated, “is the convenience and safety of the IDPs. When the monsoon comes, the drainage is important. So 80 per cent of the drainage system, in a short span of time, anticipating many difficulties, has been created. The rest of the drainage, I think, will be constructed within a week.”

Mr. Krishnamoorthy said the Sri Lanka government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the utmost priority to the security of the IDPs and 10,593 IDPs were already resettled in their original places. A total of 22,668 IDPs had been released from different camps on the basis of medical needs and humanitarian considerations. Senior citizens, religious leaders, foreign visa holders, university students, and pregnant mothers had also been released.

He pointed out that the government had launched the National Framework Proposal for reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life in Sri Lanka, to safeguard the human rights of ex-combatants and to protect and assist them in accordance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka to ensure sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Mr. Krishnamoorthy said mines remained a major obstacle to the resettlement and the government had imported machines to speed up demining. “We imported demining machines from Croatia. It cost 270 million in Sri Lankan rupees and so within a short time, that is in the last five months 26,734 anti-personnel mines, 26 landmines, 26 death traps, and 31 pressure bomb reels were removed. We also imported 5 machines from Slovakia for 260 million rupees.”

The Sri Lankan government had resource constraints, he explained, but President Rajapaksa had assigned the highest priority to development works. “He wants to ensure empowerment and equality so that every citizen, notwithstanding their birth or culture, is treated the same way. He wants to establish a bilingual nation with equal rights for all. The President’s vision is to make a unified country.”

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U.S.-Afghan assault kills 40 militants, Kabul says

KABUL -- American and Afghan troops swept through forested mountains in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 40 militant fighters in a hunt for insurgents responsible for one of the war's deadliest attacks on U.S. troops, the Defense Ministry said.

Ten Afghan soldiers have been killed in... the operations since Monday, most of them in Nuristan province's Kamdesh district, ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

The violence was part of a spate of attacks across the nation, including a roadside bombing of a NATO convoy in Sayed Abad district west of Kabul that wounded two foreign soldiers, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, an American media officer for NATO forces.

Meanwhile, the country also is nearing a resolution to August's disputed presidential vote. Election workers began recounting suspect ballots Monday, and a ruling on whether President Hamid Karzai won or will face a runoff is expected next week.

Kamdesh, cut off from the rest of the region with no regular phone or radio contact and few roads, is where eight Americans and two Afghan troops died Saturday after hundreds of Taliban militants overwhelmed their thinly manned garrisons.Azimi said joint operations were continuing yesterday in Kamdesh, and seven insurgents had been arrested there.

Mathias, however, said there had "not been any significant engagement" in Kamdesh since Saturday. She said U.S. and Afghan forces were still in the remote area and had not pulled out.

NATO said in a statement that 100 attackers were killed in Saturday's fighting. The alliance had previously said only that coalition forces inflicted "heavy casualties" while defending the outposts with artillery, airstrikes and helicopter gunships.

NATO said Saturday's attack was carried out "by local anti-Afghan forces, while local Taliban" and fighters loyal to Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar "may have helped facilitate" it.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility.

In other violence yesterday, a patrol came under small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire in Logar province, southwest of Kabul, but there were no casualties, Mathias said. Logar's police chief, Gen. Mohammed Mustafa Mosseini, said the attack sparked a gunbattle that led to the arrest of at least one militant.

In London, Britain's defense ministry said one British soldier died Monday after an explosion in southern Afghanistan. The soldier was on foot patrol near the Nad Ali district center in restive Helmand province.
U.S. war dead

Includes combat and noncombat military deaths:

• In Afghanistan: 791 since military operations began Oct. 7, 2001

Sources: Defense Department, Associated Press

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SC edict not to go wide of mark

The Supreme Court Tuesday spelt out sermons for both lawyers and journalists not to make observations or news influencing the judicial process during the appeal hearing in the Bangabandhu Murder Case as the proceedings for a second straight day were wrapped up, reports UNB.
Tuesday''s hearing resumed with... submissions made by Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, the counsel for Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda and Lt Col (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed (Lancer), before a five-member Appellate Division bench constituted to deal with and dispose of the long-pending appeals of the condemned former army officers.
The hearing session will resume today (Wednesday) to pick up the points next along the line laid down in the paper-book on the case history.
After two years'' inordinate delay, the hearing got down underway Monday with the reading out of excerpts from the bulky paper-book containing the whole case documents, including the lodging of the First Information Report (FIR) and all judgments.
The High Court finally affirmed the death sentences against twelve of the accused, acquitting three others, on April 30, 2001.
In November 1998, the trial court, however, sentenced a total of 15 retired and dismissed army personnel for the August 15, 1975 carnage, subject to High Court confirmation.
Earlier during first day''s hearing Monday, Barrister Mamun read the case history from the paper-book before the appeal court.
During the course of reading out, the Appellate Division bench reminded the counsel of limitations confining the deliberations to the five points on which leave was granted for filing appeals against the High Court judgment and the relevant part involving the appellants in order to "avert repetition".
The five points are: whether Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members as a result of a mutiny, whether the evidences adduced by several witnesses are contradictory, whether delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) is reasonable as held by the lower court, whether there is any conspiracy behind this murder, and whether disposal of the death references of six accused out of 15 by the 3rd judge in the High Court was correct and legal.
Before daybreak on August 15, 1975, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the nation, and his family members, except his two daughters - incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who were fortunately abroad at the time -- were massacred by a splinter group of the country''s armed forces that had changed the course of politics in the newly liberated Bangladesh.

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Khaleda endorses Jalil remarks about elections

Sees conspiracy behind education policy

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia endorsed ex-Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil''s London remarks that Awami League came to power following an understanding with the military-backed caretaker government, reports UNB.
"There is no reason to disbelieve the remarks by the general secretary of the party in power," she said while... addressing a meeting on Monday night with a delegation of Teacher-Employee Oikya Jote to mark the World Teacher Day and on the proposed National Education Policy at her Gulshan office.
Opposing the proposed education policy, Khaleda said if this policy is implemented, joblessness would be created door-to-door upsetting the government agenda for providing job to every house.
The former Prime Minister apprehended the proposed education policy would harm the country religiously and socially. She urged the teachers to build up resistance in phases if such an education policy harms national interest.
Khaleda smelt foreign conspiracy behind the proposed education policy, saying that the present situation has come to such a pass that "not only you will lose your jobs, but you will lose the country and sovereignty."
She called for salvaging the country with united efforts by implementing action programs in phases.
The BNP chairperson observed that having experienced the past nine months'' rule, people started realizing that the country would not have landed into such a situation if BNP were in power.
Khaleda said the present government wants to erase the memories of slain President Ziaur Rahman who ensured freedom of all religious faiths. She said, "Any bid to banish Zia will boomerang and Zia will be more popular to the people."
Chief coordinator of the Teacher-Employee Oikya Jote principal Selim Bhuiyan led the delegation.
Leaders of various teacher and employees'' organizations of education sector were on the delegation. Among them were secretary-general of Bangladesh College Teachers Association principal Mogisuddin Mahmud, chairman of Bangladesh Madrasha Teachers Association MA Latif and its secretary-general Delwar Hossain, secretary-general of Bangladesh Higher Secondary Teachers Association principal Mahbubur Rahman Mollah and M Zakir Hossain, secretary-general Bangladesh Headmasters Association.
Criticizing the proposed national education policy the delegation leaders called for raising voice under Leadership of the Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia for canceling the national education policy which did not incorporate Islamic education and deprecated it as well.
BNP secretary-general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and BNP leaders former Education Minister Dr Osman Farruk and former state minister for education Ehsanul Huq Milon also spoke at the function.

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