Racers, be careful: Hun Sen

PRIME Minister Hun Sen advised boat-racing teams to exercise caution when competing in unusually high waters during this weekend’s Water Festival as trial races began on Tuesday.

“All provincial authorities and all pagodas with boats in the competition need to think about their teams’ safety while travelling [on the river] because the water is still high. It would be best to send health officers or doctors along with them,” the prime minister said.

A strong rainy season and persistent flooding since Typhoon Ketsana have engorged Cambodia’s river systems, presenting this weekend’s racers with the danger of a fast, powerful and unpredictable current

Am Vanny, chairman of the Phnom Penh Boat Racing Committee, said Wednesday that the race’s organisers had set up 10 health stations along the course...

“There will be 10 health officers at each station and [a larger staff at] the main medical centre in the Chrouy Changvar primary school, near the Chroy Changvar Bridge, in order to save people on time,” he said.

Pa Socheatvong, deputy governor of Phnom Penh, said Wednesday that in addition to the emergency response stations, City Hall had arranged to “have speedboats standing by… along the riverside”.

In Kratie, Governor Kham Phoeun said he had urged the 33 boat teams from his province to keep safety in mind while paddling to the capital and had also provided them with medical support.

“Three or four doctors will come with the boat racers in order to look after them and save them in the event of an emergency,” he said, adding that his province takes similar safety precautions every year.

The Water Festival is the biggest event on the Cambodian calendar: An estimated 2 million people descend on the capital for three days of celebration every year. This year, the festival takes place from November 1 to 3.

The National Committee for Organising National and International Festivals said there are 391 boats registered to compete this year. (Sourced from Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Carnage in Pakistan

Shops burn as men gather at a market following a car bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Wednesday that killed more than 80 people, underscoring the scale of the extremist threat as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited.

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Giuliano Stroe - a 5 year old romanian as strongest child World Records Book

Giuliano Stroe has six-pack abs before turning six years old. And he's also in the Guinness Book of World Records before he can probably even read it.

Though it's highly unusual (and possibly unhealthy) for a child to start weight training at such a young age, the pre-schooler entered the record books earlier this year after completing the fastest ever 10-meter walk with a weight ball between the legs, which is both both highly impressive and highly specific. Since then, a four-minute video of Stroe has hit the Internet and made him a viral sensation.

It looks like a training montage from a Rocky movie, minus the Survivor soundtrack. (And, interestingly, Guiliano Stroe is almost the same size as Sylvester Stallone.)...

The highlights:

0:32 -- The "Crouching Tiger" wall flip.

0:41 -- Backflips on the kitchen table. Even Richard Heene thinks that's questionable parenting.

1:43 -- Doing barbell curls with toddlers dancing to 50 Cent in the background.

3:19 -- More flipping, this time from a high bar.

3:39 -- My arms hurt from just watching that.

The pre-schooler's gymnastic skills are every bit as impressive as his weightlighting prowess. Both sports are national obsessions in Romania, so Stroe should have plenty of options when he becomes a teenager ... in 2017.

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Canadia finally set to relocate to new tower

CANADIA Bank will begin offering banking services from its new tower – the tallest in the country at 29 storeys – on November 5 after the Water Festival, a vice president of the bank said Monday.

Dieter Billmeier said the bank would use the annual holiday period to move its head office into Cambodia’s first skyscraper, which has yet to be officially opened.

“The whole head office will be moved, and we will be ready for full-scale operations after the Water Festival,” he said.

The bank’s retail operations will be housed on the ground and first floors, taking up half of the available space there, while head office staff will be housed over five storeys between levels six and 10...

Billmeier said the bank employed more than 300 staff at head office, out of around 850 people employed countrywide.

The bank had also invested a “huge sum” in upgrading its information technology systems, installing a T24 core banking system from Geneva-based provider Temenos. Only one other bank in Cambodia – ACLEDA – uses the system, Billmeier said, describing it as the most advanced banking system available. “This system is now fully operational,” he said.

The bank originally intended to open its new tower on September 9, but Chief Executive Officer Charles Vann told the Post during a site visit this month that the delay was due to unexpected complications in installing electrical and telecommunications wiring.

Billmeier said Monday an official launch date had not been decided, adding negotiations were still continuing over the composition of the rest of the floors. “It’s not 100 percent clear yet, but it will be a mixture of offices, restaurants, retail space and serviced apartments,” he said.

Vann said earlier this month that negotiations with prospective tenants were ongoing and said the company was staying firm on its well-publicised asking rate of between US$30 and $35 per square metre, “plus or minus”, for office space. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Officials prepare city for festival throngs

CITY authorities said Monday they will ban cars and buses from entering the capital for 12 hours a day during the forthcoming Water Festival, a measure aimed at coping with the massive crowds expected to rush into the city for the annual celebration.

Beginning Saturday, all cars, buses and tuk-tuks will be banned from travelling into Phnom Penh between 10am and 10pm each day.

All vehicles will also be banned between those hours in a high-traffic zone with the river to the east, Sihanouk Boulevard to the south, Norodom Boulevard to the west and Wat Phnom to the north. The measures end on November 4, the day after the festival...

“We are doing this to reduce traffic jams in the city during the festival,” said Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema.

The Water Festival, which takes place this year from Sunday to Tuesday, is one of the biggest events on the Cambodian calendar, swelling the city’s population by an estimated 2 million people each year.

This year, revellers can also expect a heavy police presence during the festival.

More than 6,500 officers, including municipal and military police, will be stationed throughout the city, said Touch Naruth, municipal police chief.
Authorities will also crack down on street vendors in the busiest areas near the river.

“We will not allow vendors to sell along the river, in front of the Royal Palace, Wat Botum and Hun Sen Park because we want to make our city beautiful, and we also want to protect the security of our high-level officials,” said Sok Penhvuth, deputy governor of Daun Penh district.

District officials are also hoping a liberal smattering of public toilets – one toilet every 50 to 100 metres along the river – will bring public urination to a halt.

“We will put about 50 mobile toilets around the ceremony area, from Hun Sen Park to Wat Phnom along the river,” Sok Penhvuth said.

In the run-up to the festival, city officials and police have also quickened an ongoing crackdown on beggars and other social outcasts, funneling them to “rehabilitation centres” in the name of security and public discipline. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Flagged for safetyRed Cross

volunteers educate an unhappy motorist about road safety laws on Sunday as part of a regular education campaign by the nonprofit organisation aimed at reducing the number of road casualties in the Kingdom.

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Fee for flu test called too high

THE family of a man who died from swine flu has accused hospital staff of charging a fee to test his relatives for the A(H1N1) virus – a procedure that officials say should be available for free.

Chuon Vanthon, 41, from Kandal province, died this month after contracting swine flu. Fearing they might have become infected themselves, his relatives asked to be tested at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, but were told it would cost them up to $200 each.

Hong Had said: “I wanted to get blood tests after my brother died because I’m worried about the health of my family, but the doctor said it would cost $200 each...if they found the virus and $150 each if the results were clear. How can I afford this with a family of 10? I don’t know why we need to pay so much money.”

Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist at the World Health Organisation, said the test should be free.

He cautioned that people seeking the test could face in-patient fees, but only if the test results were positive and the patient required hospitalisation.

Sok Touch, director of the Communicable Disease Control Department, said the test should be free irrespective of the result.

He said only people showing severe symptoms – such as high fever – should get tested, “otherwise thousands of people will take the test, and the system will be blocked.”

Chheang Ra, director of Calmette Hospital, refused to comment Thursday. (Souced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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