Water Festival Potential Booster for H1N1 Flu

Health officials say November’s Water Festival, which draws more than a million people to Phnom Penh each year, could hasten the spread of the H1N1 virus across the country.

The virus, sometimes called the swine flu, has killed three Cambodians and infected 130 people in the country so far.

Health Minister Mam Bunheng said officials had prepared 500,000 leaflets on flu prevention to inform the influx of villagers for the three day festival, schedule for Nov. 1 through Nov. 3.

Boat races on the Tonle Sap river draw huge crowds to each bank, packed tightly together, which can promote the spread of the illness, Mam Bunheng said...

“This gathering is a good chance for the virus, as they are sneezing and coughing,” he told reporters. Those who are feeling ill should stay at home until they get better, he said.

Michel Thieren, a World Health Organization representative in Cambodia, said the festival and its crowds were something to be concerned over. (Sourced by VOA News)

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Telecoms Ordered to Allow Cross-Network Calls

The prime minister has ordered telecom companies to reopen cross-network communication, in a bid to ensure fair competition in the communications industry.

In an Oct. 21 letter, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered all telecom companies to stop the practice of barring connections from one company to another or risk losing their licenses.

The denial of cross-network service was leading to chaos in the telecom market, he said...

Last month, Russian-owned mobile firm Beeline accused the high-profile MobiTel of blocking calls from its network to MobiTel customers. MobiTel in turn accused Beeline of price dumping by charging below cost for calls made by its customers to other networks.

Minister of Post and Telecommunications So Khun could not be reached for comment, and other officials at the ministry declined to comment Wednesday.

MobiTel owner Kith Meng declined to comment, and Beeline officials could not be reached for comment.

Smart Mobile spokesman Um Rattana said his firm had already received an order by the government, adding that it has respected the order.

Cambodia has more than 4 million mobile phone users, who get their service from nine different companies. (Sourced by VOA News)

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H1N1 Virus Goes Global

From Europe to Asia to the Middle East, the 2009 H1N1 virus is spreading. The World Health Organization reports the virus has killed close to 6,000 people worldwide.

"I come home from the street, take the mask off, wash and iron it and make my children do so too," she said.

Hundreds of thousands of doses of Tamiflu, a treatment for H1N1 flu, have arrived in the Ukraine, which has reported a sudden outbreak, killing at least 22.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko met the plane on the tarmac.

"A large number of the most needed medicines to treat those people who have caught flu have been delivered today," said Yulia Tymoshenko. "It is Tamiflu. I have it in my hands"

"If you want, you can say the wave has begun," said an official...

Health officials say that here in the U.S. an estimated 1,000 people have died from the H1N1 virus with roughly one million infected. Most of those cases have been tracked since September, the onset of the flu season here.

In China, because of slow global distribution of the vaccine, the government has produced its own. And it has launched a massive vaccination campaign. So have 16 other countries, including Japan and Israel.

In Afghanistan, many residents blame foreigners traveling to their country for at least two confirmed H1N1 deaths.

Health officials declared a state of emergency following those deaths.

"Whoever comes from abroad should be checked before entry, if they are well, they should be able to enter if not they should be deported," said an Afghan man.

Deporting sick travelers might not do the trick, says microbiologist Dr. Andrew Pekosz, since people can carry and pass H1N1 for up to a day before developing symptoms.

His advice to those with access to the vaccine: Get it now.

"The vaccine is safe when administered to a number of different populations and it also induces a very good immune response which should protect you from infection," said Andrew Pekosz.

He repeats that the best protection against catching and spreading H1N1 is good hygiene. Use a tissue or cover your mouth.

Health officials say to date more than 440,000 people around the world have been infected with H1N1. They say before the pandemic ends, 30 percent of the world's population may have been infected. (Sourced by VOA News)

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Health Officials Report 7 Swine Flu Deaths in Iraq

Health officials say seven people in Iraq have died from the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu.

The World Health Organization says five of those deaths occurred in Baghdad, and there were deaths in Anbar and Basra.
The WHO says seven schools in Baghdad that reported cases of the flu have been closed.

Last month, local officials closed all schools in Wasit and Dhi Qar after cases of the flu were reported in those provinces, but World Health Organization officials say the closures were not in line with the WHO's guidance...

The WHO says, as of November 1, 16 provinces in Iraq have reported a total of 904 cases of swine flu. Almost half of the 429 individuals afflicted with the virus are members of international forces in the country, but there are no deaths among those troops.

As of October 25, the WHO says there have been more than 440,000 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu in 2009. It said more than 5,700 deaths have been reported to WHO. (Sourced by VOA News)

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World Bank cuts growth forecast

The World Bank predicted Wednesday that Cambodia’s economy would contract 2 percent this year as a result of the global economic slowdown, leading to a reversal in some of the human development gains of the last decade.

The forecast, in the bank’s twice-yearly “East Asia and Pacific Update”, came as it predicted a 6.7 percent recovery for developing East Asia and the Pacific on the back of projected growth of 8.7 percent in China.

However, with China removed from the picture, the region was set to expand just 1 percent this year, more slowly than South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and only slightly faster than sub-Saharan Africa...

The World Bank predicted in April’s update that Cambodia’s economy would contract 1 percent this year.

The report estimates that 14 million people who would have emerged from $2-a-day poverty if the region’s economies had kept growing at pre-economic crisis levels, will remain in poverty in 2010. Developing East Asia includes China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and the island economies of the Pacific.

“Cambodia has been very hard hit,” Ivailo Izvorski, the report’s lead author said via videoconference from Washington. The report projects that the economic crisis could add between 1 and 4 percentage points to the poverty headcount between 2007 and 2010, even though only one-fifth of all households had jobs in sectors directly affected by the crisis.

“There is currently limited data on human development outcomes, but preliminary indications and experiences in other countries suggest that the impact will be a reversal of the very encouraging trends of the past decade,” the report said. (Source Phnom Penh Post Site)

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Baphuon temple rises

One of Angkor’s most complex rebuilds nears completion.
Siem Reap
ON a muggy afternoon in Cambodia’s ancient Angkor complex, workers in hardhats hunch over the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle, painstakingly assembling sandstone blocks.

Walled off from camera-toting tourists, the reconstruction of the 11th century Baphuon Temple is now astonishingly close to completion. “This is not easy to plan like a construction project is,” said architect Pascal Royere from the French School of Asian Studies, who is leading the rebuilding team.

Restorers dismantled Baphuon in the 1960s when it was falling apart, laying some 300,000 of its stone blocks in the grass and jungle around the site. Before the French-led team of archaeologists could reassemble the 34-metre-tall temple, the Khmer Rouge swept to power in 1975...

As the regime dismantled modern Cambodian society, even the records of its past – including those instructing researchers how to put Baphuon back together – were lost.

“The archive of the numbering system [for scattered stones] was stolen and destroyed by the Khmer Rouge,” Royere said.

“We had to face a kind of jigsaw puzzle without the picture how to rebuild it.”

Chinese envoy Zhou Daguan, who visited the Khmer kingdom in 1226, described Baphuon as “an exquisite site” with a bronze tower. Baphuon was the largest monument in the Khmer empire when it was built under King Udayadityavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Shiva.


In the Kingdom, which at one time spanned parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia, Baphuon’s size was only eclipsed only by Angkor Wat.

“I believe that when the restoration of the temple is done, a lot of visitors will climb to see it,” said Soeung Kong, deputy director general of the Apsara Authority, which oversees Cambodia’s ancient temples.

After the 1991 peace agreement to end Cambodia’s civil war, French architect Jacques Dumarcay, in charge of Baphuon’s restoration from 1964 to 1970, rushed back to the site and appointed Royere to do his old job.

Despite invaluable input from Dumarcay and others who worked on Baphuon in the ’60s and ’70s, reconstruction required measuring and weighing each block, as well as numerous drawings to figure out how each part fit.

When Royere began work on the project in 1993, grass and jungle had grown over most of Baphuon’s blocks. He spent much of 1994 trying to figure out how to approach the job.

“Each block has its own place. It can’t be replaced by another one because there’s no mortar between them and you will not find two blocks that have the same volume and the same dimensions.”
091105_05b
Photo by: Tracey Shelton
Pieces of Baphuon’s reclining Buddha about to be moved into place by crane last weekend.


It was first estimated Baphuon would be rebuilt by 2003 or 2004. Now Royere says it will take until the end of next year, but adds the hardest task – stabilising Baphuon so it doesn’t collapse – is now complete. Recent work has focused on a 22-metre-high pile of rubble that collapsed in 1971, covering a quarter of the monument.

“It was a kind of landslide mixed with blocks. In 2008 we started to dismantle it, taking care of each block and building a concrete retaining wall,” Royere said. “When you take one brick, you have to take care another doesn’t collapse. It took double the time we thought.”

Last year, King Norodom Sihamoni presided over a ceremony marking the restoration of a 70-metre long reclining Buddha. Now, Royere’s project is entering its final stage, matching parts of intricate ornamentation altered in the 16th century when stones were shifted from the top of Baphuon to build the Buddha.

“Now it’s the most interesting,” he said. “We have now the picture because we worked for a long time.” (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Site)

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Locals go 2-1 in Om Tuk card

Cambodian kickboxing legend Nuon Soriya comes up short against Japan’s Yukiya Nakamura; Bheut Kam, Thun Sophea both score decisive victories

THE cut on Harlee Avison’s nose was still fresh when he entered the ring Friday night against Bheut Kam. The stitches had come out just days earlier.

The gash gave Bheut Kam a target, and within seconds of the opening bell he whipped Avison’s head back with a straight left hand flush to the nose.

Nearly 1,500 enthusiastic Kun Khmer fans packed Old Stadium on Friday night for TV5’s annual Bon Om Tuk fight card, which this year included three international and five local bouts...

In the international features, Thun Sophea smashed Muhammed Nsugbuga of Uganda with low kicks to score an effortless first-round TKO, Nuon Soriya lost by majority decision to Yukiya Nakamura of Japan and Bheut Kam beat Harlee Avison by unanimous decision.

“Shit fight,” said Avison afterwards, the sting of defeat unmistakable on his face.

The 18-year-old from Cairns, Australia, trains out of Promthep Camp in Phuket, Thailand.

He typically fights with his father Wayne and his uncle Danny working the corner.

But Harlee flew to Cambodia with only Thai fight promoters, and the men in his corner Friday night were practically strangers.
Without his family for support, the young Avison said he struggled.

“You’re a bit more motivated, a bit more enthusiastic with friends and family in the corner,” he said.

“Here you feel like you’re fighting alone. You just want to get it over with.”

Encouraged by Avison’s lackluster performance, Bheut Kam, 22, put on a kickboxing clinic, scoring easily with hard punches to the body and vicious elbows.

By round five, he was landing five- and six-punch combinations unanswered and egging Avison on.

The Australian occasionally showed hints of power, and he shook Bheut Kam a few times with strong kicks.

He never appeared in any trouble, even after taking some incredibly hard elbows.

But he just never worked enough to be competitive in the fight.

“I could have kicked more, could have kneed more,” he conceded.

In the second co-feature of the night, 21-year-old Yukiya Nakamura of Tokyo came on strong in rounds four and five to steal the decision from Nuon Soriya, who had dominated rounds one, two and three.

“I did not think I could lose,” said Nuon Soriya, the 29-year-old veteran, afterward.

“I won rounds one, two, three and four.”

Of the five ringside judges, only one scored the fight in favor of Nuon Soriya, who while commanding the first three rounds, began to visibly tire in the fourth and appeared absolutely exhausted in the fifth.

In the third co-feature, Thun Sopea dismissed a badly overmatched Muhammad Nsubuga with low kicks, scoring three knockdowns in less than 90 seconds of the first round.

“I could feel the pain,” said Nsubuga afterward, poking gingerly at his left hamstring. “I thought it was going to break.”

Nsubuga, predominantly an English boxer, took the fight on short notice.

He was filling in for a Russian fighter listed only as “Mitery”, who did not appear for unspecified reasons.

Thun Sophea himself was filling in for Sen Bunthen, who was out of the country.

In the five local matches, Mtes Kmang drew against Rith Kao, Khan Sovan beat Lim Bunna on points, Chim Sarath dropped a decision to Cheng Rithy, Sarim Vonthon outpointed Bheut Bunthoeun and Les Tuk earned a decision over Him Saram.

Prime Minister Hun Sen gave US$1,000 to each fighter in the international bouts and $500 to the 10 local fighters on the undercard. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Two killed in severe weather

AT LEAST two people died and three others were injured by a severe storm in the northeastern province of Mondulkiri on Monday, province officials said.

Keo Horn, first deputy governor of Mondulkiri, said heavy rains began falling on the province Sunday. When a storm swept in the following day, a tree fell on a house in Pech Chreada district, killing a mother and daughter and injuring three other villagers.

“The injured villagers have been sent to the provincial hospital for treatment,” Keo Horn said.

Mau Thonnerak, provincial secretary general of the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC), identified the victims as 39-year-old Chhun Sokon and 14-year-old Kean Nary. Their home was completely destroyed, and six others were damaged. Mau Thonnerak said the CRC had given 600,000 riels (US$150) to each family affected. “We are appealing to the villagers to be careful because the weather is still foggy,” he said...

Seth Vannareth, director of the Department of Meteorology, said the storm was not connected with Typhoon Mirinae and did not pose a threat to the rest of the Kingdom. “Cambodia was not affected by Typhoon Mirinae, which is already gone,” she said.

In a separate incident, a father and his four sons died on Friday after they were electrocuted in floodwaters in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district.

Mork Tina, 18, said her 65-year-old father, Mork En, opened a ground-floor window of his home, which served as a makeshift goods store.

But after touching the metal frame, he collapsed into the floodwaters outside. Mork Tina and her four brothers ran to pull him from the water, unaware of a downed power line under the surface.

“I was hit by an electric shock and lost consciousness. I woke in Calmette Hospital, but I almost died after a doctor told me that my father and brothers had died,” Mork Tina said.

Mork Phea, 30, Mork Livorn, 28, Mork Livin, 26, and Mork Livann, 22, all died along with their father.

The bodies were taken from Calmette Hospital to Oudravadie Pagoda for cremation in a traditional Khmer funeral ceremony paid for by the Russey Keo authorities.

Kliang Hout, governor of Russey Keo district, said he opened a lock in Svay Pak commune on Saturday to drain the floodwaters into the river.

“We feel very sorry that we could not save these five men from the electric shock,” he said, adding that “now the flood ... is subsiding because we opened the lock to release it into the river”.

People living in the flood zone, however, said the lock opening came far too late.

Siang Savoeun, a 27-year-old Russey Keo resident, said: “We called on the authorities to open the lock starting on October 20, but they said they would only open it after the Water Festival. Now they suddenly opened it, probably because they thought these deaths might cause them to lose their positions.” ( Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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130 golfers set to compete Cambodian Open

PROFESSIONAL golfers hailing from 22 different countries will assemble at Siem Reap’s Phokeethra Country Club November 19-22 to compete for the 2009 Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open championship, officials announced at a press conference held in front of Angkor Wat temple Monday.

Htwe Hla Han, senior director of the Asian Tour, stated that so far over 200 golfers had registered, but around 130 would be selected to take part in the third edition of the Kingdom’s only professional golfing tournament. The sports executive noted the benefits for Cambodia of hosting such an event.

“It is good for tourism sector because the information of the competition will be posted on Web sites, and people around the world will see it,” she said, adding that the tournament winner will receive a cash prize of US$47,500...

Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said that three or four professional golfers would be representing Cambodia at the Open, although he admitted they would struggle to compete with the strong international field.

The minister also assured that the recent epidemic of swine flu had been brought under control, and the ceasing of Bangkok Airways operation of domestic routes would also not affect tourists travelling to Cambodia, as the government’s own carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air, was available for journeys.

Samuel Fischer, Johnnie Walker Southeast Asia general manager, was delighted with the development of the event over the past three years. “I truly believe we have built terrific relationships that have made this tournament special,” he said Monday.

The Phokeethra Country Club in Siem Reap has hosted the Open since its inaugural year in 2007, which American Bryan Saltus won ahead of a 144-strong field. Thai star Thongchai Jaidee – currently leading the Asian Tour – took first place last year.

Hor Sarun, undersecretary of state for the Tourism Ministry, said that in the build-up to the Open, an ASEAN plus 3, India and Australia friendship golf tournament will be held at the country club from November 14-16, featuring ambassadors and employees from embassies in Phnom Penh and Bangkok. “I am optimistic that this sport event will help promote Siem Reap and Cambodia extensively, and there will be more tourists to come and visit,” said Hor Sarun. (Souced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Pottering around: travelling the nation's roads by oxcart

TO fuel up his delivery wagon, clay merchant Ton Sophas simply pulls his cart into a field on the side of National Road 5 and lets his animals graze.

It is for this reason that oxcarts still can still be found steadily clomping their way along the busy highways around the Kingdom.

After leaving his home province of Kampang Chhnang, Ton Sophas and his fellow clay merchants will take about four days to make the journey to Phnom Penh. But for Sophas, if he can unload his wagon it will be a worthwhile trip.

Kampong Chhnang’s Rolea Bier district is famous for its clay pots, cookers, vases and toys. Though Phnom Penh is the biggest market for the goods, the old oxcarts make their laborious deliveries throughout Cambodia.

Ton Sophas can spend up to a month at a time on the road, peddling his goods in Kampong Cham, Takeo, Battambang and Siem Reap.

Although he doesn’t make the wares, Ton Sophas is part of a production and sales partnership that goes back generations. Villagers make the pots in Kampong Chhnang, and the oxcart fleet takes care of the logistics.

Ton Sophas isn’t the only person in his family making the long slow trips.

“My father does this job, and I just want to follow him,” he says.

But it can be an unpredictable life on the road, he adds. “It can be both a fun or a suffering life selling clay pots and cookers by oxcart.”

A good trip can net him 1 million riels (about US$250), but problems with his ox or cart eat away at his profit.

“Sometimes I earn money, but sometimes it shocks me when my oxcart breaks or my oxen get sick.”

And unlike motorbikes or cars, you can’t push an ox to an mechanic when things go awry. A few years ago in Takeo province, Ton Sophas’s oxen fell ill, and he was forced sell the sick animals and return home with only the cart.

Ton Sophan says he sleeps wherever he happens to be when the sun sets, and relies on locals to keep an eye on the clay creations.
“I have never been robbed, but my relatives faced gangsters who destroyed all their clay goods,” he says.

Phnom Penh is a prime location for Ton Sophas and his comrades to peddle their goods, but it’s not an easy market to penetrate. Police often prevent him from taking his cumbersome cart into the city.

Like many merchants in the Kingdom, Ton Sophas prefers to haggle on a sale-by-sale basis.

“If I see them get out of a car, I charge 3,500 riels (US$0.80) for a set of small clay toys,” Sophas says of his sales technique. “They usually ask for a discount of 500 ($0.12) – but I still get a higher price than a normal sale.”

After a few days of sales in Phnom Penh, Ton Sophas and his team head back to restock their wagons.

The empty wagon makes the oxen’s task a whole lot easier, and within a couple of days, Ton Sophas and his fellow clay men of the highways are back in Kampang Chhnang. (Souced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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Swine flu kills fourth person in Cambodia

A FOURTH person has died from swine flu in Cambodia, bringing the number of confirmed infections in the country to 239, officials said Thursday.

The capital and seven provinces have so far been affected by the spread of (A)H1N1: Kandal, Takeo, Kampong Speu, Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Chhnang and Svay Rieng.

Last week, a 51-year-old woman died after contracting the virus, bringing the Kingdom’s total number of swine flu-related deaths to four. “She had breathing difficulties before she contracted the virus,” said Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Communicable Disease Control Department at the Ministry of Health...

Cambodia’s first confirmed fatality was a 41-year-old woman who died on September 27. In early October, a 41-year-old man and a 25-year-old pregnant woman also died after contracting the virus.

Health Minister Mam Bunheng said the ministry has prepared about 500,000 information brochures, which will be delivered to the public during the Water Festival. Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday appealed to rural villagers visiting the capital for the boat races to wear masks to prevent virus transmission.

Health officials advise people to wash their hands frequently, refrain from spitting in public, use tissues to cover coughs and avoid crowds.

Individuals experiencing any symptoms such as high fevers (above 38 C), coughing, headache, muscle ache, sore throat and nose congestion should call the swine flu hotline at 115, 012 488 981 or 089 669 567. (Sourced by Phnom Penh Post Website)

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