Chea Mony: That Demonstrations and Strikes Decreased Does Not Mean that there Are Proper Working Conditions
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 647
“Phnom Penh: The president of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers stated that there were more than 100 demonstrations and strikes held by workers in 2009, but this number is less than in previous years. However, the decline in numbers is not due to better working conditions, but due to restrictions imposed by the government on demonstrations and strikes, especially due to suppression of workers movements by the local authorities.
The Son of a Four-Star-General Said Corruption Occurs at Present from Top to Bottom
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 646
“A son of a high ranking military officer of the Cambodian government told a foreign newspaper that corruption in Cambodia occurs at present at every section of the society from top to bottom. An Australian newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, interviewed a youth whose name is Meas Sophearith, a son of Four-Star-General Meas Sophea, a deputy Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and the Commander of the Army of Cambodia, regarding his view about corruption in the Cambodian society.
The Royal Government Released a Sub-Decree about Obligatory Military Service
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 645
“The Royal Government of Cambodia issued a royal sub-decree about the conditions and modalities for a census for the recruitment, the conscription, and for the possible delays for youth who are studying, and for citizens under special conditions, and about the law for the implementation of military service.
“The sub-decree, signed by the head of the Royal Government, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, states that it aims to define the conditions and modalities for a census for the recruitment, the conscription, and the possible delays for youth who are studying, and for citizens under special conditions, and about the law for the implementation of military service. It aims to protect the territorial integrity and the national sovereignty, and contributes to the reform of the military sector, strengthening the foundation of the forces for national defense, developing citizens physically, as required by the country, and training in national defense skills.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions Become a Means for Cambodia to Ask for Money
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 642
“Criticism will have no influence in making Cambodia, a poor country, to reduce the emission of CO2 which pollutes the environment. But the provision of funds is the best way to help to reduce the emissions that lead to global climate changes.
“While the government will express its position during the discussions about climate change in Copenhagen, the coordinator at the national level of the office of climate change of the Ministry of Environment, Mr. Tin Ponlok, said, ‘We should not focus on the problems of industrialized countries.’
A 30 Years Commemoration - Civil Society in Cambodia
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 640 - Sunday, 29.11.2009
The past weak saw a special anniversary celebration, which is in no calendar of national events: 30 years since NGOs started to work in Cambodia. Nowadays, when the participation of NGOs – foreign and national – is assumed as a regular feature of life in society, it is surely not easy to understand the extraordinary nature that foreign NGOs came to Cambodia in 1979. At that time, the majority of UN member states considered the Cambodian government to be illegal. The so called “Western” countries and the People's Republic of China agreed on the point that the Khmer Rouge representative continued to legally represent Cambodia at the United Nations until 1990. Seeing this agreement between these two world powers normally not much in agreement, many Third World countries went along with this understanding. Only the socialist countries (except China) and India established diplomatic relations with the government in Phnom Penh after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. And US citizens, working in Cambodia, even if their salaries did not originate from the USA, had to pay “punitive taxes” in the USA.
Royal Railway Workers Protest over Salaries, after the Royal Railways of Cambodia Have Been Contracted over to a Private Company
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 639 - Wednesday, 18.11.2009
Apologies for the delays, which may continue for some days, as I am attending the UN Internet Governance Forum meetings in Sharm el Sheikh/Egypt with a busy schedule, in a different time zone, and then raveling back to Cambodia. I try to produce in time as much as possible.
Norbert Klein
"Phnom Penh: The Cambodian government had signed an agreement to hand over the railway to the Toll Cambodia company to conduct the rail transportation operations for 30 years; the transport operations on the Cambodian railways as a public enterprise was terminated at the end of October 2009.
"The Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Tram Iv Tek, said that of the more than 1,000 railway staff and officials, only 670 are accepted by the company to continue working, while some of the others remain under the control of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
Bus driver's life
Though everyone complains about the red and yellow buses barrelling down the centre of the road at peak hour, often oblivious to traffic and pedestrians, spare a thought for the men at the wheel.
35 year old Nguyen Ngoc Bau and 47 year old Tran VanToan are drivers for Hanoi Bus a subsidiary company of Transportation Service Company (TRANSERCO) I meet them at a tea stall at the end of their shift. They call for a third glass of iced tea and light up Vinataba cigarettes, puffing plumes of blue smoke reminiscent of the clouds emitted by their buses. Their weary eyes, drawn faces, and sweat-stained shirts are ample evidence of a hard day at work. This is the probably the most relaxed it gets for the two.
Different Opinions about a Draft to Control Civil Society
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 632 – Friday, 2.10.2009
"The draft of a law by the government to control non-government organizations, where two institutions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, are studying the draft before it is presented for adoption, led more than 200 national and international organizations to release a statement about it.
"In a statement signed by 216 local and international groups, distributed Tuesday [at an international donors' meeting], Cambodia's NGO community asked to get to see a draft of the new law that will soon govern associations and non-government organizations in Cambodia.
Report: Land Policy of the Government Affects Most Vulnerable People
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 632 - Monday, 28.9.2009
"According to a 81-page report issued on Monday last week [21.9.2009 - “Untitled: Tenure Insecurity and Inequality in the Cambodian Land Sector”], most vulnerable communities countrywide still encounter land ownership insecurity and forced evictions, even though a project has been implemented for seven years, spending millions of dollars to reform the land ownership sector.
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Cambodia National Holidays: Constitution's Day
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 631 - Thursday, 24.9.2009
The public holidays of Cambodia as announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, designate 24 September is designated as "Constitution's Day."
At this occasion, access is made available to the text of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, as presented on the website of the Embassy of Cambodia, Washington D.C., which points out: "It is not an official translation." The following selections were made considering issues on which the Khmer press touched over the years. Still, the text presented here is much longer than a normal daily publication. While selecting sections of text, only full articles, or full paragraphs, have been omitted; all full sentences presented here, including wording and spelling, are kept as found in the source quoted.