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Vann Molyvann's Building at Institute of Foreign Language (IFL) of Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP)

Ever walk pas one of the many stunning building lining Phnom Penh’s street and wish you could step inside for a closer look? This month, some of the capital’s finest edifices will open their doors to the public for one weekend only.

“It is not a new idea. They do this in lots of countries around the world. It is just something we want to bring to Phnom Penh,” said Stefanie Irmer, director of Khmer Architecture Tours and an event organizer.

The company, in association with conservation NGO Heritage Watch, are still working on finalizing a list of buildings that will be included in the “Open Doors Phnom Penh” weekend, set for September 25 and 26, Ms Irmer said. The weekend will form part of the celebrations for the Our City festival.

She said that since this ist he first project of its type in the country, many of the private residents and institutions she asked to throw open their doors had responded with surprise.

“It’s been really difficult to ask people, especially Cambodians, to let us into their homes,” she said.

“It’s a new idea here.”

Confirmed destination include the Bophanna Audiovisual Research Center building, the Phnom Penh post office and the unfinished Vann Molyvann masterpiece known as Building on the Sothearos Boulevard in Chamkamon district, she said, one room of which will be made up to look like an apartment from the 1960s.

Building’s walls are crumbling and residents report high levels of rime, but one resident appeared eager for people to come and witness their way of life.

“It is my duty to give people the chance to look at the achievement of a Cambodian architect. It was a strong building; it displayed the great expertise of Cambodian architecture,” said Te Chhen, 69, who moved into the complex in 1983 and raised three children and numerous grandchildren there.

Tonle Basac commune chief Khat Narith said he also welcomed visitors to Building, though he expressed some concern over visitor’s safety.

“If the tour company have permission to visit, we will prepare and provide the village chief or official guard for guiding them,” he said.

Cambodian Garment Factory Workers

The Ministry of Labor plans to release an instruction manual for migrant workers and the recruitment companies that send them abroad, officials said this week, as allegations of mistreatment and abuse continue to dog the sector.

“Test Migration,” a manual aimed at better preparing workers to move abroad, will be published either this month or next month, according to Hem Bun Ny, director of the ministry’s department of manpower and employment.

“Now we have approval from the minister already, we just need to make a few changes,” he said.

The document, produced in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, provides instruction for labor recruitment firms on how they should conduct predeparture training, Mr Bun Ny said, adding that he could not discuss specific details until nearer the date of publication.

It will also contains information for the workers on the tradition, culture and laws of destination countries like Malaysia and Thailand, including information on whom to contact if they need emergency assistance, he said.

Moeun Tola, head of the labor project at the Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), said that arming migrant worker with this information would not necessarily help them if they find themselves victims of abuse.

“I appreciate the Ministry’s commitment…but how to call the embassy if the employers won’t even let them have a phone,” he said.

CLEC has been conducting an investigation into the plight of migrant workers going to Malaysia to work as domestic helpers, according to labor project program officer Hoy Pich Sovann.

The Labor Ministry is currently working on a sub-degree designed to regulate the recruitment of migrant workers, according to Ho Vuthy, deputy director of the general deparment of labor at the Ministry. Sections of the planned sub-decree – prohibiting forced detention and the practice of lending money to workers to cover their initial costs – were printed in Khmer language newspaper last week.

Cambodian Language Reading Books

Participants in a forum in Phnom Penh organized by the National Library of Cambodia and the Australian Embassy said yesterday that Cambodia lacks a culture of reading.

“Cambodia society is a society whose people do not like reading very much, and we have some reasons for this problem,” said Pal Vannrirak, director of the development of the Book Sector in Cambodia, a local NGO.

Ms Vannarirak cited poverty as one impediment ot widespread reading.

“Buying rice is necessary, not buying books for reading,” she said in her talk at the two-hour forum held at the National Library. “And if they read, they read what relates to their skills, and intellectuals only read books in the form of international languages.”

Ms Vannarirak also cited illiteracy as a stumbling block. Literacy has risen sharply since 1998, but Cambodia still trails most of its neighbors in Southeast Asia, according to the result of the government’s 2008 census, the most recent data available. The number of literate Cambodians jumped from 62.8 percent in 1998 to 78.5 percent in 2008.

In a telephone interview after his talk at yesterday’s forum, Heng Sreang, a lecturer with the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Department of Philosophy, agreed that Cambodia lacks a culture of reading.

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Storm in Cambodia

After striking Vietnam’s central coast yesterday, tropical storm Mindulle is expected to bring new heavy rain to Cambodia’s northern provinces today and tomorrow, officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said.

Oum Ryan, deputy director of the meteorology department, said Mindullle ould bring downpours, but added, “The winds will be strong but not strong enough to destroy houses like Ketsana.”

Thyphoon Ketsana ripped through northwest Cambodia last October, destroying about 62,000 hectares of paddy and seriously affecting 22,790 families, according to estimates from the National Committee for Disaster Management.

Preah Vihea province deputy governor Khoy Buntharn said yesterday that a strom warning issued on Monday by the Water Resources Ministry had been forwarded to district officials, who were instructed to warn villagers about the looming storm.

“We made the announcement to inform people about the storm so they can take measures to prevent accidents,” said Ms Buntharn, adding that it rained steadily but not hard in Preah Vihea yesterday afternoon.

The storm warning said the rains would be particularly heavy in Odda Meanchey, Siem Reap, Preah Vihea, Kratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakkiri and Mondolkiri provinces.

Exam

The Ministry of Education on Friday announce that 12^th grade students in Phnom Penh and Kandal province had outperformed students from the previous year in their national exams.

“This year, 81.9 percent of the students passed, which is higher than last year’s results, where 77.79 percent passed,” said Ou Eng, director general of the education department at the ministry.

Mr Eng said that by analyzing the exam papers, student had answered more questions on the exam than the previous year.

Student in Phnom Penh were the most successful, with a pass rate of 95.75 percent, he said.

Mr Eng said that accusations of answer sheets being leaked to students prior to their examinations, which came to an end on July 28, were untrue, as the ministry had conducted an investigation.

“After the examination, we did an investigation,” he said. “We invited the chief and deputy chiefs of the examination centers and the exam proctors to meetings and asked them about this issue but we did not find anything.”

But Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, said he was not satisfied with the results or the investigation into cheating.

“[The result] do not mean that the quality of the exam has improved because the exams were leaked during the testing,” he said, adding “The proctors cheat and take money from the students to let them see the answer sheet.”

Mr Chhun said specifically the math exam answers were leaked and he would like the Ministry of Education to investigate who leaked the answers and punish them.

According to an announcement issued on Friday by the Ministry of Education, 108,433 students participated in the national examinations. (Ch. Chansy)

Lightning

Lightning killed a woman I Banteay Meanchey province’s Malai district Monday, bringing the total number of lightning deaths in Cambodia for the year so far to 94, according to the National Committee for Disaster Management.

Koy Vy, 37, was struck by lightning at about 6 pm while carrying rainwater to a house located in a cornfield in O’Sampoar commune, deputy district police chief Duong Tum said yesterday.

“Right now the lightning is very powerful and dangerous,” he said. “We told the villagers not to go out when it rains, but it is hard for them to get out of the  rain because they are farmers.”

He added that even though this was the first reco0rded lightning-related death in the district this year, lightning strikes kill people in the area every year.

Last year, Mr Tum noted, four people were killed by lighning at once while transporting corn from their farm.

To prevent deaths from lightning strikes, local police and district officials have tried to educate villagers on how to protect themselves, Mr Tum said. He said that officials have advised villagers to turn off appliance like radios, TVs and mobile telephones during thunderstorms. He added that lighting was hard to avoid when villagers are in rice fields, where most lightning strikes occure.

The NCHM’s count of lightning deaths at this point last year was 120. While there have been fewer deaths this year due to lightning strikes, six deaths were recorded across the country this week.

“This week a lot of people were killed by lightning…most likely due to all the rain,” said Keo Vy, deputy director of information and relations for the NCDM.

My Vy said the NCDM ws preparing a document for villagers on how to stay safe during thunderstorms, adding that it would be more detailed than previous versions.

“We are preparing the presentation and we also are seeking a sponsor to print poster and booklets,” he said.

“When the villagers understand, it will help reduce the deaths of lightning,” he said.

Under draft plans presented by Cambodia aims to reduce traffic accident deaths by 30 percent in the next 10 years, with the aim of saving a total of 4,700 lives.

Last year, 1,717 people died on Cambodia’s roads, a4.8 percent increase from 2008, and this trend is set to continue as growing numbers of motorists suffer crashes and fatalities, according to a copy of the draft from the National Road Safety Committee, a working group that comprises ministires, NGOs and UN officials.

“It is estimated that unless additional actions are taken, the number of fatilities in Cambodia will increase every year up to 3,200 by 2020,” the draft said.

To achieve the desired national target maximum of 2,240 deaths by 2020, the speeding and drunk driving rates need to drop by 30 percent, while helmet usage should increase by 85 percent, it added.

Men Chansokol, deputy director of the Public Works and Transport Ministry’s land transport department, said on the margins of a draft presentation event that it would be hopefully be approved by an interministerial steering committee in September and take effect next year.

Ryan Duly, Mekong program manager at Global Road Safety Partnership, said that unlike the previous action plans, the new draft set specific targets to prevent increasing deaths on the road.

“Volume of traffic is increasing, yet driver behavior is not changing – Improve roads get people to go faster and that’s it in road safety,” Mr Duly said, adding that Cambodians driving without helmets or drunk also make the country’s record one of the worst in the region.

Chev Hak, deputy chief of the municipal traffic police office, said that the draft action plan was achieveable because many stakeholders had been involved in the process.

“The government is very concerned about this issue,” Mr Hak said.

There are plans to allocate 50 percent of fines to traffic police to reduce corruption while efforts to prevent drink driving at night are coming soon, he added.

“A big problem is limited equipment for all traffic police in Cambodia.”

Malaria Support Group Visit Community

The number of deaths from malaria in the first half of the year dropped by more than two-thirds compared to the same period in 2009, according to National Malaria Center data.

“This year, cases and deaths have decreased due to our village workers; secondly, high coverage of bed nets; and thirdly, we are not out of stock of medicine…. The decrease is very, very good,” National Malaria Center director Dr Duong Socheat said.

From January to June this year there were 21,562 cases of malaria and  38 deaths, down from 33,547 cases and 135 deaths during the first six months of 2009, said Tol Bunkea, chief epidemiologist  at the National Malaria Center.

The most affected area are Kratie, Siem Reap, Oddar Meanchey, Pursat and Ratanakkiri provinces, he added.

“There is less because this year there has been little rain and a program to fight malaria along the Thai-Cambodia border,” Mr Bunkea said, noting that distribution of bed nets and education have been scaled up.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease, and rainfall can create pools of standing water where the insects can breed.

Dr Steven Bjorge, malaria team leader at the World Health Organization, said that the decrease reflects efforts by community-based health workers to provide rapid diagnosis and treatment as well as increase bed net usage.

“This year malaria is not coming back with the rains,” Dr Bjorge said, adding that bed nets are preventing the transmission between humans and mosquitoes.

Bed-net coverage is almost 100 percent in the area where drug resistance emerged along the Thai-Cambodia border in 2007, which is now the epicenter of efforts by the national center, WHO and partner organizations to eliminate malaria-effected provinces to the east will be scaled up when a $91 million donation from Global Fund arrives in the next couple of months, he said.