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.

ASEAN Tourism Forum 2009 in Vietnam

The number of tourist arrivals to Cambodia increase 23.5 percent in July 2010 compared to July last year, according to statistics released by the Tourism Ministry.

The new numbers show continued tourist growth over last year. In the first half of 2010, 12.39 percent more tourists arrived in Cambodia than during the same period last year and in June, 18.21 percent more tourists arrived than in June 2009.

Tourism sector growth was lackluster in 2009 as the global financial crisis forced potential travelers to tighten their belts.

“I think we have now really seen that people are traveling again after the crisis and that easing visa restriction has helped,” said Kong Sophearak, director of the Tourism Ministry’s statistics and information department. In late 2008, Vietnam and Cambodia signed a visa exemption agreement.

Growth in 2010 has been largely fueled by an increase in Asian visitors to Cambodia, with Vietnamese tourists in particular showing a renewed interest in visiting their neighbors. More than 50 percent more Vietnamese tourists came to Cambodia during the first seven months of 2010 than during the same period last year.

Mr Sophearak said the growing number of Asian tourists arrivals was particularly heartening in light of Cambodia’s plans to host the Asean Tourism Forum 2011, a meeting of government and private sector representatives from the region.

The Tourism Ministry was scheduled to officially announce today at an event in Phnom Penh that Cambodia would hold the tourism forum starting on January 2015.

“This forum will not only bring Asean to Cambodia but also Asean and Cambodia to the rest of the world,” Tourism Minister Thong Khon said yesterday, adding that government representatives from China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia would also be attendance – the later two as observers.

According to Mr Khon, over 400 booths will be set up at the forum for tourism businesses to showcase the goods and experiences they offer. (Andrew)

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.

“Young people, even academic students, they do not read much,” he said, adding, “I hae observed the quality of Cambodian students at the university level is poorer and poorer.”

Mr Sreang, a RUPP lecturer for the past six years, said one possible reasons for this was because Cambodian students believed that finding a job “does not depend on learning, but on policital-social networks.”

But Mr Sreang cited one cause for optimism , saying that although there was a shortage of academic texts in Khmer, “Kher literature has been growing.”

National Libray Director Kholot Vibolla said at yesterday’s forum that each day some 20 to 120 students visited the National Library.

“We motivate parents to allow children to do a lot of readings not only at the National Library but also in all libraries,” she said, adding that there is a shortage of librarians across the country.

In a telephone interview after the fourm, Mak Vann, a secretary of state with the Ministry of Education, said his ministry has been working to encourage reading.

“I observe that some children and students read Khmer literature books, but they do not do a lot of reading of them,” he said. “We encourage them and make them read their books.”

Soeurn Phuthida, 21, ad English student at the Human Resources University, said she was too busy to do reading outside of her coursework.

“I do not have much time to read at the library because I am very busy,” she said.

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.”

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Internet is very popular in Cambodia now. Most of people get addicted to surfing the internet nowadays even me. I spend up to more than 8 hours sitting in front of computer daily. With speed 128kpbs provided by MetFone, vietel compay, for the unlimited promotion I can surf anytime I want.

Metfone is still in my first choice currently compare to the other ISP in Cambodia because it is cheap and affordable. Even though the speed is not really good, but it is acceptable compare to other ISP companies that provide the same service.

I have collected some Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Cambodia. I found there are so many ISP in our Country now.

1. AngkorNet http://www.angkornet.com.kh/
2. Beeline / Sotelco Co. Ltd http://www.beeline.com.kh/
3. Cambo Technology (ISP) Co., Ltd http://www.cambotech.com
4. Cambodia Advance Communications Co. Ltd (qb) http://www.qbmore.com/
5. Camintel http://www.camintel.com/
6. Chuan Wei (Cambodia) Co. Ltd http://www.chuanwei.com.kh/
7. CIDC Information Technology Co. Ltd http://www.cidc.com.kh/
8. City Link http://www.citylink.com.kh/
9. ClickNet Co Ltd http://www.clicknet.com.kh/
10. DTV Star Co Ltd http://www.digi.com.kh/
11. Ezecom http://www.ezecom.com.kh/
12. Flash Tech Co. Ltd http://www.flash-it.tw/
13. Hello http://www.hello.com.kh
14. MekongNe http://www.mekongnet.com.kh/
15. Mfone http://www.mfone.com.kh
16. NeoCom http://www.ntckh.com/
17. Online http://www.online.com.kh/
18. OpenNet http://www.opennet.com.kh
19. PPCTV: http://www.ppctv.com.kh/
20. S.I Net / Moov / S.I Group http://www.sinet.com.kh/
21. Smart Mobile / Latelz Co. Ltd http://www.smart.com.kh/
22. Star-Cell / Applifone Co. Ltd http://www.star-cell.net/
23. Telecom Cambodia (Camnet Internet Service) http://www.camnet.com.kh/
24. TeleSurf http://www.telesurf.com.kh/
25. Viettel (Cambodia) Pte Ltd http://www.metfone.com.kh/
26. Wicam Corporation Co., Ltd http://www.wicam.com.kh/
27. Wireless Internet Provider Co., Ltd http://www.wirelessip.com.kh/

Sony ICD-UX400F IC Recorder 8GB

I am very busy with my workplace because I have lots of tasks to do. I am very happy to all of that. But one think that make me difficult is taking minute. It is not difficult but not easy to take the meeting minute, but sometime I need to quote all important statement of speakers. So I decided to buy this Voice Recorder to help me to record the voice of speakers in the meeting.

This is the technology designed to help the people with workloads. This new technology helps me a lot, especially in quoting people’s words from the meeting. With this recorder I can have time to consider on speaker’s words, explanation. And it is easier for me to do the minute later.

This recorder has 3 functions: Voice Recorder, FM Radio, and MP3 Player, and Flash Memory. With the size of 8GB I can have enough musics to entertain when I am feeling stress. I can also listen to FM Radio for breaking news as well.

Features:

Price: USD 195.00
Support MP3, WMA and AAC playback
Allow recording 2145hrs 55mins (LP), 536hrs 25 mins (SP), with 8GB built-in memory
USB direct connection
New Super High Sensitivity setting
PC data storage
FM tuner/ recording
New 5-band Equalizer
Direct mic-in/ audio-in recording
Digital Pitch Control and A-B Repeat
Voice Operated Recording function
Noise Cut Feature
Windows/Mac compatible
Specifications:
Memory Capacity: 8GB
Frequency Range: 40-20,000Hz
Dimension (W x H x D): 36.6 x 98.5 x 14.6mm
Weight: Approx. 58g (included batteries)
Accessories:
Stereo Headphone
Carrying Pouch
NiMH Rechargeable Battery
USB Connection Support Cable
Warranty:
1-Year Warranty

PhotoBucket.com - Image Hosting Server

Bandwidth is a term used to describe how much information can be transmitted over a connection. Bandwidth is usually given as bits per second, or as some larger denomination of bits, such as Megabits per second, expressed as kbit/s or Mbit/s. Bandwidth is a gross measurement, taking the total amount of data transferred in a given period of time as a rate, without taking into consideration the quality of the signal itself. Throughput can be looked at as a subset of bandwidth that takes into account whether data was successfully transmitted or not. While the bandwidth of a connection might be quite high, if the signal loss is also high, then the throughput of the connection will remain somewhat low. Conversely, even a relatively low-bandwidth connection can have a moderately high throughput if the signal quality is also high. (Source).

The Slowness Loading of My Blog

Recently I found my blog loading too slow especially the homepage. I have no idea why it is this happen. I tried to search for the solution on the web and finally I found out one of the related problems. The main problem that I had was the “Photo displayed”. I always post photos in all articles in my blog and all that photos I upload to my blog server directly. Mostly I did not resize the picture size at all. I just upload the actual size and use autocrop in uploading tool instead. This images made my blog load very slow because of the traffic and also the bandwidth of my hosting was also increase remarkably.

Please note that when you upload a big size of image to your blog server using wordpress image uploading tool, the uploaded image will be cropped into Thumbnail, Medium, and Original size (screenshot here).

The Solution

To fix this problem I need to find the alternative ways to get the photos displayed in blog by not uploading to my hosting server. The best way to do this is upload all the image [that I want to post] to the Image Hosting Server (IHS) instead. I  need to edit all my article and re-upload those image to the IHS and then delete all image in my blog directory.

Uploaded Image in PhotoBucket.com

What is Image Hosting Server (IHS)

What is Image Hosting Server is the the server that is designed to host the image for sharing. People can get lots of benefits/bandwidth from this kind of server. There are lots of Image Hosting Server that you can register for free such as TinyPic and PhotoBucket. You can start upload your image anonymously or creating an account. But I recommend you to register for account for uploading because it is easy for you to manage your photos later.

To start uploading your photos, please go to PhotBucket at http://www.photobucket.com

How Does This Work

When you register and upload the picture to those server already, you just copy the direct link (see screenshot) and embed (screenshot here) it into your blog to display that image. And when you view your blog, the image that display ls linked from the IHS instead not from your hosting. So, this can save lots of bandwidth for your blog. Also, your blog will load more faster than before.

1. Have you ever tried this tip?

2. If you had, how do you think?

3. Is it helpful?

4. If you had not tried it yet, please try it today and let me know if this can help to boost up your blog speed.

Google Image Search Result

Recently I was very surprise to see Google change the displaying of Google Image Search Result. As I remember in the past when we want to search the image, the result would be appeared as Photos/Images and the title and web address display down below the image. But this time when I type the Keywords to search, I found that it displayed full of only images and when I roll mouse over the image, it will display the pop up picture that include more information such as title and web address.

You can see the example here with the Keyword of “Mega Mall”

*This surprise me

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.

Rice Practice In Cambodia

Late rains have forced a delay in rice planting in parts of the country, with farmer planting around 20 percent less of the staple than during the same period last years, officials and agricultural experts said yesterday.

Chan Heng, director of the Ministry of Agriculture’s department of administrative affairs, said local droughts had forced farmers to hold off on transplanting their seedlings onto their paddies, adding that by the end of July only 1,119,759 hectares of rice had been planted.

“It is 330,400 hectares [23 percent] less if compared to the same period last year,” when around 1,450,400 hectares were already under rice cultivation at the end of July, he said.

Mr Heng said that farmers in part of Preah Sihanouk, Kratie, Takeo, Kampot and Kampong Speu provinces were suffering from a lack of rain, while the northwesthern province had already received sufficient rain.

Kith Seng, undersecretary of state at the Agriculture Ministry, said some farmers were suffering from late rains, but added it was too early to judge it is negative impact on annual rice production. “We cannot predict it at this time,” he said.

Yang Saing Koma, director of the Cambodian Center of Study and Development in Agriculture said he was unconcerned by the lack of rainfall as there was still about one month left for sufficient rains to fall.

“It is not yet very late. It is still possible to get a good rice production if the rains fall before the end of August or early September,” he said.

Mr Saing Koma said rain had fallen recently in some of the drought-affected areas, such as in part of Kampot and Kampong Speu province.

“In the last few days I have seen farmers [there] start planting,” he said, adding he had also heard more rain was expected in coming days in some of the province where farmers were waiting to transplant their seedlings.

Mr Saing Koma noted that throughout Battambang , the province that produce the most rice in Cambodia, farmers had started planting due to early rains there.

Traffic Accidents

Traffic accidents killed 1,717 people in Cambodia last year, a 5 percent increase from 2008, a Road Crash and Victim information System report release said.

However, traffic fatalities decrease 6 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2009, Him Yan, director of the Interior Ministry’s public order department said.

In the first half of 2009, 934 people died in traffic accidents, while 908 people died in the first of this year, Mr Yan Said.

To continue this downward trend, the National Committee on Road Safety –which include the officials from the Ministries of Public Works and Transport, Interior, Justice, Health, Education and Finance – are hoping to complete a draft amendment to the traffic law next months, he said.

Proposals include raising the fine for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle from 3,000 riels [$0.75] to 20,000 riels [$5] and making helmet compulsory for passengers as well as drivers, he added.

An average of 4.7 people died on the road every day of 2009. Last year saw 21,519 reported annual road crash casualties, including 7,022 severe injuries, according to the RCVIS report, which was compiled by NGS Handicap Internal Belgium and the Ministries of Interior, Health and Public Works and Transport.

“The increase in fatalities was indirectly caused by the increase in vehicles, population and road infrastructure, so more people travel on the roads,” Sann Socheata, the road safety program manager at Handicap International Belgium, said yesterday, noting that the more direct causes were increased speeding and drunk driving.

Fatalities against vehicle numbers are higher in Cambodia than in other Asean countries, because law enforcement here is more sporadic and helmets are less widely used, Ms Socheata said.

During 2009 the fatality rate per 10,000 registered vehicles was 12.3 in Cambodia, compared to 8.6 in Laos and 3.5 in Vietnam, the RCVIS report said.

About 70 percent of fatalities in Cambodia during 2009 were motorcycle riders with dree quarters suffering head injuries, it said.

Traffic accident have a large socio-economic impact on the county and cost an estimated $248 million in 2009, according to a study by Handicap International Belgium and the Institute of Mobility of Hasselt University in Belgium.