Missing friends…
Missing friends is bad:
Emma, Mihai, and JP,
So sad… You agree?
CAMBODIA: Signatories of Paris peace accords cannot change Cambodia, Cambodians can
September 15, 2011
An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
We live in interesting times – times of great challenges, opportunities, and of creativity and hopeful changes.
This year, the 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords falls on October 23. Some people celebrate and commemorate its achievement. Others reflect on its meaning. Some others still, want the Accords to do something for them.
The Final Act of the Accords, signed by 18 governments (Australia, Brunei, Cambodia – the four warring Cambodian factions – Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam), with the participation of officials of Zimbabwe and Yugoslavia representing the non-aligned movement and of the UN Secretary-General and his special representative, sought to “restore peace” and endow “a system of liberal democracy” to Cambodia.
Cambodian monk defies his superiors to document and oppose land grabs
CÍAN NIHILL
FRONT LINE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS:GOING AGAINST centuries of tradition, Buddhist monks across Cambodia have been ordered by their superiors not to give food or shelter to the Venerable Sovath Luon, whose only crime has been to stand up against brutal land seizures.
Known in some quarters as “The Multimedia Monk” for his use of video to catch human rights violations, Luon has risked defrocking and police brutality by documenting and often leading the struggle of poor farmers in his community.
Luon spoke passionately while at the Front Line Dublin Platform about what he sees as rampant corruption around him.
His activism started after he witnessed a land grab in his village in 2009, when police fired at unarmed villagers protesting against the confiscation of their fields. Land seizures are common in Cambodia, where large tracts are being sold, often to foreign investors, for logging, agriculture, mining, tourism and fisheries, displacing thousands of people.
CAMBODIA: A look at the future of Cambodia’s youth and education
August 26, 2011
An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
In this discussion on youth, education, and Cambodia’s future, topics in vogue today, I would like to introduce some brief theoretical concepts about perceptions and reality; follow with what some regular Cambodians (whom I have not met) write; and examine some observations and survey results by several organizations. My purpose is to provoke discussion about the present situation in Cambodia.
Perception and Reality
Our unique political socialization; the information we’ve acquired; our cognition, experiences, values and beliefs acquired from different sources, do influence our perceptions and cause us to evaluate the same experiences differently from one another.
Cambodia To Host China-Asean Car Race In October
July 30, 2011 20:40 PM
Cambodia To Host China-Asean Car Race In October
PHNOM PENH, July 30 (Bernama) — Cambodia will host China-Asean car race in October this year, the first car race ever involved by Cambodia, a senior official of National Olympic Committee said Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Vath Chamroeun, secretary general of National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (COCC) said the car race is initiated by China in order to mark the 20th anniversary of China-Asean bilateral cooperation.
He said, as planned, the “2011 China-Asean International Touring Assembly and China-Asean Journalists Rally” will begin on Sept 9 through Oct 9 this year.
The rally will begin in China and go across five countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and to end up in Cambodia.
Court ruling is temporary relief
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
July 27, 2011
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Deciding by an overwhelming majority (11 votes to 5) on July 18, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, ordered Cambodian and Thai authorities to “immediately withdraw their military personnel” from what the court defined as the “provisional demilitarized zone,” around the 11th century Khmer-built Preah Vihear Temple, “to ensure … no irreparable damage” to the temple.
The decision brought a breath of fresh air to a mindless, politically motivated military standoff — a welcome, if temporary, relief.
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights welcomed the decision: “Reason has at last ruled the day.” It hopes the order will “ensure an end to the bloodshed and mass displacement” of Cambodian and Thai civilians on both sides of the border. It sees the order as a “breathing space to resolve the border issue once and for all” by Cambodia and newly elected Thai leaders.
Doubt impairs Cambodia struggle
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
Jun. 29, 2011
Doubt impairs Cambodia struggle
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Two thousand, five hundred years ago, Lord Gautama Buddha taught: “Doubt
separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up
pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that
kills.”
He said, “There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt.”
Indeed, it remains so, and it will continue to be a destructive emotion.
Doubt raises the question of trust, the fundamental foundation of human
relationships. Raise the level of doubt, increase the level of mistrust.
Respect is diminished. As the great Chinese teacher Confucius asserted,
“Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?”
This brings to mind English philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ “poor, nasty, and
brutish” kind of world: A state of nature. French philosopher Jean-Jacques
Rousseau thought that in such a state of nature, humans are mere wild beasts
driven by unbridled instinct.
on 