REAKSMEY KONGKEA

Tuebingen Chamber Orchestra Performs in Phnom Penh BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Cambodia and German will organize a joint concert called “Tuebingen Chamber Orchestra” on September 4 in Phnom Penh in order to exchange and promote both countries culture and their mutual good relation. They concert will be held at the Cambodian-Japanese Cooperation Center at 7:00 pm. The concert will be free of charge for all Cambodian nationals. Tickets are available at Art Café and Meta House in Phnom Penh. The joint concert is organized by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to Cambodia in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Art Foundation, Goethe-Institute, Meta House, and sponsored by Inter-continental Hotel. The concert will be presided over by His Majesty Preah Preah Karuna Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Frank M. Mann, German Ambassador to Cambodia, said that the concert is a part of the cultural exchange between the Ki...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA A total of 48 Cambodian media officers from different ministries, and 22 cities and provinces have participated in a photojournalism training conducted over five days from the 24th to the 28th of August in Phnom Penh. The training was organized by the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Cambodia Scene, participants where government’s media officers as well as Cambodian photographers. Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information, stated that the 5 day training was meant to expand the abilities of Cambodian media officers and journalist. The Ministry offered this training so that the employees in the day to day work field would keep up with the development and the progress in the media field in Cambodia. The training aims to instruct Cambodia’s media officers about their duties and responsibilities. The training offered inst...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Phnom Penh is a city that is rapidly developing; entertainment, culture (traditional as well modern) and architecture are becoming more and more visible and accessible in our capital. In the twenties the city was renowned for its beauty and tranquility, and nicknamed: “the pearl of the East”. The civil war and the troubled period after damaged the architecture and development and put a hold on all cultural activities, but recently initiatives have been popping up to restore Phnom Penh to its former beauty and make it once more the cultural hot spot of Cambodia. The Java Arts/Java Café & Gallery in collaboration with the French Cultural Center (FCC), Meta House, Khmer Architecture Tours and Mith Samlanh has organized an exhibition that will combine architecture, film, photography, sculpture and dance in order to show the rapid changes of the urban environment in Phnom Penh. The project is i...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA On the August 27 to August 31 a Nationwide Boxkator Competition is being held at the National Stadium in Phnom Penh. Almost 300 boxers, form 18 different boxkator clubs and associations form across Cambodia will be competing. The boxkator competition is organized by the Cambodian Boxkator Federation (CBF), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport (MoEYS) to preserve and promote boxkator which is a Khmer traditional martial art for the next generation. Keo Thearith, 19, a boxkator fighter from Siem Reap is attending the boxkator competition in Phnom Penh. He is one of the new generations of Cambodians preserving their cultural heritage. Thearith said that he was happy to attend the competitions this year. “It is my first time to attend the boxkator competition in Phnom Penh. Although I am not experienced in fighting but with hard training and strong commitment, I will try my best to fight and win the competition,” he said. Hok Chheang Kim,...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Since early June of this year the first ever Cambodian speeding camera’s have been in use. Up till now there have been 80 cases of speed violations. The drivers had their vehicles confiscated, and only after their owners paid the fine, were the vehicles released. The use of speeding camera’s is part of a bigger operation where in the Government in collaboration with national and international NGO’S is trying to increase road safety. Other measurements taken are the enforcing of helmet and mirror use laws, as well as strict control on drunken driving. Recently the police in Phnom Penh have been provided with breathalyzers. Road safety has become such an issue in Cambodia that Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen addressed it in a speech he made during a graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh on August 12. In his speech the Premier made an urgent appeal to all motorbike riders to wear helmets and use properly installed mirrors fo...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said that the private educational sector has been assisting the Royal Government of Cambodia to promote and develop education in Cambodia. “The private sector has had a strong participation in the developing and strengthening of educational quality and therefore the quality of human resources in Cambodia,” he said during his opening remarks at a graduating ceremony at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh on August 12. According to the Prime Minister the private sector has done a great job promoting education and so produces the future scholars and qualified work forces of Cambodia. “Besides the government’s investment, the private sector invests and the family of students investing in education, he said, adding that all of this showed the common goals of the Cambodian people and the Royal Government of Cambodia.” The Premier said due to hard work and the efforts of many people and organizations, the educational ...

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Fresh back from his year in China Thay Sokun, 20, is enjoying a well deserved vacation with his family in Phnom Penh. The past year he spent in China, he studied Civil Engineering at the Tianjin University (TU). With one year of education at The University of Cambodia behind him, he was able to beat 500 candidates for the scholarship, in the exam set by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport in early July of 2008. While studying at UC he passed a scholarship exam that has opened the door to another five years of study in China. After being a very successful Samdech Hun Sen–Handa scholarship student at The University of Cambodia (UC) in 2007, he jumped at the chance to study abroad. “I decided to apply for this scholarship because I want to make a valuable contribution to the Kingdom of Cambodia. Armed with Chinese education I felt I would be able to improve social developments, infrastructures and engineering in Cambodia’s future,” Sokun stated. Since he em...