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Valentine’s Day busiest time of the year for Chocolate by The Shop

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:39:22 +0100

“I don’t know where they all came from,” Griet Lorré, owner of Chocolate by The Shop says with a laugh. The first time Lorré offered special Valentine’s Day packages, a crowd of uniformed high school students descended upon The Shop on Street 240, buying up every last ribbon-wrapped box of handmade pralines.

Eight years later, Lorré’s Valentine’s Day business continues to thrive and she has since established Chocolate by The Shop, Cambodia’s first chocolate production workshop and storefront, which opened its doors in October 2007. It’s located amidst the boutiques on Street 240 in a renovated colonial building next to The Shop, Lorré’s original bakery and cafe, which has been a Phnom Penh fixture since 2001. “As a Belgian, I am convinced that every capital needs its chocolate shop,” she jokes.

At Chocolate by The Shop, Lorré strikes the perfect balance in creating a space that is artfully arranged, yet warm and inviting. “It must feel comfortable for anyone to just walk in,” she says of her shop’s atmosphere. “It should not be too posh, not too elite.” Separated from the front of the store by glass, the workshop is visible from the main display area and as customers browse the finished products, they can see the production staff at work. This open-concept design was intentional. As a former patternmaker, Lorré says, “I’ve always been involved in the production of things. I have a lot of respect for all production people, and I think they deserve to be seen. People will understand your product better if they can see what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Inside the glassed-in workshop the production team works briskly, mixing up mouth-watering concoctions to fill the waiting rows of heart-shaped chocolate molds. The air is aromatic and cool, and the steady whir of the tempering machine can be heard as it churns the rich melted Belgian chocolate to keep it at precisely the right temperature and consistency. The hot Cambodian climate presents some challenges for chocolate-making, Lorré says, as excessive exposure to the elements can affect the gloss and consistency of the chocolate, causing it to “sweat.” As a result, temperature and humidity levels inside the workspace must be carefully regulated at all times to ensure the perfect product.

Valentine’s Day is the busiest time of year for Chocolate by The Shop, and preparations for the holiday start more than a month in advance with everyone working long hours to create a themed collection of specially-packaged chocolates. Lorré’s hand-stitched Valentine’s Day menus are arranged invitingly on top of the glass display counter, and a quick peek inside reveals an array of treats both quirky and delectable. Offerings include a pair of high-heeled chocolate shoes perched on a white-chocolate stand, a wide assortment of ornamented heart-shaped boxes, and the “Magical Book of Love”—a selection of 24 chocolates in a flip-top box made to look like a hardcover volume.

Even a quick perusal of the catalogue shows that the collection has been carefully designed down to its smallest details, and it’s clear that Lorré’s previous career as a patternmaker has influenced her approach to her work. “I often compare this with my previous job,” she says, “because it was about creating a collection, seeing a product through from beginning to end.”

Prices for the Valentine’s Day items range from $1 for two milk caraques, attractively wrapped and affixed with a tiny heart-shaped charm, to $46 for a large selection of pralines contained in an edible rose-adorned box made entirely of chocolate. Customers can also order customized chocolate plates—printed with a message of their choice—to insert into any of the boxed sets. According to Lorré, the overwhelming majority of her Valentine’s Day clientele are Khmer youth between the ages of 16 and 25.

Asked about the rewarding aspects of running a chocolate shop, Lorré responds that she enjoys seeing new customers’ initial surprise give way to glee as they wander in tentatively off the street, not knowing what to expect, and are then presented with an array of delicious confections. “Chocolate,” she says with a laugh, “makes people happy.”

Technique more important than recipe for the founder of The Blue Pumpkin

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:34:46 +0100

While the ingredients alone of a classic French baguette may be a simple few, knowing how to transform them into something with the right crust and the perfect fluffy inside all comes down to technique, according to Arnaud Curtat, founder and owner of The Blue Pumpkin.

As his 12 Blue Pumpkin outlets started to gear up for Valentine’s Day, Curtat, 40, took time to explain how he was able to grow one little smoothie shop in Siem Reap, started by his Thai wife, into a real local Cambodian brand-name franchise with 250 employees.

“What makes me very proud is that we really can compete with all the international brands or any other brand coming to Cambodia. We are not afraid and we can compete easily with them. We are Cambodian-grown and we have an international style.”

The core of Blue Pumpkin’s success is Curtat’s particular attention to baking techniques especially for the basics like croissants and baguettes which traces all the way back to France where he was working at a bakery shop. He learned from a French baker : “it is not the recipe that counts – it is the technical skills. The most simple things are the most difficult to do – only four ingredients. If you don’t have techniques to do it, you can mess up everything.”

That lesson has carried Curtat forward to the present day at The Blue Pumpkin – with branches in the airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and at the particularly popular Blue Pumpkin riverside location in Phnom Penh where people can put their feet up and relax on their computers with WIFI for a few hours.

On Valentine’s Day, which is this coming Tuesday, February 14, the Blue Pumpkin team are baking 300 heart-shaped raspberry mousse cakes, ten of which contain a heart-shaped jade pendant. Those who get the pendant also get a voucher for a Valentine’s meal for two persons at The Blue Pumpkin. Also available is a bigger heart-shaped cake.

“If you buy the cake, you might win,” Curtat smiled, adding that young Cambodian men are more and more willing to spend some money on their girlfriends.

“Valentine’s Day is a huge day for young people in Cambodia. This has caught on so quick during the last three to four years,” he said.

Curtat, who was born in Lyon and grew up in Paris, met his Thai wife, Ms Sudarat Phaetkhim in 2000 while both were employed by Novotel in Phuket, Thailand. It was a natural step for both of them when Curtat got a job at Sofitel in Siem Reap as a pastry chef because both Novotel and Sofitel are brands of the Accor Group.

While Curtat worked as a pastry chef at Sofitel, his wife didn’t have a job so they opened a small place for her to work mostly selling fruit shakes.

“My wife was making fruit carvings to sell at the hotels and one of the nice vegetables to carve were pumpkins, so we thought The Blue Pumpkin sounds nice.” That’s how The Blue Pumpkin got its name.

From the first outlet in front of Siem Reap hospital, Curtat invested in an oven and a mixer and today The Blue Pumpkin has nine outlets in Siam Reap where Curtat enjoys time with his wife and three sons.

As his hard-working wife takes care of operations and staff, speaking fluent Khmer, Curtat runs the distribution centers where he employs two French pastry chefs, one in Siem Reap and one in Phnom Penh.

“All of The Blue Pumpkin is owned and managed by us,” Curtat said.

“The Phnom Penh airport is a bit different than every other place because they have one company taking care of every outlet, and they take all kinds of franchises, like Dairy Queen. They contacted us for the new airport, saying they were looking for good brands. All the standards are the same, and this is a Blue Pumpkin shop, but we don’t manage it,” he said.

As for the white interiors of The Blue Pumpkin outlets, Curtat says he remembered bakeries in France with lots of gold colour and mirrors. He made a vow to himself that some day when he had his own bakery the interior would be cool and clean and simple with an emphasis on the products themselves.

As for hiring staff, they have to speak good English first.

“For us good attitude and good feelings are very important. We feel these are more important than resume’ and background. I want my staff to be friendly. I’m proud of my staff. Cambodians are good workers and honest – more honest than French,” he laughed.

“I am very proud of our people and we keep them many years. They usually go to a higher brand name job when they leave. That makes me proud that when they leave they are going to a good job.”

Curtat’s vision for The Blue Pumpkin is to keep opening more shops with high standards of good taste and quality.

What about franchising The Blue Pumpkin around the world?

“I have lots of proposals from Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.

“What I like is that Cambodia is a very easy country and we feel welcome here. I’m not a French guy making business in Cambodia; just a guy making business. We just want to make business and make money and to grow. It is easy but you have to work hard and be serious. What we did here we never could have done in France; the way we enjoy our lives. We have three kids and can spend time with them. We have good personal and good business lives.”

Villa Paradiso offers all-day spa and pool relaxation packages

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:29:25 +0100

One of Phnom Penh’s most successful boutique hotels, the Villa Paradiso on Street 222 is offering a $55 spa package starting today in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

German owner Philipp Hoffmann says once the spa treatments are done in the quiet huts along the edge of the property, surrounded by plant life, customers can hang around by the pool all day.

“We give complementary sparkling wine on arrival and a massage with a choice of oils for 60 minutes, a facial for 45 minutes, a foot massage, Jacuzzi and pool access the whole day with free iPads and WIFI.”

Hoffman invites people to book a Valentine’s Day voucher for their sweetheart by calling 023 213720.

“We have charming garden pavilion within the setting around the pool and our aim is to provide our guests with relaxation and peace of mind for the whole day, not just for the treatment. She can come in and be pampered for the day. Our spa therapists are trained for two years, and they are excellent,” he said.

“We have five huts and one of them is a designated relaxation hut. After the treatment you can chill out with complimentary fruit platter and heated cherry stones around the neck. That’s an invention from Germany I brought,” Hoffmann said.

“You heat it up and put it around the neck and it gives you the feeling of still being cuddled by releasing heat slowly into your body without applying too much pressure.”

Hoffmann is proud of the consistently good reviews Villa Paradiso gets on the Trip Advisor website.

Hoffmann’s guests at the Villa Paradiso are 60 per cent European, 20 per cent American, 20 per cent Australian and a few local Cambodian spa guests as well.

“All our products are natural, for the facials, the essential oils and vegetables like cucumber for the facials, mango wraps, coffee scrubs and salt scrubs.”

Hoffmann says guests can read Le Figaro or The Washington Post or The Phnom Penh Post while “dipping in the shaded pool or enjoying an underwater massage in the Jacuzzi. At the same time you will be served the latest finger foods,” Hoffman said.

The Villa Paradiso’s spa is open from 9 am to 9 pm and guests are welcome to stay all day long.

U & Me Spa gives discount for couples

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:25:33 +0100

The U & Me Spa at #18 Street 306 is offering a 30 per cent discount on Valentine’s Couple Spa Packages with 15 per cent discounts on all spa packages from today until February 29.

According to director Sophear Mom Sreat, the couples package is designed to “pamper a sweet couple who wish to indulge themselves in rejuvenation and relaxation.”

Sophear Mom Sreat also has an additional health spa called Le Chateau, located at Street 63 between Streets 360 and 362.

“What we have built is a unique concept even in the building itself with a high quality of service. We are a spa and massage as a combination. We have foot massage, body massage, aromatherapy,” she said.

“We also have male therapists because some ladies like a man massage.”

“At all our outlets we have both male and female therapists,” she said.

At the U & Me Spa on Street 206, a lot of customers come on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“They can take a half day spa that includes three hours and they can take a massage for an hour and a half, a 45-minute body scrub and 45 minutes for steaming.”

“Our ambience is our strong point. We are not a massage parlor, but rather we offer relaxing massage treatment with quality service. We deliver the satisfaction to guests and that’s why they always return good comments about the treatment. We also do nails, pedicures and manicures.

“We keep our service consistent and we train our staff to be professional,” she said.

The company’s website is www.sophiyacorp.com

River cruise and beach dinner next Tuesday

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:20:06 +0100

One of Phnom Penh’s unique events companies, 360 degrees, is offering a sunset boat trip down the Mekong River to a special beach location for a Valentine’s Day dinner party.

According to George Norbert-Munns, one of the four partners behind 360 degrees, the Valentine’s Day event will begin with a 45-minute evening boat cruise, followed by drinks, music and a candlelit dinner on a sandy Mekong island, which is visible only during Cambodia’s dry season. Tables will be arranged along the beach and a buffet dinner will be catered by the Tepui restaurant.

Tickets are available for purchase at The 240, a boutique hotel located at #83 street 240, and boats depart from Phnom Penh’s riverside port on February 14 at 5:15 pm sharp. A total of 40 tickets are available for the event, which is priced at $65 per person. The ticket price includes transportation by boat as well as food and drinks for the evening. “I think it adds to the experience when people buy their ticket in advance,” Norbert-Munns says. “That way they can just turn up and they don’t need to think about money during the event.”

A newly-formed activities and events company based in Phnom Penh, 360 degrees is planning to host at least one dinner party per month and according to Norbert-Munns, they are working towards the creation of an all-inclusive “mystery” dinner party series. “These parties will be advertised for a certain price and guests won’t know the location until they get there,” he explains.

For further information about the Valentine’s Day dinner or other upcoming events, 360 degrees can be contacted at 077 555 447 or info@360deg.asia.

Valentine’s package at Amatak Beauty Spa

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:11:58 +0100

Set back from the traffic of Street 228 amidst a peaceful tree-lined courtyard, Amatak Beauty Spa provides a tranquil oasis for those seeking an escape from the dusty streets and frenetic energy of Phnom Penh.

Originally trained as a hairstylist and makeup artist, Managing Director Tang Hour has always been passionate about beauty. After refining her spa treatment techniques during a five-year stint at the Raffles Hotel spa in Phnom Penh, followed by a position as spa manager at the Sunway Hotel and some additional training in Japan, Hour decided to open her own spa where she could offer a custom variety of massage and beauty treatments.

Amatak Beauty Spa opened its doors in November 2007, and offers a range of services from body wraps and scrubs to skin care treatments and massages. “I think that spa treatments are growing in popularity all over the world,” Hour says. “Even just taking one or two hours a week for a spa treatment is very helpful for reducing stress.”

One of the distinctive features of Amatak Beauty Spa is its original line of products, which are all handmade by Hour from a variety of natural and locally-sourced ingredients including yellow ginger, coconut oil, kaffir lime, turmeric, beeswax, jasmine, Kampot salt, and lemongrass. These products, which include all-natural body scrubs and creams as well as lip balms and massage oils, are used for the majority of the spa’s treatments. Many of them are also available for purchase at the spa itself, with prices ranging from $3 to $10.

Spa-goers looking to try out Amatak’s services—either for themselves or as a Valentine’s Day gift for a lucky paramour—can take advantage of the Spa’s Valentine’s Day promotion, which is on offer throughout the month of February. Customers can choose one body scrub and one facial therapy treatment from the spa’s menu and receive a relaxing oil massage and steam room for free. The full experience takes approximately two hours, and prices range from $45 to $65 depending on the treatments selected. For those interested in improving their massage skills, Hour also offers private classes at the spa where she teaches various massage techniques.

Amatak Beauty Spa is located at #4 Street 228 (between Norodom Blvd.
& Street 51) and is open from 9 am to 9 pm daily.
Tel: 012 601 472 or 012 360 490.

Hotel Cambodiana’s sweetheart deals

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:10:37 +0100

There are several culinary treats on offer for those looking to spend an evening with a loved one at the Hotel Cambodiana.

The hotel’s Executive Chef Song Teng has prepared two Valentine’s Day dinner options. The first is a five-course candlelit dinner for two at L’Amboise, Hotel Cambodiana’s French fine-dining restaurant. This set is priced at $120 per couple and includes a glass of Kir Royal.

The second option, priced at $33 per person, is a dinner buffet overlooking the Mekong River on the hotel’s Mekong Deck. Guests will dine to the accompaniment of a string quartet and will receive a red rose upon arrival.

Should one choose to stay the night, the hotel is offering a special rate of $69 on February 14, which includes a half-bottle of champagne. Reservations can be made by contacting the hotel at 023 426 288 ext. 888.

As well, from February 10 onward, bakery and café La Brioche Dorée will be offering an assortment of Valentine’s Day mousse cakes as well as chocolates.

Adidas Promotion

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:09:46 +0100

Adidas sportswear announced a Valentine’s promotion at their Mao Tse Tung Boulevard location in Phnom Penh and their store in Siem Reap with 10 to 50 percent discounts on all items in the stores.

According to Adidas Country Development Manager Karen Castaneda, the promotion started yesterday and will last through Valentine’s Day, next Tuesday, February 14.

The Adidas group comprises TaylorMade-Adidas golf company, Reebok sportswear company and Rockport. The company also produces sports-related clothing, sunglasses, bags, watches and shirts and other accessories.

Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second-largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.

Couples package at Bodia Spa

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:05:53 +0100

Bodia Spa, located above the U-Care Pharmacy at the corner of Sothearos Boulevard and street 178, is offering a high-end spa package for couples. Priced at $125 per person for up to 220 minutes, Bodia’s “In the Mood for Love” package includes a massage, body scrub or wrap and a facial treatment in a private room set up for two with a jacuzzi tub and sauna. The room is decorated with scented candles and flowers and the tub is filled with flower petals. Reservations need to be made at least two hours in advance, and the treatment also includes a basket of fresh fruit and a half-bottle of champagne.

High-end Valentine’s Day Packages at Raffles Hotels

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:03:43 +0100

Both Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap are offering Valentine’s Day experiences this year.

Here in Phnom Penh, Raffles has a $255 package on from today until February 19 that includes a renovated suite with a private balcony, daily buffet breakfast at the Café Monivong, a bottle of champagne, as well as complimentary internet and access to the Raffles spa. Guests can check in beginning at 10 am, and check-out times have been extended to 3 pm.

The Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap is offering a three-night stay in a private villa. The $19,888 Valentine’s package, on offer until February 20, includes designer hats and a custom-fitted dress by designer Eric Raisina, personalized embroidered bathrobes, a 30-minute hot air balloon ride at sunset, a three-hour spa treatment for two, a poolside dinner with a bottle of Chateau Petrus, a champagne breakfast on February 15, and golf at the Angkor Golf Resort.

Valentine’s Day Specials at Sofitel

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:58:41 +0100

Three of Sofitel’s restaurants are offering Valentine’s day set menus for a romantic dining experience in Phnom Penh. Do Forni Italian Restaurant, Hachi Japanese, and Fu Lu Zu Chinese are each offering special multi-course Valentine’s Day set dinner menus at $88 for two.

Sofitel is also offering couple’s packages for overnight stays during the month of February including breakfast served in the room each morning, a complimentary bottle of champagne, a gift of chocolate or flowers upon arrival and a late check-out until 4 pm.

Sofitel’s So Spa is offering a 50% discount for lunch at any of the Sofitel restaurants with any facial or massage treatment, and is open from 10 am to 10 pm daily.

A perfect bloom

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:50:52 +0100

A splash of colour extends along the eastern street-side edge of Phnom Penh’s Central Market where stalls overflow with vibrant arrangements of fresh-cut flowers. Orchids, lilies, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, twining bamboo stalks, and roses of every colour are arranged in heaping baskets, inviting passersby to slow their pace and pick out a fragrant bouquet—the perfect token of affection for a loved-one on Valentine’s Day.

Roma Flowers (tel: 012 470 785 / 016 802 647), which occupies three stalls along this outdoor stretch, has been in business for close to thirty years, supplying flowers for all kinds of festive occasions. According to staff member Srey Moa, Valentine’s Day is one of busiest times of year for the shop, with customers—predominantly young men—flocking to buy bouquets of lilies and red roses. Roma offers a wide variety of flowers, and while larger more elaborate arrangements start at $10, smaller bouquets are also available and can be customized to suit different budgets.

A few meters away, Sereyroth Flowers (tel: 012 871 245 / 011 858 394), has been providing Central Market customers with fresh-cut flowers for over 20 years. Orchids, lilies and roses are among the flowers displayed in abundance throughout the shop’s two stalls, and staff can put together colourful bouquets for any occasion. Arrangements start at around $5 and can also be customized according to budget.

Bophakiri (012 865 556 / 023 217 669), located at #306 Monivong Boulevard, is another great option for Valentine’s Day bouquets, with a large assortment of fresh flowers to choose from. Owner Lim Thonthida stocks an array of roses—her most popular Valentine’s Day item—in a variety of colours and sizes. Arrangements can be viewed on the shop’s website at www.bophakiri.com.

Floral Express (023 219 029 / 023 987 108), located at #134 Preah Sihanouk Boulevard, also offers several options for Valentine’s Day gifts, and the shop has a delivery service that serves both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Arrangements are listed on the shop’s website at www.cambodiaflorist.com.

Passionfruit Martini at Rahu

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:27:15 +0100

Rahu bar manager Dorn Ouk created this fruity cocktail four months ago when a customer put him on the spot and asked him to make a cocktail that wasn’t on the menu. A couple shots of spirits and an impressive display with a cocktail-shaker later, the Passionfruit Martini was born.

Nina Loacker/Phnom Penh Post

Dorn Ouk, bar manager of Rahu, pours a Passionfruit martini. They’re addictive.

“I love the smell, taste and naturalness of fresh passion fruit,” Dorn Ouk says.

“The Passionfruit Martini is refreshing and easy to drink. It’s good for people who don’t like the alcohol in their cocktails to be too strong and over-powering.”

The Passionfruit Martini offers a fresh blend of spirits, passionfruit puree and a few cubes of ice, for an intense fruit hit with an alcoholic twist.

After a few of these babies, the smooth balance of alcohol, natural sweetness and fruity-zing promises to debauch your night in a glamorous, and seemingly graceful manner.

Despite its tantalising flavours and freshness, many eyebrows have been raised as to whether it is in actual fact a martini or not. Though served in a martini glass and given its own space on the martini menu, the Passionfruit Martini is 100 per cent gin and vermouth free. Now, I’m no martini expert, and frankly couldn’t care less what kind of drink it is in theory. I will leave it up to your cocktail palate to make the final judgement.

Cost: US$4.70 Happy hour (5-7pm, 25% discount) US$3.50
Ingredients: Vodka, Triple Sec, Passion fruit, Sugar syrup and Lime
Address: Rahu #159 Sisowath Boulevard

Coroner-sleuth quips his way to the truth in 1970s Laos

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:00:20 +0100

Author Colin Cotterill’s reluctant national Laotian coroner-cum-sleuth Dr Siri Paiboun rides again, or more accurately ambles again, in yet another improbable tale, Slash and Burn, set in 1970s Laos.

The thriller genre is a popular beast in Southeast Asia, and a gaggle of amateurish and often awful thriller writers has been whittled down over the past decade or so to a group of serious writers who have gained international repute. Bangkok is home to writer John Burdett’s famed fictional Royal Thai detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, as well as Christopher G Moore’s acclaimed private investigator Vincent Calvino; while from Singapore, Shamini Flint’s fat Sikh cop Inspector Singh roams the region.

Thriller fans mostly agree that Burdett is the superior regional thriller writer, but Cotterill is certainly giving him a run for his money, as is evidenced by the new Dr Siri series novel, Slash and Burn which was published late last year and is now on sale at Monument Books (US$18).

Thai-based Cotterill has certainly come of age as a novelist and his reputation has spread beyond the regional scene into the international publishing stratosphere.

Slash and Burn is the eighth book in the Siri series, and according to the author possibly the last, although that was also said about the seventh book.

The Siri books are as quirky and idiosyncratic as the hero himself: the septuagenarian mystery-solving Laotian coroner. In an interview in Publishers Weekly in October, Cotteril touched on the inspiration for his fictional character. He pointed to the unlikely Thai celebrity and forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip. “She has punk hair and piercing and has written some 30 gory books on her subject. I wondered what type of personality a Lao coroner would need to achieve the same reputation. And I came up with Siri,” he explained.

And of course no Dr Siri book would not be complete without the interplay with his long-suffering acerbic side-kick, wife Madame Daeng. She is described by Siri himself in Slash and Burn as, “A legend in the underground resistance forces against the French, a spy of many faces, never discovered by the enemy, a woman with an intellect so high that she married me, and the maker of the best noodles on this and probably every other planet.”

That description gives a flavour of Cotterill’s writing, for those who are unfamiliar with his work.

Slash and Burn starts off as a fairly hard-core conventional thriller with an increasingly complex plot, but descends into absurdist farce vaguely reminiscent of Florida writer Carl Hiaasen.

The plot briefly revolves around an oddball group of characters pressed into a sortie into the Laotian jungle to find the remains of a missing Air America pilot who went down with his craft at the height of the Vietnam War, or, as the Vietnamese says, the American War.

The Cluedo-like cast of characters, sans Colonel Mustard, but including a gaggle of Laotian military officers, a boorish and bombastic US senator, a rambunctious transvestite, a suspect American journalist et al, are marooned in an outpost deep in the Laotian jungle for several days where all the plot’s pieces unravel and unfold leading, as they say in the thriller genre, to the gripping conclusion.
A must read book, perfect to while away weekend hours basking by the pool in the coming hot days leading up the Khmer New Year. Having said that, this reviewer found the absurdist ending just a tad too absurd to be satisfying, but perhaps that’s just down to personal taste.

KRT spotlight returns to current leadership

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:03:20 +0100

The defence team of Brother No 2 Nuon Chea continued in its attempts to link National Assembly president Heng Samrin to its client, and, by extension, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime, during yesterday’s Khmer Rouge tribunal.

Despite a brief showdown between Trial Chamber president Nil Nonn and defence counsel Michiel Pestman, when Pestman refused to be seated as ordered, Nil Nonn granted the lawyer 30 minutes to interview his client. That right was taken away from Pestman on Wednesday after the chamber president ruled that Pestman had disrespected the bench.

The defence lawyer used his re-allotted time to ask questions about Nuon Chea’s relationship with the future CPP chairman.

The defendant said he had first met Heng Samrin some time in 1959 when he was tasked with serving as Nuon Chea’s escort to Vietnam. “He was close to me and he was rather courageous. He provided me with protection,” Nuon Chea said, adding that such trips, “sometimes once every two months”, up until the country was “liberated” in 1975.

Pestman was rebuffed, however, in his attempt to ask Nuon Chea about the role played by the senior CPP lawmaker in the liberation of Phnom Penh.

“Is it correct that Heng Samrin was a division commander in April 1975 and that he participated in the liberation of Phnom Penh?” Pestman asked.

“Nuon Chea, you may not respond to the question since it is ruled irrelevant,” chamber president Nil Nonn interjected.

Yesterday’s attempt was the second time this week that Nuon Chea’s defence team has tried to link its client to senior CPP lawmakers. On Monday, defence counsel Jasper Pauw produced an academic article, which stated that “various evidence implicates Heng Samrin in war crimes” and that “Chea Sim has been accused of being responsible for the murders of people in the district in which he was secretary”.

Also during yesterday’s proceedings, co-prosecutors attempted to disprove Nuon Chea’s consistent assertions that he never held the position of acting prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea.

Co-prosecutors produced a speech made on the 9th anniversary of the founding of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea that two international media outlets attributed to “acting premier” Nuon Chea.

Prosecutors said that, next week, they will introduce “numerous documents” showing “congratulatory messages” to Nuon Chea on his ascent to the premiership, as well as documents he signed as “acting premier”.

State’s buildings must be preserved: premier

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:03:00 +0100

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday threatened to fire two government ministers unless they dumped the idea of exchanging the state’s ageing public buildings, which he said should be preserved.

In a very public berating, delivered at the inauguration of a new government building at the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, the Prime Minister made examples of Information Minister Khieu Kanharith and Culture and Fine Arts Minister Him Chhem.

According to Hun Sen, Khieu Kanharith had asked the government to exchange the Khmer Press Agency building, while Him Chhem had suggested a similar fate for the national library building.

“If Khieu Kanharith still wants to exchange the Khmer Press Agency building, I think he should withdraw from his position; otherwise, I will remove him” Hun Sen said.

The prime minister had similar words for Him Chhem, adding that the national library building was an old building that “must be preserved”.

The government has been criticised in the past for trading its ageing buildings on the outskirts of the city for more convenient locations close to the centre of Phnom Penh.

Civil society organisations welcomed the prime minister’s stance on the state’s older buildings yesterday.

Ni Chakrya, monitoring director of Adhoc, said that although the head of government had prohibited ministry officials from exchanging government buildings and institutions in the past, many had still been swapped, including the Royal University of Fine Arts, which had been situated on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

“I think that this warning is a bit late, but it constitutes a good sign in deterring the exchange of the state’s cultural buildings, which are the national heritage for our governmental institutions,” he said.

“However, we will keep examining how effective the premier’s warning is.”

Khieu Kanharith and Him Chhem were not available for comment yesterday.

Judge wants to restart Case 003

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:02:50 +0100

Investigations in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s Case 003 are being resumed on the orders of UN-nominated International Co-Investigating Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, who has also applied for the disqualification of Pre-Trial Chamber president Prak Kimsan, the judge said in a statement yesterday.

Swiss national Kasper-Ansermet said he is under a “legal obligation to investigate” cases 003 and 004 – both opposed by the government – according to the agreement between the UN and the Royal Government of Cambodia and the laws governing the Khmer Rouge tribunal. “The International Reserve Co-Investigating Judge therefore enjoys full legal authority to undertake his functions regardless of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy’s rejection of his appointment as standing co-investigating judge,” Kasper-Ansermet wrote in his statement.

The UN supports this position, and UN Special Expert David Scheffer has said Kasper-Ansermet has “clear authority to fulfill” his duties as international co-investigating judge.

On this basis, the judge issued an order to resume the judicial investigation in Case 003, which was closed in April 2011 amid much public outcry of political interference and inadequate investigations by the two investigating judges.

The then-international co-investigating judge Siegfried Blunk resigned six months later, citing perceptions of political interference.

Kasper-Ansermet has been at loggerheads with his Cambodian counterpart, Judge You Bunleng, since Blunk’s resignation in October, and the Cambodian Supreme Council of the Magistracy has refused to accept Kasper-Ansermet as Blunk’s replacement.

Yesterday’s explosive statement from the Swiss judge is the latest in a series of combative public statements from the two investigating judges.

Contacted by the Post last night, You Bunleng said he would not comment on his colleague’s statement in detail.

“But, even until now, [Kasper-Ansermet] has no duty to do anything, as he has not been officially appointed to do his job,” You Bunleng said. “He has no right to do anything. I will check it [the statement] and decide how to respond to that.”

Sources close to the matter told the Post that You Bunleng had already began drafting a retaliatory response last night.

Kasper-Ansermet’s order to resume investigative action in government-opposed Case 003 was in line with requests made by international co-prosecutor Andrew Cayley in May 2011.

Kasper-Ansermet’s statement also said he had submitted to the Pre-Trial Chamber two records of disagreement between himself and You Bunleng over the conduct of investigation into cases 003 and 004, but that the disagreements were seemingly dismissed in an unreasoned memorandum by the Chamber, which was apparently of the view Kasper-Ansermet did not have any legal authority to act.

Kasper-Ansermet said this raised “serious concerns about the lack of impartiality of Mr Prak Kimsan, President of the Pre-Trial Chamber”. “On these grounds, an application for his disqualification was submitted to the Pre-Trial Chamber, calling upon Mr Prak Kimsan to step down voluntarily from any proceedings related to CF003 and CF004,” Kasper-Ansermet said.

Prak Kimsan, could not be reached for comment last night as his phone was switched off.

Documentation Center of Cambodia legal adviser Anne Heindel said the issue of Kasper-Ansermet’s authority to act was more of a political issue than a judicial one. “[UN Special Expert] David Scheffer’s view is that Kasper-Ansermet should be able to act, and he has the authority to continue investigations, which he has the right to continue to do unless the Pre-Trial Chamber agrees by supermajority that he should stop,” Heindel said.

Open Society Justice Initiative’s Clair Duffy told the Post that Kasper-Ansermet’s decision to resume investigations in Case 003 was the first decision in a “long time” to come from the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges that had any “integrity”. “His order outlines the absurdity of the rejection of Cayley’s investigative requests,” Duffy said.

PM ridicules SRP defections

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:02:40 +0100

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday mocked the recent defections and resignations of opposition Sam Rainsy Party members and called it proof it was impossible for the SRP to ever rule the Kingdom.

Hong Menea/Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen cuts a ribbon during the opening of a new building for the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction yesterday in Phnom Penh.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning & Construction building in Phnom Penh yesterday, the premier warned that any change of government would necessarily entail loss of citizens’ lives.

“Now wait to see Egypt, [you] suppose it is finished, people die more than before. Libya, [you] suppose it is finished…[It has changed] but not according to the goal,” Hun Sen said.

Hun Sen also called the November resignation of three SRP parliamentarians – an apparent attempt to hamstring the constitutionality of National Assembly decisions – a “wrong strategy of the party”.

The premier also called out SRP deputy president Kong Korm, a former member of Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, as forgetting all the favours the ruling regime once afforded him, including pulling him from rags in Kampong Cham province to riches as the ambassador in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi. “Don’t say that you [Kong Korm] oppose this or oppose that.... If I had a tape recorder from that time…”, Hun Sen said. On Tuesday, 10 opposition

Human Rights Party officials who had defected from the SRP five months earlier swore their allegiance to the CPP.

Former SRP senator Van Sivoeun, who led the defecting group from the SRP to the HRP and then the CPP, said that opposition parties were too embroiled in accusations to be of interest. “I go to the CPP to share in the development of the nation, correct bad to good, correct from poor to rich,” Van Sivoeun said.

Kampong Speu lake row pitting tycoon versus villagers

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:02:10 +0100

House and crops in Kampong Speu province’s Chbar Mon town will be flooded during heavy rain if a private company owned by tycoon Chhoun Kim San continues to fill Boeung Chhouk Lake, concerned families in the area have said.

In a January 31 letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen obtained by the Post yesterday, 218 families who rely on the lake for food accuse the tycoon of paying the local authorities for permission to convert the lake into land on which to build a bus station.

They allege that Chhoun Kim San colluded with Leang Mach, the wife of provincial councillor Yem Sokhum, to secure development rights; however, it is not clear which of the tycoon’s many companies is supposed to be managing the project.

Residents in the area told the Post that they had been scared to voice their fears about the lake being filled, but decided to do so recently before it was too late.

They believe they will lose their livelihoods if the lake is filled and fear torrential downpours that would usually run into the lake will flood their rice fields and houses.

Yem Kimsan, a representative of the residents, said the families were waiting for a resolution after sending the letter.

“More workers have been gathering by the day to help fill Boeung Chhouk Lake, which is at the heart of Chbar Mon town because it helps many residents make a living,” he said.

Workers began filling the lake, which covers about four hectares, in 2010, and only about 40 per cent of its water remained, he said.

“If the lake is completely filled, Chbar Mon town will have a big flood.”

Resident Seng Toch said many people earned money from the lake.

“The residents depend on the lake for their livelihood. They use it for fishing and to earn money from selling vegetables on the water such as water lilies.”

Neither tycoon Chhoun Kim San nor Leang Mach could be reached for comment yesterday.

Orphanage tag lost, but group still offering help

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:02:00 +0100

The vice-president of a Christian organisation that Social Affairs Minister Ith Sam Heng said on Wednesday would have to “cut” 70 of its 93 orphanages and turn them into community centres, yesterday denied the homes were being closed.

Sou Mountha, vice-president of the Foursquare Children of Promise, an organisation that runs church-based religious homes and is sometimes referred to as Good News, told the Post the 70 centres that were formerly orphanages had changed status but would continue to provide services to those in need.

“We are not going to close the homes down. The homes will be open and will be like a pagoda. We will welcome anyone who needs to be there – who needs food, shelter. And we pay for them to go to school,” she said.

FCOP has begun moving children out of residency from within the 70 centres in 22 provinces, though some cannot simply be relocated until her organisation was “very sure” a safe place could be found for them to live. The centres had been reclassified into alternative care facilities because they could not meet strict government criteria for orphanages – including that all residing children were actually orphans – which did not account for realities in the impoverished areas where FCOP worked, she said.

At Wednesday’s launch of a study titled With the Best Intentions, Ith Sam Heng pointed out that only 23 per cent of those in orphanages had actually lost both parents and called on NGOs to stop using children to attract foreign donations.

Seventy orphanages run by Good News (FCOP) would be “cut”, changed into community-based centres and made to stop providing residential care to children, Ith Sam Heng said.

Yesterday, Prak Chanthoeun, director-general at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, said FCOP’s 70 orphanages would not be “completely closed” but rather changed into community-based child-care centres.

Ros Yeng, national facilitator at Chab Dai, a coalition of Christian organisations, said many of the children in FCOP’s orphanages were not actual orphans, though this was not necessarily a bad thing. “The good thing is they [children] can come and are provided a living and education, and the negative is the children live in the shelter for a long, long time, and it’s very hard when we take them back to their families,” he said.

Sou Mountha said FCOP sought to eventually reintegrate children with their families and did not attempt to religiously indoctrinate them. “We’re not going to make anyone do that ...We love the Buddhist people and we have no problem with them at all,” she said.

A copy of FCOP’s project agreement with MOSVY shows the organisation will spend US$3,058,968 running the 70 community centres over the next three years.