Rubber Plantation in Kom Pong Cham province

On 27th March, 2011, I went to Kompong Cham with a close friend. We showed up in Kompong Cham around 10 or 11 a.m. At that time, we met many rubber plantations’ workers waiting for collecting rubber. They are so friendly and cheerful. When we seemed closer and closer, we asked them about how to maintain and plant the rubber trees. They told us that rubber trees can exist maybe 35-year-old and rubber trees can provide rubber since rubber trees are 3 years up to.

A day in the life of artists http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011032347536/LIFT/a-day-in-the-life-of-artists.html

I spent a day with NIGHT MARKET painter May Sak
I spent one and a half hours chatting with a young painter at the Night Market near the riverside. Dressed in jeans and a long- sleeved-shirt, this young painter May Sak, whom I have known since I joined in the Cannon party at the Korean Center, is a senior student at the Royal University of Fine Arts, and painting is his major.

I met Sak around 5:45pm. He was waiting for me because we had made an appointment for 5:30pm. When I showed up at his booth, it seemed quiet as it was early in the evening, so people had not come out yet.
Sak has to spend his nights painting for people who go to buy something at the Night Market. Every Friday to Sunday evening he must come to his booth to prepare his paintings and other items.

After Sak had prepared all his stuff, he told me: “Besides me, we have others painters, maybe three booths in the row, but they do not study with me at all, we just know them and we work on paintings here.”

His job is not easy – he had to wait for someone to come to his booth so he can draw them, but I was there for almost one hour and no one showed up.

He seemed a little bit sad, but he still cracked some jokes to encourage me to stay longer. “As a painter, I am not like a photographer since a painter can paint whatever and whenever they want, not only in the middle of the day, but also in the middle of the night.”

The sky was getting darker and darker, but I still did not see any customers come to his booth. Some people just walked over and looked at us, but then kept going. What about the other painters nearby us? They were also looking forward to making some paintings, like Sak.

Due to a lack of customers, professional painter Sak recalled that on Friday he did not have many customers. He said he only gets about three customers each day. However, he has had good days when he gets up to seven customers.

I asked him how he draws pictures and if he uses pencils and water colours. He told me that painting with water colours seems quite easy because there was no need to leave spaces. With black and white drawings using pencils, he must leave some spaces to make the pictures more visible.

While we talked his phone kept ringing, but he never took the calls. Perhaps he did not want to be rude to me. Sak said his paintings can feed him and sometimes he can save US$200 per month, but now he has to feed his two younger brothers. He cannot save a thing, but he has enough, he said.

Although I did not see any of his drawings, I still learned a bit about how to paint pictures. I think I will go back to the Night Market again to see him painting.

The ultimate business smartphone Nokia E7 now available in Cambodia

Maybe it seems a little bit advertising time but it is real production that all of you should know.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia –Nokia Cambodia announced the arrival of a latestbusiness smartphone modelNokia E7 in the Kingdom at agrand launching eventyesterday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Held at Studio 182, above Topaz Restaurant, the event ignited excitement among some 60 participants including members of the local media and prominent corporate people from both local and international companies. They were all fascinated about how powerfulNokia E7was in meetingtheir professional and private needs.

Nokia E7 is equipped with a 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen display featuring Nokia’s ClearBlack technology. Business users will find that it is the perfect shape and size to work on documents, review spreadsheets, or read and edit slides. With Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync on board, the Nokia E7 provides direct, real-time and secure access to corporate email inboxes and other personal applications.
The device captures High-resolution photos and HD video with the its 8 megapixel camera and dual LED flash and provides a wide range of music, games and socials apps. It also supports 3G networks and Wi-Fi connections.

Estimated retail price at US$650, Nokia E7 will be available from 19 March 2011 in two colors, black and silver andaccording to Nokia’s representative, Nokia would present a Nokia Mobile Holder, a Nokia Mobile charger and a pouch to the first 100 corporate consumers for every purchase of Nokia E7.

If we have New world, what should we do?

As we kn0w about Tsunami event, we all feel nervous to live in this world. Many people always write their status are they need a new world to live in happiness families, warmness and hopefulness.


We all (Cambodia people and others) are with you (Japanese). Though we cannot do somethings for you, we just pray for you. We want to see you is as vivid as usual.
Thanks for your pictures.


http://www.google.com/images?q=Tsunami+in+japan&hl=en&prmd=ivnsu&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=_vqBTYLTConfcejcuJUD&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1007&bih=557

My memorial event

On 8th March, 2011, I went to shoot the pictures in Sa Ang district, Kandal province. It was amazing in my life because I could take the picutres I love. And I practice what I have learned so far about how to capture the picture both action and stand life.

I met many farmers, who have been taking care their plantation. The farmers are soft-hearted, friendly and helpful. Oh, I went there with my classmates maybe 16 photographers including me.




I met many farmers planing vegetables, some are maintaining their plantation(Sugar cane, Sweet corns and Papaya)

I wrote this article with friend Ngo Menghourng

Ngo Menghourng talks to literary types in the Kingdom to find out where the next great Camboidan story might come from

Sitting on a chair and smiling in front of the Khmer Writers Association, Sok Chanphal, a 27-year-old author and song writer, was showing his new novel Winter Love to other writers to get their feedback.

Winter Love costs 6,000 riel and it is about love during the winter.

To write a good novel is not easy and the author has to know how to develop a story and write well.

Chanphal, who has written novels for two years and has many readers, said he can make his novels interesting and popular with his readers because he always uses simple words and correct grammar, making them easy to understand.

“I also write jokes or funny sentences or paragraphs to add colour to my novels,” he said. “Most novels don’t have real pictures or photos, but mine do.”

Tell of the lamp, The letter of love, Gentlemen love, and Winter love are the titles of Chanphal’s novels, which are on sale to the public.

All his novels have become popular and have gained a lot of support among Cambodian youth.

“I always receive good comments or praise via phone calls, text messages and Facebook,” he said.

By looking at the real situation of Cambodian society, Chanphal is interested in writing love stories in his novels. He uses his imagination and reflects what happens in society.

“What my audiences like, I will do,” he said. “I also want to educate my readers about love as well.”

A different author is Neang Sotheary, a 20-year-old writer and student at the Royal University of Law and Economics, who has written seven novel and books on philosophy, but none of her novels have been published.

“I have prepared two of my titles to be published and I hope that I will get success,” she said.

Sotheary does not like structuring stories like other writers, she like writing straight away whenever she has ideas.

“If we structure our story, it seems we put more pressure on ourselves,” she said.

All writing should not be too complicated or too simple, it should be an interesting piece and easy to understand, she says.

“After I have finished my writing, I always revise it again and again and I also print it out in order let my friends and teachers evaluate it,” she said.

Being afraid of losing Khmer literature, Touch Kimsreang, the president of the association supporting Khmer Literature and Culture, said the association has cooperated with the government in efforts to preserve Khmer literature and culture.

The association supporting Khmer literature was formed to support Khmer literature and culture via the media, and its aims are to conserve and develop Khmer literature and culture and to bring more unity to Khmer literature.

Kimsreang said that novels which are written by young writers have their strong and weak points because they use their own new styles and structures.

He explained that their strength is to help conserve Khmer literature and culture, and writers can make their readers understand this. The weak point is the readers cannot pick up on the main thrust of the stories.

However, he said he feels stressed about some Cambodian people and writers because they cannot write the words correctly, read or speak correctly.

“They don’t know how to produce or create new words or phrases,” he said. “They just use words, or phrases, which are borrowed from foreigners.”

It is not only Kimsreang who worries about Khmer literature, but also Neang Kanitha, 29, another writer, who received three award from the Nou Harch collective competition.

She said there are too many technological words writers use, which is a good signal for Khmer literature, but those words cause concern at the ministry if the writers do not use them properly.

“Some words that people use when they talk and write do not make sense such as thank you big big, which will harm Khmer literature,” she said.

Nevertheless, having worked carefully on his writing, Sam Sophearin, who has written 33 novels, has become a famous young author in Cambodia.

The novel The sun rises, written by Sophearin, has received an award from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Art.

Sophearin has finished writing nine novels which have been published and are on sale.

He said his novels became famous because of his vivid descriptions of death – he does not use the word die but instead says “stopped to breathe forever” or “stayed on the bed forever.”

He added that good stories have to be meaningful and the stories have to flow.

Someone who has enjoyed reading Sophearin’s novels is You Sophea, another famous young writer.

This month You Sophea, who has written 31 novels, has released a new novel called Don’t cut and don’t kill my love.

He said his novels are different from each other because they include all tastes of life and he always plays with the obscene or mocks words in order to make his stories become more interesting.

He added that in the past writers liked using long descriptions, long anecdotes, long narrations and a lot of metaphors to attract readers. However, now writers prefer to keep things short because readers do not have much time.

People cannot make a living writing novels due to piracy, the law on copyrights and the limited number of readers.

“I don’t think I could survive writing novels, but I do it because I love it,” Chanphal said.

I listens in to a new radio show, out of Battambang, that is all about issues related to youth

Wednesday, 02 March 2011 15:01 Touch Yin Vannith

One week ago, I went to Battambang province to join in an open broadcast on the Youth Voice radio programme that was broadcast live in Battambang University.

Apart from me, one of my classmates also participated in this event as we were the representatives for youth from Phnom Penh and media students.

Before this event came up, I had been in UBB and had met some students studying agriculture. They had potential, were helpful and friendly when I met them for the first time and they talked to me like I was an old friend.

The open broadcast Youth Voice programme is a unique radio show organised in cooperation between ABC International in Cambodia and FM 92.70 MHz Cham Kar Chek Radio. They also have a talk back show called Light of the Region.

I was proud to be part of the programme and work with the event organisers who created the open broadcast in Battambang University where more than 300 students participated. All of them could ask questions directly to the guest speakers and other audience members could call in.

However, at this open broadcast the presenters looked a little nervous because the open broadcast format was new for them and they had to deal with many people around and the technical systems had some problems.

Despite these problems, I thought that it was a strange radio programme because I am obsessed with listening to the radio. But I had never heard a radio program where they spend one hour talking and something play music.

After the event finished, I talked to the team leader from ABC International in Cambodia, Nheata Roth. He told me that it was a unique radio programme using the best format.

This show is broadcast for two hours every Friday from 10am till 12pm and has many guest speakers and youth discussing youth issues.

After I talked to the ABC team leader, I called young female presenter and news reader Yim Saoya, who I knew when I was in Battambang. She also told me that she had never presented this type of programme and that is was strange for her. She used to present a talk show and said that was fun. Sometimes she just says something and the guest speaker shares their experiences.

But she said the Youth Voice programme wants young people to say what they think about society and they can learn and get crucial information freely.

The Youth Voice show does not always talk to guest speakers and then talk to youth only. They have a precise format and they divide their air time into diverse sections.

Nheata Roth added that he is proud of his co-workers at Battambang as the programme they work very hard to make the show a success. Although they do not get any incentives or any support from NGOs, they still volunteer to make this programme sustainable.

“We have just been providing them with technical training and equipment as long as they need. We really appreciate the fact that they can pursue this programme by themselves in the long term,” Nheata added.
He will organise similar programmes in other provinces if he can get more funds and the result of the evaluation in Battambang turn out well.