WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014 Successful People Read The Post 4000 RIEL

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NATIONAL PAGE 3 BUSINESS PAGE 7 WORLD PAGE 15
Closed DVD shops
put raids on pause
For some rms,
bribes part of life
Snowden says
hed do it all again
Cheang Sokha and
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
POLICE are investigating the second
case of stolen Buddhist relics since
December after thieves broke into Wat
Ounalom near Phnom Penhs River-
side in the early hours of yesterday, a
senior official said.
Mok Chito, director of the Ministry
of Interiors central justice police
department, said five gold-plated stat-
ues, a pair of elephant tusks and some
copper urns were stolen from the
pagoda, a popular tourist site.
They [the thieves] broke the win-
dow of the temple and took out all this
stuff, he said. The monks learned
about the loss at about 3am, so the
thieves took the statues before that.
A team of investigators had been
tasked with recovering the items but
so far had not identified any suspects,
Chito added.
Proeun Soeun, a monk at the pago-
da, said the stolen items had been
stored in a reception area, where
monks had discovered the window
smashed.
That area, Soeun added, was used for
welcoming delegations and was not
Relic theft
at temple
in capital
May Titthara and Kevin Ponniah
P
RIME Minister Hun Sen yes-
terday accused the opposition
Cambodia National Rescue
Party of hypocrisy, claiming
that although the CNRP has pushed
garment workers to strike for no less
than a $160 minimum wage, party
leaders pay their own bodyguards,
drivers and cooks half that.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy
rejected the accusation, saying that
while only allowances were given to
guards and drivers for whom he
claimed accommodation, food and
medical care was provided any full-
time CNRP employee living at home
was paid at least $160 a month.
CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann, how-
ever, said all bodyguards and drivers
were volunteers, picking up only $5 a
day to spend on food when on trips to
the provinces and living at their own
homes when in Phnom Penh.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony
at the National Institute of Education
yesterday morning, Hun Sen reiter-
ated that the nation could not afford
a minimum wage of $160 a month.
Without naming the CNRP or Rain-
sy directly, he added that those who
have promised $160 are not practising
what they preach.
They only just raised [their own
employees pay] to $80. This is not in
line with the demand of $160. The
people who live with them get only
$80, his bodyguards and drivers get
just $80 and his cooks are in a more
difficult situation, he said.
They are paid 250,000 riel [$62] per
month. So they did not agree to live
with him and they went home, so now
he needs more [cooks] . . . as far as
I heard.
Before promising $160, why
doesnt he pay people around him
[this much]?
Rainsy yesterday said he found it
amusing that the premier pretends
to know the salaries of all the employees
in my party and in my household.
Actually, he got it wrong, because
the minimum salary of anybody work-
ing in the party or my household is
Only paying lip service
Continues on page 6
Continues on page 6
CNRP accused of wage hypocrisy
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has
reopened an investigation into the
high-profile slaying of union leader
Chea Vichea in 2004, a court official
said yesterday.
Prosecutor Sok Roeun said the
courts head prosecutor began rein-
vestigating the case early last month
in response to an order from the
Supreme Court.
That order, he added, was delivered
in September as part of the verdict
acquitting Born Samnang and Sok
Sam Oeun, two men wrongfully
imprisoned over Vicheas murder.
The municipal prosecutor has
already started the reinvestigation but
it is not yet finished, Roeun told the
Post. So far, we have invited some
police officers for questioning in rela-
tion to this case.
Roeun would not reveal any more
details about the investigation or how
long it is expected to last.
Vichea, the outspoken and opposi-
tion-aligned leader of the Free Trade
Union (FTU), was shot dead in Phnom
Penh on January 22, 2004, at a news-
stand close to Wat Lanka. The man
who pulled the trigger escaped on a
motorcycle with an accomplice.
Vichea had only just resurfaced from
hiding after receiving a death threat
linked to a high-ranking official.
The following year, Samnang and
Sam Oeun were sentenced to 20 years
in prison for Vicheas murder, despite
no evidence that they were in Phnom
Penh on the day of the shooting.
The Supreme Court ordered the two
mens provisional release in early
2009, but the Appeal Court sent them
back to prison in December 2012.
They were finally acquitted on Sep-
tember 25 last year.
The revelation that the municipal
court was reinvestigating the murder
came after Kao Ty, the lawyer for
Vicheas family, received an official
copy of the verdict from Samnang and
Sam Oeuns final hearing, he said.
To find justice for Chea Vicheas
family, I encourage the Phnom Penh
New look
at Vichea
murder
Continues on page 2
Maintenance personnel work under a makeshift shelter earlier this week at a section of Preah Vihear temple that
was damaged during clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces from 2008 to 2011. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Mending old wounds
STORY > 5
National
2
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Planned strike
delayed; some
vow to press on
Mom Kunthear and Shane Worrell

S
IXTEEN of 18 union
groups planning the
biggest industrial ac-
tion since security
forces shot dead at least four
people in January agreed yes-
terday to postpone a stay-at-
home garment strike until af-
ter the Khmer New Year.
The ofcial reason given was
that workers had expressed
fear of being left broke and
unable to return home for the
holidays.
Some union leaders, however,
said they were concerned over
disunity between the strikes
organisers, while another said
unions needed the extra time
to rethink their strategy when
it came to rallying workers and
securing a $160 monthly mini-
mum garment wage.
Pav Sina, president of the
Collective Union of Movement
of Workers, said workers would
now hold a stay-at-home strike
from April 17 to 22.
There were eight people
who appeared at the meeting
today, and we decided to delay
the strike on the suggestion of
the members and workers,
he said.
But Rong Chhun, president of
the Cambodian Confederation
of Unions, said his group, along
with the Cambodian Alliance
of Trade Unions, disagreed with
the postponement.
I will not abandon my plans,
even if not all workers join. But
I hope all my members about
8,000 will think the same as
me, as well as workers from
other unions, he said.
But questions are now being
asked about the extent to which
workers support the concept of
mass strikes in the future.
Unions had predicted up to
30,000 would attend a public
forum planned for the capi-
tals Freedom Park last Satur-
day. When government forces
blocked their entry, the num-
ber of protesters was only in
the hundreds.
Chhun said the small turnout
was a result of disunity among
the unions rather than work-
ers fears of more violence.
Coalition of Cambodian
Apparel Workers Democratic
Union vice-president Kong
Athit said the postponement
would give unions a chance to
reassess their strategy.
We have not been well pre-
pared, he said. We need to
work on this.
But Athit was condent the
unions would ultimately be
successful in their demands
for $160 as they had the sup-
port of at least half the gar-
ment workers more than
200,000 people.
Chea Mony, president of the
Free Trade Union, said he was
concerned that the unions
disagreed over how to secure a
minimum wage rise.
But the workers should
make a decision to strike by
themselves they do not need
to depend on us, he said, add-
ing that the small turnout on
Saturday merely showed work-
ers did not want confrontation.
Political analyst Kem Ley
said that regardless of support
for unions, workers would con-
tinue to strike so long as the
underlying problems such as
low wages and poor working
conditions remained.
Even though four or ve
people were killed . . . the work-
ers are not scared, he said.
Court looks again at Vichea murder
Continued from page 1
Municipal Courts prosecutor
to speed up . . . the reinvestiga-
tion of this case, arrest the real
killers and bring them to justice
soon, he said. The case has
been in the courts for about 10
years and until now, the courts
have not found justice for Chea
Vicheas family.
Theories that Vicheas mur-
der was orchestrated by figures
in the government have
endured ever since his death.
Most notably, in 2006, dis-
graced former municipal police
chief Heng Pov told French
news magazine LExpress that
the killing had been organised
by top officials.
Despite the reinvestigation,
Vicheas brother, current FTU
president Chea Mony, said he
holds little hope that the killers
will be brought to justice.
I dont expect they will iden-
tify the names of the real killers
the government and the
courts seem to have no real
intention to do it, he said, add-
ing that to do so would impli-
cate high-ranking government
officials. From what Ive seen,
the judges have not followed
professional practice they
have just followed the orders of
their superiors.
Opposition Cambodia Nation-
al Rescue Party lawmaker-elect
Yim Sovann, a friend of Vicheas
who was on the scene just min-
utes after he was gunned down,
also doubted that the investiga-
tion would expose the truth.
The people behind the kill-
ing are very powerful, he said.
I dont think they can find the
real perpetrators . . . like a lot of
other cases.
The reinvestigation, Sovann
added, was designed to divert
attention from the political
deadlock, a reference to the
oppositions boycott of the
National Assembly following
the ruling party being awarded
victory in last Julys election.
I dont think the Ministry of
Interior and the court have the
political will to solve this case.
Council of Ministers spokes-
man Phay Siphan said the gov-
ernment was playing no role in
the reinvestigation.
The court is exercising its
duty, he said. The govern-
ment wants to see justice
served. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY
SHANE WORRELL
A member of the public pays her respects to slain labour rights leader Chea Vichea in Phnom Penh in
January, on the anniversary of his death. SCOTT HOWES
We have not been
well prepared.
We need to work
on this
National
3
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
KRT grants
consent for
Thai travel
Stuart White
THE trial chamber of the Khmer
Rouge tribunal has granted
former defendant Ieng Thirith
ex-Khmer Rouge minister of
social affairs and wife of her late
co-defendant Ieng Sary per-
mission to travel to Thailand for
medical treatment after a recent
fall left her unable to walk.
In a filing dated March 7 and
posted to the courts website
yesterday, the chamber notes
that Thiriths daughter had
notified them that Thirith on
1 March 2014 fell off of her bed
exacerbating her already-dete-
riorating conditions and caus-
ing her sustained severe pain
and that since her injury, she
has not been able to get out of
bed or walk on her own.
The filing states that a doctor
recommended Thirith be trans-
ferred to Thailand from her
home in Pailin province, and
that a routine CAT scan on Feb-
ruary 19 had found evidence of
two mini strokes.
Though Thirith was found
unfit to stand trial in Case 002
due to advancing dementia, the
court maintains judicial super-
vision over her, and has the
power to restrict her travel.
DVD shops close before raid
Sen David and Stuart White

A
HANDFUL of stores
in Phnom Penhs City
Mall closed up shop
yesterday morning,
draping large curtains over
their storefronts rather than
face an impending police raid
on businesses allegedly selling
pirated movies there, police
and other vendors said.
The aborted raid came less
than two weeks after Prime
Minister Hun Sen issued a
directive ordering the forma-
tion of an inter-ministerial
committee to be led by the
Ministry of Culture and Fine
Arts to curb the distribution
of illegal pornography and un-
licensed copies of movies, ac-
cording to a copy of the direc-
tive obtained yesterday.
A police ofcial who spoke
on the condition of anonymity
said that yesterdays raid was
called off because we saw the
owners had closed the shop.
We will continue [the crack-
down] when the owners open,
he added.
A cosmetics vendor who
asked to be identied only as
Chanda, and whose shop is on
the same oor as the alleged
bootleg DVD sellers, said that
rumours of the police crack-
down circulated yesterday
morning in City Mall.
Every day they open as
usual, but this morning there
are six big shops at City Mall
that are closed, she said. I
heard from other sellers that
this morning the police would
crack down on CD and VCD
shops. Thats why I think that
maybe they seemed to know
beforehand that there would
be police coming to crack
down on them.
Nareth Ung, president of
the Motion Picture Associa-
tion of Cambodia a trade
body representing licensed
movie distributors Westec and
Sabay said he led the com-
plaint against the six City Mall
vendors not simply because
they were selling bootlegged
DVDs, but also because they
were also allegedly distribu-
tors of pirated copies to other
vendors.
A DVD store just one oor
down from the curtained-off
vendors was conducting busi-
ness as usual yesterday.
That guy is small, Ung said.
Yeah, eventually hell have to
be notied, but I dont want to
touch the small guys, just the
big guys.
According to Ung, closing
down copyright violators isnt
just about making money on
licensed DVD sales, but also
about creating jobs by attract-
ing lm productions.
And not just the foreign-
ers, but the Cambodians too.
If they cant make any money,
theyre going to stop produc-
ing movies in Cambodia, he
said, going on to acknowledge
that licensed DVDs would cost
vendors more, but bring high-
er prot margins.
A DVD vendor in Phnom
Penhs Boeung Keng Kang I
commune who said he sold
both bootlegs and originals
maintained yesterday that the
bootlegs sell very well, but
added that it might not be the
case for long.
I heard recently that the
government and Hun Sen are
taking care of this case, so I
dont show the copies in the
store, he said. I only sell them
in secret.
A store in Phnom Penhs City Mall has a sheet drawn over its entrance after it shut to avoid an impending
police raid on pirated CDs and DVDs yesterday. PHA LINA
Phak Seangly and Daniel Pye
D
OZENS of trucks,
bulldozers and exca-
vators have pushed
Var Sokhoeurn to
the edge of his remaining land
at the Lower Sesan II dam site
in Stung Treng provinces Sre-
pok district.
When Post reporters visited
Sokhoeurns family last month,
much of his land, where he
grew cassava and other crops,
had already been dug up with-
out his consent.
Speaking yesterday, Sokheu-
rn, 56, said the diggers of Lower
Sesan II Co Ltd had further
encroached onto his property.
Another three hectares of our
farmland has been bulldozed. I
could not stop it, he said.
The machinery operators
work from dawn until dark,
locals said, breaking only for a
quick lunch.
Ung Nem, a construction
worker at the site, said yesterday
that Sokheurns house and
farmland was scheduled to be
cleared in the coming days.
The forest is logged, burned
down, and cleared more and
more, Sokheurn added.
A logging concession for the
dam and reservoir site was
granted to the Royal Group,
which also has a joint venture
to operate the dam with Chinas
Hydrolancang International.
Following a suspension of the
contract on October 16 due to
allegations of illegal logging,
which locals say was ignored
on the ground, the Council of
Ministers has still not heard
back from the Ministry of Agri-
culture, Forestry and Fisheries
about an investigation that was
ordered into the claims.
Phay Siphan, spokesman for
the Council of Ministers, said
yesterday that attempts to con-
tact the Agriculture Ministry
over the order to suspend the
contract had failed.
Theyre too busy. I could not
get a hold of them, he said.
Thun Sarath, spokesman for
the Ministry of Agriculture, said
the ministry had demarcated
the logging concession, but any
investigation would take time.
The demarcation has fin-
ished. They [erected] the poles
for the boundary, he said. I
think the government [will]
assess about the area and it
should be investigated again.
There should be a report [sent]
to the prime minister. We have
to do that later on.
But Meach Mean, of local
campaign group 3S Rivers Net-
work, said the reality happens
on the ground; its different
from the government [plans].
Illegal logging is still the same,
and its still not clear who is
monitoring the process.
National
4
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Save the Children is the worlds leading independent organisation for children. We
work in around 120 countries to achieve breakthroughs in the way the world treats
children. Save the Children has been working in Cambodia since 1970. We focus
on Education, Child Protection, Health, Child Rights Governance and Disaster Risk
Reduction as well as Emergency work. We work with government partners and
local NGOs to improve childrens live especially marginalized and disadvantaged
children. Save the Children is looking for a qualied and motivated candidate to
ll in the position of Director Fundraising, Awards Management, and
Communications based in Phnom Penh with occasional travel to the eld.This is
an exciting opportunity to be involved in Save the Childrens work in Cambodia as
we are growing our portfolio to reach more children and improve childrens lives.
The Purpose of the Role
As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) in Cambodia the Director of
Donor and Fundraising, Awards Management and Communications shares in the
overall responsibility for the direction and coordination of the Country Ofce.
The Director of Fundraising, Awards Management and Communications, in his/her
capacity is responsible for providing leadership to ensure excellence in working with
Save the Children members and their donors, in both emergency and development
contexts. The position will ensure the highest standard of proposal development,
donor reporting, awards management and communication for the Country Ofce.
Qualications
A general appreciation of the issues concerning the INGO sector with an
in-depth knowledge in either awards management, communications, marketing
or fundraising.
Recommended (but not a requirement) a minimum of 5 years NGO management
experience preferably with Cambodia experience.
Demonstrable track record of leading change which has led to signicant results
for the organisation and their stakeholders
Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including inuencing,
negotiation and coaching
Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international
environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets
Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner
Experience of building personal networks, resulting in securing signicant new
opportunities for the organisation
Excellent writing and presentation skills in English are essential
Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours, and
work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies
Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, denition of a clear way
forward and ensuring buy in
Commitment to Save the Children values
How to apply
A detailed job description is available from our website or at the address below.
Please submit a CV and cover letter by email or post to the Human Resources Team
at Save the Children no later than 17.00 on 19
th
March 2014.
Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer. Electronic submission via
email or our website is strongly encouraged. Qualied women and disable people
candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Only short listed candidates will be
notied and called for interviews. Application and CVs will not be returned.
Vacancy Announcement
Director Fundraising, Awards
Management, and Communications
Save the Children: P.O. Box 34,Villa 5, Street 242, Sangkat Chaktomouk,
Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Phone: (855) 12 777 482,(855) 23 223 403/4/5/6, CCC Box 59,
Email: jobs.cambodia@savethechildren.org / website: http://cambodia.savethechildren.net
:ir-ii:a:-i.s:rs:.ia.iz oa-si
THE NGO FORUM ON CAMBODIA
Job Advertisement: Deputy Executive Director (in charge of
program)
Do you have solid advocacy experience and excellent management
and leadership skills? The NGO Forumon Cambodia is a unique
membership organization consisting of local and international NGOs.
It exists to coordinate and equip members, networks of NGOs, and
other civil society organizations to actively engagein policy dialogue,
debate, and advocacy on multiple issues including land and natural
resources management, environment and economic issues with and
for poor and vulnerable people in Cambodia. The NGO Forumis
seeking qualied Cambodian candidates to ll the position of Deputy
Executive Director (in charge of program).
Overall responsibility
TheDeputy ExecutiveDirector (DED) is afull-timestaff member of
theNGO Forum, who reports to theExecutiveDirector. Themain role
of DED is to ensure the efcient and effective implementation of
theNGO Forums current action plan to achieveat least 80% of
their required indicators with resources available. Theposition
requires technical advocacy inputs, strategic direction and strong
communication with members, Donors, Development Partners
and theRoyal Government of Cambodia.
Qualication Requirements
Masters degree in relevant eld, 5 years experience in
management, planning, monitoring and evaluation of
development projects, or relevant Bachelors degree with 8
years experienceas above.
Excellent organizational management skills.
Excellent writing skills in both English and Khmer.
In-depth Knowledgeof advocacy techniques and strategies.
Good knowledge of the development issues affecting
Cambodia.
Good understanding of theroleof NGOs in civil society.
Good understanding of thedifferent impacts of development
on women and men.
Teamplayer, with good interpersonal skills.
Familiar with standard computer applications, Khmer font
typing skills also desirable.
Not afliated with any political party, nor holding any
government position.
Qualied and interested candidates should submit CV and cover
letter with expected salary to theNGO Forumno later than 01
st
April
2014 (5:00 pm) via e-mail to job@ngoforum.org.kh, mentioning
clearly the position to which they are applying. For more details
about the NGO Forum and Job Description please visit our website:
www.ngoforum.org.kh. Only short-listed candidates will becontacted.
Women and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
The Kingdom of Cambodia
National Religion King
National Committee for Sub-National Democratic
Development Secretariat (NCDDS)
Job Announcement-Short Term Consultants
The NCDD will design a second three year phase of the Natonal Program
on Sub-Natonal Democratc Development. Program design is expected to
take place from April to July 2014 with approval by the end of September.
To ensure broad ownership across government and a high degree of
consensus between government, civil society and development partners, the
formulaton will involve a contnuous series of facilitated consultatons. The
overall objectves of this formulaton exercise are to:
carry out, supervise and coordinate analytcal work based on
external and internal studies, evaluatons and reviews of core
components of the reform program; these are expected to lead
to clear recommendatons for how design and implementaton of
the next phase can be improved;
by discussing performance of the rst phase and holding
extensive discussions with stakeholders, identfy the main
constraints to progress during the rst phase, draw a clear set of
lessons learned, and outline optons and strategies for resolving
these constraints;
facilitate a contnuous series of consultatons with stakeholders
at the natonal and sub-natonal levels to: rst establish strategic
program targets to be achieved by the end of the next phase of
implementaton and second to develop strategies for how the
program targets can best be achieved;
based on the above, draf a program document covering the entre
period of implementaton setng out goals, objectves, outputs
and phased implementaton schedules; identfying insttutonal
and implementaton arrangements; a M&E framework and a
table of assumptons and risks.
The compositon of the design team will consist of ve experts under the
overall management of a Team Leader. Overall and individual Terms of Reference,
as well as the necessary qualicatons for each assignment, are available on
the NCDD website at: www.ncdd.gov.kh/jobsprocurement. To undertake
this work, NCDD is therefore seeking three experts, as follows:

An HR/ Capacity Development Expert (Internatonal) for 45 working 1.
days over a period of 4 months.
A Formulaton Team Facilitator (Natonal) for 60 working days over 2.
a period of 4 months.
A Gender Expert (either Natonal or Internatonal) for 36 working 3.
days over a period of 4 months.
Suitable applicants interested in applying for the above assignments
should send their CVs either through express mail or email (from 08:00am
to 17:00pm, Monday to Friday), to the following address:
Ms. Kim Vann (kim_vann@ncdd.gov.kh) or Ms. Ung Chandany
(chandany@ncdd.gov.kh)
Natonal Commitee for Sub-Natonal Democratc Development
Secretariat (NCDDS),
Ministry of Interior, Norodom Blvd., Khan Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh,
CAMBODIA
The closing date/tme is 12:00 hours, 26
th
March 2014. Women are
strongly encouraged to apply.
Dual citizenship for
lawmakers attacked
Vong Sokheng and Daniel Pye
LEGISLATION should be
amended to prohibit elected
officials from taking office if they
hold dual citizenship, according
to senior Cambodian Peoples
Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap.
Yeap on Monday said that the
office of prime minister should
be reserved exclusively for Cam-
bodian nationals, but yesterday
expanded the call to include all
elected lawmakers.
For the seat of the prime
minister and for lawmakers,
they should have only Cambo-
dian citizenship in order to
ensure their loyalty, he said.
Yeap admitted that some CPP
elected officials hold dual citi-
zenship, but said he was una-
ware of the exact number.
I am not sure how many CPP
officials hold dual citizenship,
but I know it is not many.
The opposition Cambodia
National Rescue Party yesterday
hit back at Yeaps comments,
saying that a more pressing
issue the CPP should look at was
illegal immigration.
Yim Sovann, CNRP spokes-
man, said that the granting of
economic land concessions to
foreigners and the flow of
immigrants from abroad should
be a higher priority.
I think the CPP should pay
attention to illegal immigrants
. . . and human rights abuses,
he said. Foreigners come here
to control the land, [the govern-
ment gives] 99-year land con-
cessions to the foreigners. This
is the real issue.
Sok Sam Oeun of the Cambo-
dian Defenders Project pointed
to the apparent hypocrisy of a
senior CPP official making such
a statement, when elected CPP
representatives hold foreign
passports. If they pass this law,
its against the unity of all Khmer
people. What about the former
prime minister exiled in anoth-
er country? Do they commit a
crime? he asked.
I think many CPP [officials
hold dual citizenship]. Chheang
Vun is also from abroad. He
holds two nationalities. I think
[Minister of Commerce] Son
Chantul [is] also from abroad.
Sovann said that the CNRP
would not pay much attention
to the statement made by Yeap.
[Our goal] is not about dual
citizenship, its about fighting
corruption. We need to find a
way to peacefully resolve the
deadlock, he said.
Sam Oeun said: If they want
to propose this, I think they
should also propose the prime
minister only has two terms.
Familys world shrinks daily
A woman carries water in February in Stung Treng provinces Srepok commune, where the Lower Sesan II
dam is planned. PHA LINA
National
5
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Disease
research
boosted
Amelia Woodside
A RESEARCH facility dedicat-
ed to emerging and re-emerg-
ing infectious diseases was in-
augurated by Institut Pasteur
du Cambodge in Phnom Penh
yesterday.
The new building will operate
as a training centre for national
and international researchers,
continuing the more than 60
years of research conducted by
the institute, according to the
French embassy, a nancial
backer of the facility.
It will also provide oppor-
tunities for a large curriculum
of training for students with
Bachelor, Master and PhD
degrees in cooperation with
national, regional and inter-
national universities, a state-
ment said.
France provided close to
$800,000 to nance the new
facilities, the rst secretary for
the embassy, Nicolas Baudou-
in, wrote in an email.
The centres inauguration
precedes a two-day forum on
communicable infectious dis-
eases, chaired by the Minister
of Health Mam Bun Heng,
that boasts internationally ac-
claimed experts.
P Vihear temple under repair
Vong Sokheng
W
ORK is nally
under way to
repair damage
to Preah Vihear
temple caused during clashes
between Cambodia and Thai-
land more than two years ago,
ofcials said yesterday.
Long Kosal, deputy director
of the National Authority of
Preah Vihear, said a restora-
tion project has been ongoing
since February 10, focused on
strengthening stone strafed
by bullets during clashes be-
tween Cambodia and Thai-
land over the disputed temple
from 2008 to 2011.
UNESCO agreed to the proj-
ect and our ofcials have had
. . . an expert on stone con-
servation helping us to repair
and monitor the strength and
quality of the stone, he said.
We are not sure about [how]
serious the impact of chemi-
cal substances from the weap-
ons is, but if we dont repair
the temple, it will be ruined,
he added.
Kosal could not say how
many bullet holes the temple
sustained in the clashes but
said there are many parts of it
much in need of repair.
UNESCO could not be
reached yesterday to conrm
its involvement in the restora-
tion project.
Chhim Sovantha, a heritage
police ofcer at Preah Vihear
who guards the temple, said
that last week dozens of of-
cials from the Apsara Author-
ity and Preah Vihear Authority
came to the temple for several
days to clean bullet holes left
in the stone.
With the cleaning process
now over, ofcials are expect-
ed to return to ll in the bul-
let holes in the coming weeks,
though their exact schedule is
unknown.
I am not sure when those
ofcials will come back to re-
pair the holes, Sovantha said.
I dont know why they came
now, but maybe its because
both Cambodia and Thailand
agreed to respect the order
of the International Court of
Justice [ICJ] handed down last
year and the situation along
the border [is] calm now,
he added.
In November, the ICJ ruled
that Cambodia has sovereign-
ty over the territory of Preah
Vihear temple conrming a
1962 ruling by the ICJ which
awarded the temple and its
vicinity to Cambodia but
left its boundaries in dispute
and ordered Thailand to with-
draw its military personnel
from the area.
However, when asked if the
move to repair the temple
is related to the ICJs ruling,
Kosal of the National Author-
ity of Preah Vihear said: It is a
technical mission . . . we have
to fulll our obligation to the
conservation of the temple. We
are not considering border af-
fairs [or] the order of the ICJ.
Council of Ministers spokes-
man Phay Siphan said he was
unaware of the details of the
restoration project.
I dont know any details
about this project, he said.
[Preah Vihear] temple is the
responsibility of the local au-
thorities.
Hong Soth, director of the
Preah Vihear Authority, and
Bun Narith, director of Apsara
Authority, could not be reached
for comment yesterday.
A section of Preah Vihear temple is cleaned earlier this week in preparation for repairs. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Ex-con looking at third
stay in the big house
THE third time was definitely
not lucky for a Takeo province
ex-con. On Monday, just a few
weeks after the 45-year-old
was released from prison
his second stay in the gray-
bar hotel - he walked by a
farm and spotted an unlocked
moto. Old habits called and
the thief tried to whisk away
the bike, but Tram Kak dis-
trict residents were quick to
put an end to the mischief
and called police, who made
the arrest. KOH SANTEPHEAP
Bumper bike banditry:
a messy way to steal
TWO thieves played a round
of bumper cars to snag their
target on Monday. Spotting a
lone rider driving through
Phnom Penhs Por Sen Chey
district, the duo chased after
and crashed into him. The
34-year-old victim fell off his
moto and then scrambled to
pull the key out of the engine.
The robbers beat the man,
threatened him with a gun
and then took off into the
night. KAMPUCHEA THMEY
Mob-bashing used to
tourists advantage
SCORE one for the tourists
after a potential phone theft
gone awry left two suspects
battered and bruised. The
Canadian traveller was using
his phone to take a picture in
the capitals Chamkarmon
district on Tuesday when two
men on a moto swooped by
and snatched the device. The
tourist called for help, and
nearby motodops and tuk tuk
drivers came to the rescue,
giving the crooks a sound
thrashing before police inter-
vened. KOH SANTEPHEAP
A drink is one way to
de-stress, meth, another
FIVE men looking for a high
have instead found them-
selves singing the blues
behind bars. The group had
regularly gathered at a rental
in Phnom Penhs Sen Sok dis-
trict where they took meth-
amphetamines together. But
police raided the home on
Sunday, catching the men
along with five small packag-
es of ya ma and various
drug paraphernalia. The men
all confessed, admitting they
took drugs to release stress
after work. KOH SANTEPHEAP
Grand Theft Auto style
robbery doesnt pan out
A BATTAMBANG moto thiefs
success was short-lived after
police caught up with him
just an hour after the crime
on Monday. The 24-year-old
had seen a teen in Ratanak
Mondol district sitting on a
motorbike and talking on his
cell phone. After punching
the distracted moto owner off
his bike, the suspect zoomed
off on the wheels. The teen
called the police immediate-
ly, and blocked roads gave
the suspect nowhere to go
but jail. KOH SANTEPHEAP
Translated by Phak Seangly
POLICE
BLOTTER
National
6
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
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Corner of Sihanouk and SothearosBlvds., 12301 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Position Level Duty Station Deadline
Business Development Consultant LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
Electrication Engineer LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
Water Engineer LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
Project Finance Expert LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
Risk Management Expert LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
Environmental and Social Consultant LICA7/IICA-2 Phnom Penh 25-Mar-14
CNRP only paying lip service over wages: CPP
Continued from page 1
$160, he said. He then clarified that
this wage applied only to full-time
workers who lived at home and were
not provided food, accommodation or
healthcare by the party.
Rainsy could not provide the num-
bers of workers who fell into each cat-
egory, but said anybody who comes
on a regular basis and works every day,
eight hours a day, like a worker was
paid $160.
His guards and bodyguards mostly
fell outside of this category, he admit-
ted, but were provided with pocket
money and mainly lived on party
premises.
When asked how these employees
could support families without a set
monthly living wage, he said that
most of them, I think all of those on
a permanent basis, they dont have
families . . . [Or] some who are mar-
ried, they dont come to work on a
regular basis.
I know also some of my bodyguards
do other jobs; they moonlight as tuk-
tuk drivers for example.
Long Ry, chief of CNRP security, said
bodyguards and drivers employed by
the party receive more than $80 a
month when per diems and donations
from opposition party supporters were
taken into account.
Chao Tol, a deputy commander at the
prime ministers elite personal body-
guard unit, said he could not divulge
how much Hun Sens own guards were
paid.
Kong Athit, vice-president of the
Coalition of Cambodian Apparel
Workers Democratic Union (C.CAW-
DU), said that while the CNRP should,
in principle, pay all its employees
$160, it could not be compared to
something like the profit-making gar-
ment sector.
Political parties are things to pro-
pose policies for the future of the coun-
try . . . not a place to make money. If
the CNRP has money and they dont
pay their technical staff, they should
consider this, he said.
But if they dont have money, they
have to [work with] the reality . . . It
cannot be compared to the garment
sector, which is a business.
Vietnamese
loggers face
charges, jail
Phak Seangly
A GROUP of 15 Vietnamese
nationals detained by ethnic
villagers last week were charged
yesterday with illegally crossing
the border and logging luxury
wood from Phnong commu-
nity forest in Mondulkiri.
The Pech Chreada district vil-
lagers allege that they spotted
more than 20 men logging in
the community forest about 10
kilometres from the border.
The 15 men were turned over
to authorities on Saturday.
They were questioned one
by one and finally were charged
in connection with [illegally]
logging and crossing the bor-
der, said Sou Sovichea, provin-
cial deputy prosecutor.
Chhit Sophal, director of the
provincial environmental
department, said that the con-
fiscated evidence including
seven chainsaws, four tractors,
timber, a rifle and nine motor-
bikes has been impounded at
his office.
Provincial police chief Nhem
Vanthy said the loggers confes-
sions hinted at more suspects.
We will continue investigat-
ing the case of their accom-
plices, Vanthy said.
Borei Keila suit filed
Khouth Sophak Chakrya

S
EVEN people from the
capitals Borei Keila
community alleg-
edly injured by baton-
wielding security forces last
month, a pregnant woman
among them, led a lawsuit
against Prampi Makara district
authorities yesterday.
The seven were among a
group of dozens of families vio-
lently removed from a building
on February 14 after occupying
it without permission two days
earlier, claiming that authori-
ties were marking out smaller
parcels of land than what they
had promised them.
According to Has Sokchen-
da, 35, one of those claiming
injuries, all seven plaintiffs
led lawsuits against district
governor Som Sovann, deputy
governor Lem Sophea and
director of security forces Prak
Hak, as well as the more than
30 security guards that took
part in the eviction.
Standing among 50 support-
ers from the Borei Keila com-
munity rallying outside Phnom
Penhs Municipal Court yes-
terday, Sokchenda, now eight
months pregnant, described
how soldiers kicked her stom-
ach and knocked her uncon-
scious during the eviction.
I think that the crackdown
that day was set up to inten-
tionally kill me and my [un-
born] baby, she said.
Choa Sophea, 29, another
plaintiff, said yesterday that
security forces had struck her
in the face, then beat her un-
conscious while she had been
feeding her newborn baby.
This is not the rst time
Borei Keila residents have
led lawsuits against district
authorities, said governor
Sovann yesterday.
Its the peoples right and
the courts responsibility to
work on the peoples lawsuit,
but we are ready to shed light
on this case in court, Sovann
said.
Last month, after blocking
off the road into Borei Keila at
about 7am, helmeted military
police and district security
guards stormed the site, where
many of those violently evict-
ed in 2012 continue to live in
tents among piles of garbage.
After the clash, a fence was
erected in front of Building
9, owned by developer Phan
Imex, the company that failed
to honour a contract signed in
2003 to construct 10 buildings
to house displaced villagers.
Land rights activists stand near the Municipal Court in Phnom Penh
yesterday in a show of support for people who were injured during
evictions at Borei Keila in February. PHOTO SUPPLIED
I know also some of my
bodyguards do other jobs;
they moonlight as tuk-tuk
drivers for expample
Relic theft
at temple
in capital
Continued from page 1
an area monks stayed in. Fur-
thermore, he said, it was locked
day and night.
The Buddha statues that were
stolen were offerings from Sam-
dech to the Great Supreme Patri-
arch [Tep Vong], he said, refer-
ring to a title used to describe
Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The incident follows the theft
of an urn containing remnants
of the Buddha from Kandal
provinces Oudong Mountain in
December.
The urn was later recovered
from a house in Takeo province,
leading to the arrest of Keo
Reaksmey, 24, who is accused of
the theft, and a 39-year-old
woman accused of buying the
melted down gold from other
statues stolen from Oudong.
Following that theft, four
security guards and a villager
were arrested. They were sent
to prison on charges of theft
after police found Buddhist
artefacts stolen from the
mountain in 2010 in one of the
guards houses.
www.phnompenhpost.com
CHECK THE POST WEBSITE
FOR BREAKING NEWS
Sarah Frier
W
ALL Street ana-
lysts are racing
to keep up with
Facebook Incs
stock rally.
Shares of the worlds biggest
social network have jumped
32 per cent so far this year,
compared with a 1.6 per cent
gain for the Standard & Poors
500 Index. The surge has left
the 49 analysts who cover Fa-
cebook in a bind, while 38 of
them recommend the com-
pany with the equivalent of a
buy rating, 21 of the total now
have share-price targets below
where Facebook is trading, ac-
cording to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
That translates to an aver-
age 12-month price target of
$72.46 for Facebook, less than
1 per cent above the com-
panys closing price of $72.03
on Monday. With the stock
advancing more rapidly than
anticipated, the price targets,
many of which were calculat-
ed in 2014, with several dating
back to last year, would suggest
that analysts on average see
little upside to the stock. That
may force some of the bulls to
adjust their projections, with
two analysts boosting their
price forecasts on Monday.
Facebook stock has just
ripped past expectations,
said Richard Greeneld, an
analyst at BTIG in New York,
who in October recommend-
ed buying the shares with a
$68 target over the next 12
months. At the time, Facebook
was trading at $49. Were very
happy with our rating upgrade
to buy, but it has all happened
super fast, he said.
Tucker Bounds, a spokes-
man at Menlo Park, Califor-
nia-based Facebook, declined
to comment.
Facebooks stock surge un-
derscores how the companys
prospects have improved fol-
lowing its rocky stock-market
debut in May 2012. Chief ex-
ecutive ofcer Mark Zucker-
berg weathered a 50 per cent
drop in the companys stock
price in the months after its
initial public offering at $38, as
investors questioned whether
Facebook could come up with
a mobile strategy with users
increasingly accessing the
social network from smart-
phones and tablets.
Since then, Facebook has
pushed into mobile advertis-
ing. In January, it reported
quarterly results that beat es-
timates, with more than half
of ad revenue coming from
mobile devices. Last month,
Facebook ramped up its mo-
bile business by agreeing to
purchase WhatsApp Inc for
as much as $19 billion in cash
and stock, betting on the mo-
bile-messaging startups large
international user base to ac-
celerate growth.
While it isnt unheard of for a
company to trade above its av-
erage analyst price target (74
companies in the S&P 500 did
so as of March 10) according to
data compiled by Bloomberg)
Facebook stands out because
of how analysts almost unani-
mously agree their clients
should buy the stock.
The company gets a 4.6 out
of 5 in recommendation con-
sensus, which is how strongly
analysts agree on whether
a stock should be bought or
sold. That puts Facebook in
about the top 5 per cent of
the S&P 500, according to
data compiled by Bloomberg.
None of the analysts covering
Facebook rates it a sell.
Those who track Facebook
vary in how frequently they
update their price targets.
John Blackledge, an analyst at
Cowen & Co, has changed his
target six times since last June,
while Dan Salmon, an analyst
at BMO Capital Markets, has
done so three times in that
period. Facebooks stock has
traded above the average ana-
lyst price target several times
in the past year, including
during most of the month of
September.
One analyst who unveiled
a new price target yesterday
was Eric Sheridan, an ana-
lyst at UBS. He changed his
12-month goal for the social
network to $90 the highest
among all who cover the stock
up from a $72 target in Janu-
ary. Last April, his price goal
was $26, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
We continue to favour Fa-
cebook as a core large cap
Internet holding for excellent
revenue growth at reasonable
multiples to growth, Sheri-
dan wrote in a note to inves-
tors yesterday, adding that
Facebook could reach $112 if
it beats revenue estimates and
advertisers gravitate towards
new products.
Thomas Forte, an analyst at
Telsey Advisory Group, also
raised his price target for Fa-
cebook yesterday to $82, up
from $70.
Facebooks rally to $72.03 a
share has already left it trading
at 122 times trailing 12-month
earnings, making it more ex-
pensive than 98 per cent of
all companies in the S&P 500,
according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
For some analysts, Face-
books stock rise alone isnt
enough to justify a higher
price target.
You need to have a reason
to adjust valuations beyond
just because the stock has
moved, said Colin Sebastian,
an analyst at Robert W Baird
& Co, who has a buy rating
on the stock and last changed
his price target ve weeks ago
to $65 from $54. We con-
duct eld checks and surveys
throughout the quarter to as-
sess business trends.
Still, he said Facebook has
plenty of wind in its sails.
The company is experiencing
positive momentum in their
mobile and advertising seg-
ments, Sebastian wrote in an
email. BLOOMBERG
7 THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Business
Malaysian
rm joins
power line
assembly
Eddie Morton
MALAYSIAN company Pestech
International Bhd has won gov-
ernment approval to build an
$86 million power transmis-
sion line from Preah Sihanouk
province to Phnom Penh.
The companys subsidiary,
Pestech Cambodia, in a joint
venture with local firm Alex
Corporation (ACCL), will com-
mence designing, engineering
and constructing the 198-kilo-
metre power line within the
next three months, a March 10
filing on the Malaysian stock
exchange said.
Construction is expected to be
completed within 32 months.
When finished, the 230-kilo-
volt transmission line will con-
nect an existing Preah Sihanouk
substation in Stung Hav district
with a West Phnom Penh sub-
station. Both are run by state-
owned energy supplier Electric-
ite du Cambodge.
Pestech said in the filing that
the project is expected to con-
tribute positively to the com-
panys future earnings.
In October of last year, the
government announced it had
commissioned Alex Corpora-
tion to build $119 million worth
of transmission lines in a build-
operate-transfer agreement to
construct and run the infra-
structure before handing it over
at the end of a 29-year lease.
Pestech was not mentioned as
being part of the deal, nor did
the government specify how
many lines Alex Corporation
had been enlisted to build.
Neither Electricite du Cam-
bodge nor the Ministry of
Industry, Mines and Energy
could be reached for comment
yesterday.
The announcement comes
less than a month after Prime
Minister Hun Sen officially
launched operations at the
Kingdoms first coal-fired pow-
er plant in Stung Hav district.
During the launch of the 100-
megawatt power plant, which
is owned by Malaysian com-
pany Leader Universal Ltd, Hun
Sen also announced the devel-
opment of a second, partly
Chinese-owned coal-fired plant
in the same region, which is
slated to open later this year.
The Pestech and Alex Corpo-
ration transmission line
project, which includes an
upgrade to the substation in
Preah Sihanouk, will ferry the
power generated by the regions
current and future producers
to the capital once complete,
the filing said.
Dato Sean Hng, group CEO
for Leader Universal, declined
to comment on the recent
announcement.
The Facebook app on a smartphone in Washington in January. Facebook shares have risen 32 per cent this year. BLOOMBERG
Market likes Facebook stock
Bribes often cost of doing business: survey
Daniel de Carteret
MORE than half of businesses operating
in Cambodia have paid a bribe, a recent
survey by the Cambodian Federation of
Employers and Business Associations
(CAMFEBA) suggests.
The survey is part of CAMFEBAs Path-
ways to Prosperity report, which makes
several recommendations to improve
Cambodias business environment.
Among the suggestions are skills train-
ing, passing a new trade union law and
reducing bureaucratic hurdles.
CAMFEBA found that 58 per cent of
the 300 businesses interviewed had
never refused to pay a bribe, while a
third of firms took no action when
encountering corrupt and unethical
practices in the regulatory and legal
environment.
The responses came from across
industries, including ICT, agro-process-
ing and the garment sector.
And for those that did not line the
pockets of government officials, the
wheels stopped turning. Seventy per
cent reported receiving a delay in serv-
ice after refusing to pay a bribe.
Cambodias Anti-Corruption Unit has
had little impact, CAMFEBA says, due to
fears from both public and private sec-
tors about the disclosure of corruption.
CAMFEBA recognizes the role of the
private sector in improving governance,
but recognizes the risk to individuals of
taking action in the absence of legal
protections for whistleblowers.
The group will discuss the report in
more detail today in connection with
findings by the International Labour
Organization.
Several representatives of CAMFEBA
did not return calls or emails seeking
comment yesterday.
Phay Siphan, spokesman for the
Council of Ministers, said tackling the
issue cuts both ways and that the pri-
vate sector should help.
The government corruption doesnt
help, but the people who make the gov-
ernment corrupted dont help.
USD / JPY
102.92
USD / SGD
1.2637
USD /CNY
6.1138
USD / HKD
7.7603
USD / THB
32.25
AUD / USD
0.9084
NZD / USD
0.8479
EUR / USD
1.3858
GBP / USD
1.6737
Indicative Exchange Rates as of 7/3/2014. Please contact ANZ Royal Global Markets on 023 999 910 for real time rates.
USD / KHR
3,982
Julie Johnsson
B
OEING nds itself
ensnared in the mys-
tery over Malaysian
Airline System Bhds
lost 777 as a team assisting
US investigators confronts a
central challenge in the case:
There is no wreckage.
The 777, Boeings current
top-selling wide-body, has
only been involved in one fatal
accident in its 19-year history.
Malaysia Airlines 777-200 had
no major incidents in its past,
according to FlightGlobals
Ascend Online database, al-
though one wingtip was dis-
lodged in a taxiway accident
two years ago.
With no debris to help direct
an accident probe and no re-
ports of trouble before com-
munications were lost, the
plane remains among possi-
ble focal points for the inquiry
into how Flight MH370 van-
ished en route to Beijing on
March 8 with 239 people on
board. That saddles Chicago-
based Boeing with a nega-
tive association that may not
lift until evidence is found to
point the blame, said Robert
Mann, an aviation consultant.
I dont think were going to
know anything until anyone
can nd an airplane, said
Mann, an ex-American Airlines
executive who heads aviation
consultant R.W. Mann & Co of
Port Washington, New York.
The lack of debris means
the group of Boeing special-
ists sent to assist US National
Transportation Safety Board
investigators dispatched to
Malaysia is limited in the help
it can provide, said John Pur-
vis, a retired investigator who
used to head accident probes
for the planemaker.
Boeing technicians have
assisted past inquiries into
planes that vanished at sea
by joining boat crews to help
sort aircraft parts from other
otsam, said Purvis, a Seattle-
based consultant who was in-
volved in investigations of an
Air India Boeing 747 blown up
off the coast of Ireland in 1985
and a Korean Air jet shot down
by a Soviet jet ghter in 1983.
Unless pilots were able to
glide to a water landing like
the US Airways jet whose 2009
splashdown was dubbed the
Miracle on the Hudson, the
missing plane would have
broken up badly, Purvis
said. A nighttime ditching at
sea would be even more chal-
lenging, and no debris has
been found.
If you hit the water in any-
thing close to normal airplane
speeds, its just a lot of little
pieces, Purvis said. If it broke
up in ight, its the same way
but scattered more widely.
Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokes-
man, said the company had no
comment beyond a statement
expressing deepest concern
for relatives of those aboard and
the dispatching of technical ad-
visers to work with the NTSB.
Boeing fell the most on the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
on Monday, dropping 1.3 per
cent to $126.89, amid ques-
tions about the Malaysian jet
as well as a fresh setback for
its 787 Dreamliner. The plane-
maker is searching for hairline
wing cracks on 43 undelivered
jets, its marquee model and
one whose history includes
a commercial debut that ran
more than three years late.
News of the wing and in-
spections likely lower rst-
quarter deliveries, plus the
777 aircraft incident in Asia
will likely weigh on the Boe-
ing stock this week, said Peter
Arment, an analyst at Sterne,
Agee & Leach Inc in New York.
Boeings stock slide might
have been steeper if not for the
track record of the 777 during
almost two decades in service,
said George Ferguson, senior
analyst for air transport with
Bloomberg Industries. Deliv-
eries total 1,178, according to
Boeings website, and orders
are sold out through 2016.
Malaysia Airlines ies most-
ly Boeing aircraft, with the US
planemaker accounting for 70
of 96 jets. The 777-200 own
by Malaysian Air is out of
production. The longer-range
variants of that model retail for
as much as $296 million. Buy-
ers typically get a discount.
Some 777s are programmed
to radio data about the en-
gines and other equipment
during ight. Those telemetry
broadcasts include a planes
location and that information
was used to help nd the Air
France Airbus Group NV A330
that crashed in the Atlantic
Ocean in 2009. Ofcials from
Malaysian Air and Boeing
havent said whether the plane
had such equipment.
The only fatalities in a 777
accident occurred last year in
the Asiana Airlines Inc crash
in San Francisco, where inves-
tigators have focused on pilot
error. Only two other 777 acci-
dents were serious enough to
destroy a plane.
The 777 is a favourite among
airlines because it can carry
more than 350 passengers in
a three-class cabin, giving car-
riers rst- and business-class
seating as well as coach, and
y almost all the routes oper-
ated by four-engine jumbos.
Superlatives include its
range (7,725 nautical miles,
or 14,305 kilometers) for the
long-haul 777-200, and the
ability to put as many as 550
people in an all-economy
cabin, according to Boeings
website.
If youre Boeing, you want
to nd this airplane, you want
to nd out what happened be-
cause it just doesnt help your
reputation as an aircraft man-
ufacturer, Bloomberg Indus-
tries Ferguson said in a phone
interview. BLOOMBERG
Business
8
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Canada, South Korea OK trade pact
Andrew Mayeda
CANADA and South Korea concluded
negotiations on a free trade deal that will
give more market access for Canadian beef
producers and phase out tariffs on cars
made by South Korean companies such as
Hyundai Motor Co.
The agreement will boost Canadian
exports to South Korea by one-third, add-
ing an annual C$1.7 billion ($1.5 billion)
to Canadas economic output once the
deal is fully implemented, said a Cana-
dian official familiar with the contents of
the agreement who spoke to reporters in
Seoul, asking not to be named as hes not
authorised to speak publicly.
Korean carmakers will gain competitive-
ness in Canada over Japanese and Euro-
pean competitors, South Koreas deputy
trade minister, Choi Kyong-lim, said
on Monday.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harp-
er, who met South Korean President Park
Geun-hye in Seoul yesterday, has stressed
the need to diversify his countrys exports
from the US, which bought 76 per cent of
Canadas foreign shipments last year.
Companies including Ford Motor Co of
Canada Ltd oppose the deal on the
grounds that it unfairly protects South
Korean carmakers.
What were doing here is allowing other
Canadian companies and other Canadian
sectors to have the same access that Ford
already has, Harper told reporters in
Seoul. Ford supported the Korea-US free
trade agreement, thereby Ford has access
through the US to the Korean market.
Negotiations between Canada and South
Korea started in 2005 and reached an
impasse in 2008. In 2011, the European
Union implemented its deal with South
Korea, while the US brought its own ver-
sion into force in 2012.
The agreement will eventually phase out
98.2 per cent of South Korean tariffs and
97.8 per cent of Canadian duties, the Cana-
dian government said in documents
released to reporters. South Korean duties
now average about 13.3 per cent, while
Canadian tariffs average 4.3 per cent,
according to the documents.
Disagreement over access for Canadian
beef and pork, as well as South Korean
cars, represented the biggest stumbling
blocks to the deal, the Canadian official
said. Under the agreement, Canada will
phase out over three years its 6.1 per cent
tariff on imports of vehicles produced by
automakers such as Hyundai and Kia
Motors Corp.
South Korea will eliminate its duties on
Canadian fresh, chilled or frozen beef over
15 years, and pork in the same categories
over as many as 13 years. Canadian agri-
culture industries such as dairy, which are
controlled through a policy known as sup-
ply management, are exempted from the
deal, according to the official.
I can understand how there might be
voices of concern regarding potential
injury caused to the agricultural and live-
stock industries, Park told reporters in
Seoul. We have done our best to fully
reflect the sensitivities of our position in
those regards and have put in certain
measures to cushion the blow.
Park asked for Harpers support for Korea
to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade
talks, which encompass 12 nations from
Singapore to Chile. TPP would boost the
effectiveness of South Korea and Canadas
bilateral pact, Park said, according to a
pool report of a meeting with Harper dis-
tributed by her office yesterday.
The deal is the first Canada has reached
in Asia, and will let it compete fairly with the
US and the EU, which have already signed
pacts with South Korea. BLOOMBERG
MH370 puts eyes on Boeing
A nearly completed Boeing 777 reaches the end of a moving production line at the companys facility in Everett, Washington, last year. BLOOMBERG
News of the wing
and inspections
likely lower first-
quarter deliveries
Markets
9
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Business
Flags y in front of the companys headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, last month. BLOOMBERG
In US, Sprints owner
talks price war plans
Aaron Clark and
Takashi Amano
S
OFTBANK Corp Pres-
ident Masayoshi Son
will start a massive
price war if US regu-
lators allow his company to
purchase T-Mobile US Inc,
he said in an interview with
PBSs Charlie Rose.
The billionaire, who bought
control of Sprint Corp last
year, said combining the
third- and fourth-largest
US mobile-phone carriers
would give him enough scale
to compete against larger op-
erators AT&T Inc and Verizon
Communications Inc.
Son, 56, said he was will-
ing to postpone prot to gain
market share and would use
price cuts to draw users. He
has met resistance to a T-
Mobile deal from US regula-
tors sceptical that cutting the
number of national wireless
carriers to three would pro-
mote competition.
We need a certain scale,
but once we have enough
scale to have a level ght,
OK, Son said during the
interview with Rose, airing
nationally in the US. Its a
three-heavyweight ght. If I
can have a real ght, I go in
more massive price war, a
technology war.
Son, who is the chairman
of Sprint, said he also wants
to upgrade infrastructure to
provide for faster internet
access in the US.
He is reframing his argu-
ment for consolidation in
the US mobile-phone mar-
ket this week to advocate for
wireless broadband as an
alternative to cable.
The US has about 200 mil-
lion mobile broadband us-
ers, the highest number of
all countries, according to
Chetan Sharma, an inde-
pendent wireless analyst at
Chetan Sharma Consulting.
Last year, average mobile
data use almost doubled to
1.2 gigabytes from 690 mega-
bytes, he said.
When Son acquired Voda-
fone Group Plcs Japan unit
in April 2006, the struggling
carrier faced two larger
rivals. He changed pricing to
revive growth and upgraded
networks to send video and
other data.
Within six months of com-
pleting the deal, he dropped
the Vodafone brand in favour
of the SoftBank label, a name
then best-known in Japan as
the nations second-largest
internet service provider.
What SoftBank did in Ja-
pan was to become focused
on taking costs out of the
business and challenging ev-
ery line item, Kirk Boodry,
an analyst at New Street Re-
search LLC in London said
on March 7. That gives them
the exibility to be more
competitive on price and
network.
Son also made SoftBank
the rst Japanese carrier to
offer Apple Incs iPhone. The
company tapped Hollywood
stars to promote its brand,
hiring actors Cameron Diaz,
Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee
Jones to spearhead advertis-
ing campaigns.
The moves helped. When
Son bought the wireless busi-
ness, it had about 15 per cent
of the market and 16 million
subscribers. At the end of
February, it had 25 per cent
of the market and 35 million
users.
SoftBank outgrew both its
rivals in new users every year
from 2008 to 2013, and its
market value has more than
quadrupled to $94.2 bil-
lion since June 2008, when
the company announced
it would start offering the
iPhone.
Son is attempting to change
the public perception of a
potential deal for T-Mobile,
said Makoto Kikuchi, Tokyo-
based chief executive ofcer
for Myojo Asset Management
Co. Consumers would wel-
come more price competi-
tion, he said yesterday.
It would be a huge suc-
cess for SoftBank if they use
a price war as their strategy
and then revive Sprint and
T-Mobile, Kikuchi said.
BLOOMBERG
Historic Chinese default
case may lead to lawsuit
HOLDERS of bonds sold by Shanghai Chaori
Solar Energy Science & Technology Co will con-
sider a lawsuit to force payment after the com-
pany became the first to default on onshore
corporate debt in China.
Investors in the solar-panel makers 2017 secu-
rities will meet on March 26, according to a filing
to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday
from China Securities Co, which managed the
offering in 2012. Noteholders will discuss giving
the brokerage the right to participate in restruc-
turing the company and in the sale of collateral
for the defaulted securities.
Bondholders may get principal and interest if
the company can be restructured, said Li Ning,
a bond analyst in Shanghai at Haitong Securities
Co, the nations second-biggest brokerage. If a
third-party takes over ownership and provides
capital, the company may be able to repay the
overdue obligations.
Chaori paid just 4 million yuan ($652,000) of an
89.8 million yuan coupon payment due on March
7. The default is the first in Chinas $4.2 trillion bond
market since the Peoples Bank of China started
regulating the industry in 1997. The failure is stok-
ing speculation more companies may miss debt
payments after the government pledged to let
markets take a decisive role in the economy.
Most Chaori bonds appear to be held by the
original retail investors and its less common for
retail investors to galvanise the support, form a
requisite group and pose a real threat, if you like,
to the company, Mark Hyde, Hong Kong-based
head of Asia Pacific finance practice at Clifford
Chance LLP, said by phone yesterday. Deferment
of amount due, coupled with potential additional
equity, is likely to be more beneficial than for-
mally making demands at this stage.
China Securities will rely on the roster of Chaori
bondholders as of July 5 maintained by China
Securities Depository & Clearings branch in Shen-
zhen, according to Mondays exchange filing. Liu
Tielong, vice-president of Chaori, declined to com-
ment when asked about the filing details by phone
yesterday. The company has outstanding bank
loans and no trust loans, he said.
The solar-cell makers failure came after China
Credit Trust Co was bailed out in January on a 3
billion yuan trust product tied to a failed coal
miner. A similar product created by Jilin Prov-
ince Trust Co has missed five payments and the
sixth, which is the last, was due yesterday, Shang-
hai Securities News reported last month. The
trust company didnt immediately reply to
emailed questions and no one was available to
comment when the company was called.
The number of trust products tied to miners
maturing this year will almost quadruple, accord-
ing to Cnbenefit, a consulting firm based in the
southwest city of Chengdu. Products linked to
property face a 50 per cent jump in repayments
this year, according to estimates from Haitong.
Youre going to see trust products default,
youll see wealth management product defaults,
youll see bond defaults like we just did, you
might even see local government financing vehi-
cles teeter on the brink, Leland Miller, the New
York-based president of China Beige Book Inter-
national, said in a Bloomberg Television inter-
view yesterday. Its injecting risk into the Chi-
nese system. Its very positive but it might make
investors a little bit nervous in the meantime.
Sinovel Wind Group Co had two of its bonds
placed on a credit watchlist by China Lianhe
Credit Rating Co last month, according to a
Shanghai Stock Exchange statement. The com-
panys 2.6 billion yuan of 6 per cent notes due
2016 and sold to investors at par in December
2011 were trading at 86.35 per cent of face value
yesterday, exchange prices show.
Beijing-based media manager for Sinovel Wind
Group, Bao Zhen, declined to comment when
contacted yesterday. Companies with bonds that
lack guarantees and have higher credit risks sim-
ilar to the Chaori Solar debt include Zhuhai
Zhongfu Enterprise Co, Star Lake Bioscience Co
and Nanning Sugar Industry Co, Haitongs Li said
last week. BLOOMBERG
Japans central bank holds
off on fresh easing moves
THE Bank of Japan held off
launching fresh monetary eas-
ing measures yesterday, saying
the economy was picking up,
despite slowing growth in the
last quarter of 2013 and fears
that a looming tax hike will
dent the recovery.
Policymakers kept in place
the central banks existing
asset-purchasing scheme,
which aims to stoke growth by
pumping huge amounts of
money into the financial sys-
tem, after a two-day policy
meeting.
Japans economy has con-
tinued to recover moderately,
and a front-loaded increase in
demand prior to the consump-
tion tax hike has been
observed, the BoJ said in a
statement.
The pick-up in business
fixed investment has become
increasingly evident as corpo-
rate profits have improved . . .
Housing investment has con-
tinued to increase and private
consumption has remained
resilient.
In forex markets, the dollar
weakened slightly to 103.25 yen
from 103.28 yen before the BoJ
announcement. Fresh BoJ eas-
ing measures would tend to
weigh on the yen.
Analysts widely expected the
bank to stand pat as its easing
program ripples through the
economy, with the focus now
on post-meeting comments
from bank governor Haruhiko
Kuroda.
The Bank of Japans decision
to stay the course at todays
meeting came as no surprise,
but we remain convinced that
further easing will be required
in coming months, said Mar-
cel Thieliant from London-
based Capital Economics.
Markets are looking for signs
that the bank will add to its vast
stimulus program to counter
any slowdown caused by Aprils
sales tax hike, which critics fear
will derail Japans nascent
recovery.
Those concerns gathered
pace on Monday as revised
GDP data showed the worlds
third-largest economy grew at
a slower pace than initially
thought in the last quarter of
2013, despite a boost in spend-
ing ahead of the tax hike.
The worry is that the rate rise,
to 8.0 per cent from 5.0 per
cent, will weigh on consumer
spending and put the brakes on
growth in the wider economy.
Mondays data showed
Japans economy expanded 0.2
per cent in the quarter to
December and 1.5 per cent
through 2013. That compared
with preliminary results show-
ing gross domestic product
grew 0.3 per cent for the Octo-
ber-December period and 1.6
per cent in 2013.
The figures underscore con-
cerns about the pace of growth
under Prime Minister Shinzo
Abes policy blitz, a mesh of big
government spending and BoJ
easing measures.
Kuroda unveiled the asset-
buying scheme, which aims to
boost the money supply, in
April as part of Abes broader
plan to eradicate years of fall-
ing prices that have held back
consumer spending and busi-
ness investment.
Recent data showed consum-
er prices logged their first
annual rise for five years in
2013.
Kuroda has maintained that
he is confident the banks two-
per cent inflation target will be
reached sometime next year,
despite growing scepticism
among analysts and even some
BoJ board members.
While it has not extended the
monetary easing since April, the
bank after its February meeting
said it would tweak a loans
scheme to commercial banks in
a bid to stimulate borrowing.
Among other measures was
an extension of the timeline for
a program aimed at promoting
development in parts of the
country hammered by the
quake-tsunami disaster three
years ago. AFP
Trial program
China to try
private bank
ownership
C
HINA will launch a
trial program for private
rms to set up banks,
the countrys banking regula-
tor said on Tuesday, with
internet giants Tencent and
Alibaba reportedly among the
rst applicants.
Most Chinese lenders are
state-controlled and banks
founded by private com-
panies are extremely rare,
while access to lending is a
key element of the Commu-
nist authorities control of the
economy.
At a key meeting in Novem-
ber the ruling party listed
opening the banking industry
to private investors as one
of its major reforms for the
financial sector to introduce
competition and help small
enterprises obtain loans.
We have selected a few
private capital (investors) to
jointly participate in the trial
program of (the set-up of)
five banks in the first batch,
Shang Fulin, chairman of the
China Banking Regulatory
Commission, told reporters.
Alibaba and Tencent, which
have been expanding their
online finance business in
recent years, Shanghai-based
conglomerate Fosun, car parts
maker Wangxiang Group and
six other private companies
have been chosen to be the
investors, the Peoples Daily
quoted Shang as saying in an
interview. BLOOMBERG
Business
10
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
India slips back to dark ages
Rajesh Kumar Singh
and Rakteem Katakeyt
I
N INDIA, sporadic power
outages have hobbled
Asias third-largest econo-
my for years. The govern-
ments solution was a $31 bil-
lion bailout of utilities, whose
debts were so big and cash ow
so small that they cant provide
a steady ow of electricity to
homes and businesses. Now
that bailout is in jeopardy.
A populist movement
sparked by an anti-corruption
crusader is forcing utilities to
slash the price they charge
consumers. Because most of
these power retailers already
lose money, this development
is pushing them further into
debt. They were supposed to
boost rates, not cut them, un-
der the bailout plan.
The situation is as grim as
ever, said Arup Roy Choud-
hury, chairman of NTPC Ltd,
Indias largest generator of
power. NTPC threatened to
stop supplying unprotable
retailers that are behind on
payments. That, in turn, could
interrupt service to thousands
or millions of end-users.
India already holds the
world record for blackouts. In
2012, an estimated 600 million
Indians went without power
in the north and east for three
days after a grid collapsed be-
cause some states drew more
than their quota.
The countrys supply-chain
disaster is deepening with the
dawn of electricity populism.
Arvind Kejriwal in December
rose from an anti-corruption
activist working Delhis streets
to become Delhi states chief
minister, pledging to slash
consumer power bills by 50 per
cent. At least two more states
copied the power-rates policy.
More may follow as voters go
to polls in nine phases on April
7 through May 12.
The states are carrying for-
ward Kejriwals campaign
even though he resigned after
49 days in ofce, failing to get
Delhis lawmakers to pass an
anti-corruption bill.
With Kejriwal out of power,
his plan to provide cheaper
electricity in Delhi through
state subsidies is set to end on
March 31. Yet the other two
provinces, Haryana and Maha-
rashtra, both ruled by the Con-
gress party, will go ahead with
state-funded cheaper power.
Indias pickle stems from try-
ing to provide power to con-
sumers below cost. Its a policy
goal seen in other nations, such
as Indonesia and Spain. Basi-
cally, retailers, including Tamil
Nadu Electricity Generation
& Distribution Co and Punjab
State Power Corp, sell power
at a loss, after having bought it
from generators using ever in-
creasing debt. Its a debt spiral
that Spain has failed to extin-
guish for more than a decade,
while in India, it seems ever
further from resolution.
The payments crisis in India
will lead to losses at generation
companies. The power retail-
ers, including units of Reliance
Infrastructure Ltd and Tata
Power Co, owed 155 billion ru-
pees ($2.6 billion) to state-run
generators as of January 31, ac-
cording to power ministry.
Reliance Infrastructure,
which also distributes electric-
ity to Indias nancial capital
of Mumbai, fell 16 per cent in
the two months since Kejriwal
was sworn in on December
28. Tata Power dropped 17 per
cent in the period and gained
as much as 2.8 per cent yester-
day. The benchmark S&P BSE
Sensex gained 12 per cent in
the two months.
Within three days of taking
ofce, Kejriwal ordered an audit
of the two companies electric-
ity distribution units in Delhi.
S Arulsamy, nance director
of Tamil Nadu Electricity, and
SC Arora, nance director at
Punjab State Power, didnt re-
ply to emails or answer calls to
their ofces.
The issues behind Indias
blackouts range from delin-
quent retailers, including
some controlled by a billion-
aire, to antiquated transmis-
sion grids and alleged corpo-
rate corruption.
Of Indias total generation ca-
pacity of 234 gigawatts, almost
10 per cent is lying idle, accord-
ing to Hari Das Khunteta, for-
mer chairman at Rural Electri-
cation Corp and chairman at
Altius Finserv Pvt, a Mumbai-
based consultant. NTPC keeps
idle about 3,000 megawatts, or
7 per cent of its capacity, due to
lack of demand.
Meanwhile, generation costs
increase, as coal shortages
force power producers to im-
port more fuel at higher costs
and pass those on to the dis-
tributors. BLOOMBERG
Vendors sell vegetables under battery-powered lights at a market in Kotla Mubarakpur, New Delhi, in 2012.
India holds the world record for blackouts. BLOOMBERG
Laura Marcinek
HJ HEINZ Co, the ketchup
maker taken private by 3G
Capital and Warren Buffetts
Berkshire Hathaway Inc, paid
Bernardo Hees $9.2 million in
his rst year as chief executive
ofcer.
The package includes an in-
centive payment of $1.2 mil-
lion, $7.3 million in option
awards and $561,538 of sal-
ary, Pittsburgh-based Heinz
said on Monday in a regulato-
ry ling. New Chief Financial
Ofcer Paulo Basilio received
$3.8 million.
Hees joined in June from
Burger King Worldwide Inc,
the fast-food chain owned
by Jorge Paulo Lemanns 3G.
Hees replaced William John-
son, CEO since 1998, who got
$110.5 million in the eight
months ended December 29.
Hees has closed factories and
consolidated ofces as part of
a plan that eliminated about
3,400 jobs to boost prot.
Results so far are encour-
aging, Buffett, 83, wrote in a
letter to investors of Omaha,
Nebraska-based Berkshire
published on March 1.
Earnings in 2014 will be
substantial.
Berkshire and 3G each paid
about $4.3 billion for equity
in the company, and Buffetts
rm provided an additional
$8 billion for a preferred stake
with a 9 per cent annual in-
terest payment. The arrange-
ment, in which Berkshire pro-
vides nancing and a partner
oversees operations, could be
a template for future deals,
the billionaire wrote in the
letter.
Buffett opted to receive no
compensation for serving on
the ketchup makers board,
the ling shows. Alexandre
Behring got $443,000 for his
role as chairman, while other
directors including Lemann,
74, got $221,500 each.
Johnsons package includes
a $48.8 million payment tied
to equity awards that were
outstanding when the deal
was completed. Heinz said
last year Johnson could re-
ceive Golden Parachute
Compensation including
$56 million in cash, equity,
bonuses and other benets.
Michael Mullen, a spokes-
man for Heinz, said the job
cuts are part of a continuing
plan to improve the com-
pany.
The difcult actions we
are taking now will result in
Heinz becoming a stronger
and more nimble organisa-
tion that is better-positioned
to become one of the most
efcient food companies in
the world, Mullen said in an
email. BLOOMBERG
Ketchup maker CEO
earns big on job cuts
February sales dip at McDonalds
Leslie Patton
McDONALDSs Corp, the
worlds largest restaurant
chain, said sales at stores open
at least 13 months fell 0.3 per
cent in February as its US busi-
ness slumped for the fourth
straight month amid harsh
weather.
Analysts estimated a 0.1 per
cent decline, the average of 15
projections from Consensus
Metrix. Domestic same-store
sales slid 1.4 per cent, Oak
Brook, Illinois-based McDon-
alds said in a statement on
Monday, while analysts antic-
ipated a drop of 0.6 per cent in
the US.
McDonalds, which has more
than 14,200 US locations, has
been trying to attract Ameri-
cans with coffee and breakfast
foods.
The fast-food industry also
is struggling with shaky con-
sumer confidence and a severe
winter that McDonalds says
hurt its US sales last month.
Weather was definitely an
impact in the month of Febru-
ary, thats going to be a drag on
everybody, Peter Saleh, a New
York-based analyst at Telsey
Advisory Group, said.
Also, rival fast-food chains
are introducing new items,
improving stores and drawing
US diners away from McDon-
alds, he said.
The other players from
Wendys to Jack in the Box to
Sonic to Burger King have just
improved their game a little bit
and theyre taking back some
share, he said.
The shares fell 0.3 per cent
to $95.20 at Mondays close in
New York.
McDonalds has slid 1.9 per
cent this year, while the Stand-
ard & Poors 500 Restaurants
Index has dropped 1.7 per
cent.
Little-changed global com-
parable-store sales so far this
year will pressure margins in
the first quarter, McDonalds
Chief Financial Officer Peter
Bensen said in the statement.
While US consumer senti-
ment rose in February after
declining in January, the econ-
omy expanded at a slower
pace in the fourth quarter than
was previously estimated.
Smaller gains in consumer
spending, inventories and
exports are weighing on the
economy and indicate less
momentum heading into
2014.
McDonalds, along with oth-
er chains, is trying to draw din-
ers and boost revenue in the
morning.
While it pushes new McCafe
beverages and $1 coffees, Star-
bucks Corp is revamping its
breakfast sandwiches, and
Yum! Brands Incs Taco Bell is
rolling out breakfast foods,
such as sausage burritos and
waffle tacos, to its US stores
this month.
Burger King Worldwide Inc
also has said its focused on
improving and advertising its
morning menu.
The fast-food industry also
is facing increased scrutiny
from lawmakers about
employees wages.
Democratic Representatives
George Miller of California
and Joe Courtney of Connecti-
cut on March 6 sent letters to
chains including McDonalds
and Yum Brands seeking infor-
mation on their franchise
agreements, worker-training
materials and wage- and hour-
law violations.
McDonalds February same-
store sales rose 0.6 per cent in
Europe and fell 2.6 per cent in
the companys Asia Pacific,
Middle East and Africa region.
Analysts estimated drops of
0.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent,
respectively, according to Con-
sensus Metrix, which is owned
by Kaul Advisory Group in
Wayne, New Jersey. Same-store
sales declined 8.7 per cent in
Japan last month.
Breakfast foods and extend-
ed hours contributed to a
strong performance in the
UK and positive same-store
sales in France, McDonalds
said.
Comparable-store sales are
considered an indicator of a
retailers performance because
they include only older, estab-
lished locations.
McDonalds has about 35,400
restaurants worldwide and 81
per cent of those are fran-
chised. BLOOMBERG
A customer enters a McDonalds restaurant in San Francisco, Califor-
nia, in January. BLOOMBERG
Markets
11
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Business
International commodities
Energy
Agriculture
Markets
800
875
950
1025
1100
400
450
500
550
600
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
18000
19750
21500
23250
25000
2000
2250
2500
2750
3000
14000
14500
15000
15500
16000
7000
7500
8000
8500
9000
Thailand Vietnam
Singapore Malaysia
Hong Kong China
Japan Taiwan
Thai Set 50 Index, Mar 10
FTSE Straits Times Index, Mar 10 FTSEBursaMalaysiaKLCI, Mar 10
Hang Seng Index, Mar 10 CSI 300 Index, Mar 10
Nikkei 225, Mar 10 Taiwan Taiex Index, Mar 10
Ho Chi Minh Stock Index, Mar 10
15,224.11
2,108.66 22,285.87
1,827.15 3,135.71
589.39 920.59
8,702.33
1600
1725
1850
1975
2100
5500
5875
6250
6625
7000
900
1050
1200
1350
1500
3500
3875
4250
4625
5000
18000
19000
20000
21000
22000
25000
25750
26500
27250
28000
4500
4750
5000
5250
5500
4500
4750
5000
5250
5500
South Korea Philippines
Laos Indonesia
India Pakistan
Australia New Zealand
KOSPI Index, Mar 10 PSEI- Philippine Se Idx, Mar 10
Laos Composite Index, Mar 10 Jakarta Composite Index, Mar 10
BSE Sensex 30 Index, Mar 10 Karachi 100 Index, Mar 10
S&P/ASX 200 Index, Mar 10 NZX 50 Index, Mar 10
5,413.84
27,335.62 21,832.86
4,697.53 1,295.25
6,529.58 1,963.87
5,101.94
Item Unit Base Average (%)
Gasoline R 5250 5450 3.81 %
Diesel R 5100 5200 1.96 %
Petroleum R 5500 5500 0.00 %
Gas Chi 86000 76000 -11.63 %
Charcoal Baht 1200 1300 8.33 %
Energy
Construction equipment
Item Unit Base Average (%)
Rice 1 R/Kg 2800 2780 -0.71 %
Rice 2 R/Kg 2200 2280 3.64 %
Paddy R/Kg 1800 1840 2.22 %
Peanuts R/Kg 8000 8100 1.25 %
Maize 2 R/Kg 2000 2080 4.00 %
Cashew nut R/Kg 4000 4220 5.50 %
Pepper R/Kg 40000 24000 -40.00 %
Beef R/Kg 33000 33600 1.82 %
Pork R/Kg 17000 18200 7.06 %
Mud Fish R/Kg 12000 12400 3.33 %
Chicken R/Kg 18000 20800 15.56 %
Duck R/Kg 13000 13100 0.77 %
Item Unit Base Average (%)
Steel 12 R/Kg 3000 3100 3.33 %
Cement R/Sac 19000 19500 2.63 %
Food -Cereals -Vegetables - Fruits
Cambodian commodities
(Base rate taken on January 1, 2012)
COMMODITY UNITS PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE TIME(ET)
Crude Oil (WTI) USD/bbl. 101.31 -1.27 -1.24% 3:15:14
Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 108.26 0.18 0.17% 3:15:36
NYMEX Natural Gas USD/MMBtu 4.68 0.03 0.58% 3:15:20
RBOBGasoline USd/gal. 295.29 -2.09 -0.70% 3:15:59
NYMEX Heating Oil USd/gal. 297.11 0.37 0.12% 3:14:59
ICEGasoil USD/MT 908 1.75 0.19% 3:15:36
COMMODITY UNITS PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE TIME(ET)
CBOT Rough Rice USD/cwt 15.22 0.01 0.07% 1:33:37
CME Lumber USD/tbf 362 1.2 0.33% 23:27:22
Brian Womack
O
N a Northern California
farm where silage for ani-
mal feed once grew, Google
Inc (GOOG) is generating
power from more than 100,000 solar
panels to heat nearby homes, and
doubling down on an area of energy
many investors shun.
The Galt solar farm, 20 miles south
of Sacramento, is one of 15 alterna-
tive-energy projects that Google has
funded since 2010 as part of a more
than $1.4 billion investment in clean
power production. That makes the in-
ternet search giant the biggest backer
of US alternative-energy projects over
that stretch, excluding nancial in-
stitutions and utilities, according to
Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
More than half of Googles energy
projects are in solar, a market thats
cratered. Panel prices have plunged
58 per cent since 2010, after Chinese
manufacturers glutted the industry,
sending US developers Solyndra LLC
and Evergreen Solar Inc into bank-
ruptcy. Yet Google is moving to suc-
ceed where others faltered by avoiding
panel production and instead capital-
ising on controversial tax incentives
that can produce investment gains of
more than 10 per cent a year.
We look at projects that will give
us attractive returns, said Rick Need-
ham, director of energy and sustain-
ability at Google.
While clean energy is becoming a
focus for many technology compa-
nies (Facebook Inc is developing a
wind farm in Iowa and aims to gener-
ate at least a quarter of its data centre
power from renewable sources by
2015), none are spending like Google.
With $60 billion in cash, the company
announced energy investments of
almost $400 million in 2013.
Google, with the approval of Chief
Executive Ofcer Larry Page, is seek-
ing creative ways to put its cash to
work and spread renewable energy
worldwide.
In 2007, Page said Google was a
large consumer of energy due to our
data centres, so were a natural cus-
tomer, adding that the company
could generate positive returns.
Google is plunging in as venture
investors pull back on solar. The
amount of dollars invested fell more
than 70 per cent last year from 2011
as deal volume dropped by almost 40
per cent, according to the National
Venture Capital Association.
Googles solar push has been aided
by Recurrent Energy, a solar-project
developer owned by Sharp Corp. In
November, Google and private-equity
rm KKR & Co nanced six Recurrent
projects in California and Arizona.
Two years earlier, Google invested
$94 million, teaming up with KKR to
nance four Recurrent developments
around Sacramento, including Galt.
Google uses tax-equity nancing, a
government incentive that allows it to
lower its tax obligations by investing
in renewable energy. Solar projects
can produce returns of 10 per cent to
14 per cent annually, with about half
the prot tied to incentives, according
to Paul Maxwell, director in the energy
practice at Navigant Consulting in Fol-
som, California. Googles tax-equity
investments in energy are surpassed
only by JPMorgan Chase & Co, US
Bancorp and MetLife Inc, Bloomberg
New Energy Finance data shows.
Google has been openly supporting
clean energy since 2007, when it cre-
ated a research group within its phil-
anthropic arm to develop cheaper
renewable power. Early efforts were
in part to help Google in its data cen-
tres, which suck down energy to han-
dle billions of monthly search queries
and YouTube videos.
Googles solar projects are diverse.
In 2011, it started a $280 million fund
for SolarCity Corp, helping the resi-
dential solar provider expand rooftop
service. Late last year, Google invest-
ed $103 million in a Southern Califor-
nia solar plant that provides energy
for 80,000 homes.
With the Galt plant, Google could
produce enough power for 7,000
homes. The energy from 134,000 pho-
tovoltaic panels attached to steel gird-
ers feeds into the Sacramento Munici-
pal Utility District, which pays for the
energy. Google shares in the revenue.
The 200-acre Galt land was for-
merly used by a local farmer to grow
silage, or fermented cow feed.
Googles clean-energy effort in-
cludes wind, with investments of
$275 million in two West Texas wind
farms since late 2012 and $75 million
in an Iowa plant.
Wind investments can generate
returns of 10 per cent to 14 per cent a
year. BLOOMBERG
Google solar powers locals
A sign posted outside the entrance of Googles headquarters in Mountain View,
California, in January. AFP
MALAYSIAN police are investigating
whether hijacking, sabotage, or the
crew and passengers personal or psy-
chological problems could be to blame
for flight MH370s disappearance, they
said yesterday.
Other than mechanical problems,
these are the main areas of concern,
said Malaysias inspector general, Tan
Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
Malaysian authorities have said they
have not ruled out any explanations
for the plane going missing.
The police chief also said that one of
the passengers travelling on a stolen
passport had been identified as a
19-year-old Iranian man, believed to
be travelling to Europe to seek asylum,
and was not thought likely to be a
member of a terrorist group. The other
man has yet to be identified.
Asked what he might mean by per-
sonal problems, he gave the example
of someone who had bought a large
insurance policy that would benefit
family members.
Malaysia Airlines said authorities
were searching the Malaysian penin-
sula, while the Vietnamese military
said its units were hunting for any sign
that the aircraft might have crashed
into remote mountains or uninhabited
jungle areas. In a statement released
yesterday, Malaysia Airlines said: The
authorities are looking at a possibility
of an attempt made by MH370 to turn
back to Subang. All angles are being
looked at. We are not ruling out any
possibilities.
That was presumably a reference to
Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport, also
known as Subang airport, in Malaysia.
It lies not far to the northwest of Kuala
Lumpur international airport, where
the plane took off.
Malaysias air force chief had previ-
ously said military radar suggested the
aircraft might have made a U-turn.
Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, dep-
uty chief of staff of the Vietnamese
army, told the media that authorities
on land had been ordered to search for
the plane, with military units also
searching near the border with Laos
and Cambodia. So far we have found
no signs . . . so we must widen our
search on land, he said.
Taiwan and New Zealand have joined
the multinational hunt. The search area
in the Gulf of Thailand and South China
Sea where the plane was first noticed
missing from radar screens in the early
hours of Saturday has been expanded.
Crews are also searching off the western
coast of Malaysia and up towards the
Andaman Sea because of the possibil-
ity that the plane turned back.
There have been fresh sightings of
potential debris in the area but previ-
ous reports of oil slicks and possible
wreckage have turned out to have no
connection to the flight.
Until now, with all of our efforts,
there is very little hope for any good
news about this plane, said Pham Quy
Tieu, the head of Vietnams search-
and-rescue effort.
China deployed 10 satellites using
high-resolution earth imaging capa-
bilities, visible light imaging and other
technologies to assist the search, the
Peoples Liberation Army Daily said.
The head of the organisation that
monitors the nuclear test ban treaty
said it was using its technology to check
for any signs of an explosion close to
where the flight went missing.
Lassina Zerbo, who leads the Com-
prehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisa-
tion, said it was possible its infrasound
sensors which capture very low fre-
quency acoustic waves might have
been able to detect a blast. The US has
reviewed imagery from spy satellites
for any glimpse of a mid-air explosion,
without success.
Malaysia Airlines confirmed that
maintenance 12 days before the Boe-
ing 777 vanished had shown no signs
of any problems. It said the plane was
12 years old and had flown for almost
53,500 hours.
Thai police played down the pros-
pect that two men travelling on stolen
passports were linked to the disappear-
ance of the plane. We havent ruled it
out but the weight of evidence were
getting swings against the idea that
these men are or were involved in ter-
rorism, Supachai Puikaewcome, chief
of police in the Thai resort city of Pat-
taya, said.
The Bangkok Post said an employee
at the travel agency said the man who
booked the seats an Iranian man
known only as Mr Ali, who had often
done business with the company had
originally asked for Etihad or Qatar
Airways flights to Copenhagen and
Frankfurt but then decided to book
flights on China Southern because it
was much cheaper.
About two-thirds of the 227 passen-
gers were Chinese and there were 12
Malaysian crew. AFP reported that
some of the family members waiting
for news at a hotel in Beijing were still
clinging to hope despite being warned
to prepare for the worst. I hope it is a
hijacking, then there will be some hope
that my young cousin has survived,
said a man in his 20s.
He added: My uncle and aunt had
an emotional breakdown they are not
eating, drinking and sleeping, and
could not face coming here. They need
our help. We have been telling them
lies stressing the few positives in all
of this to keep their spirits up.
A man called Liu, whose older broth-
er was on the flight, added: The wait
has been absolute torture.
As anger grew among the waiting
relatives, Malaysia Airlines added in its
statement: We regret and empathise
with the families and we will do what-
ever we can to ensure that all basic
needs, comfort, psychological support
are delivered. We are as anxious as the
families to know the status of their
loved ones.
To the families of the crew on MH370,
we share your pain and anxiety. They
are of the MAS [Malaysia Airline System]
family and we are deeply affected by this
unfortunate incident. THE GUARDIAN
12 THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
World
Iran denies
claims on
Lockerbie
bombing
IRAN yesterday denied any
involvement in the Lockerbie
bombing in the face of new
allegations it contracted Pal-
estinian militants to carry out
the 1988 attack which killed
270 people.
Documents obtained by Al
Jazeera television for a docu-
mentary that was to be broad-
cast later yesterday provided
new backing to long-standing
allegations that Iran and not
now slain Libyan dictator Mua-
mmar Gaddafi was behind the
downing of the Pan Am airliner
over the Scottish town.
We reject any claims of Ira-
nian involvement in this act of
terror, foreign ministry
spokeswoman Marzi eh
Afkham told reporters.
Irans stance not only on
this case but on all terrorist-
related issues is quite clear:
Iran flatly denies [links] to any
act of terror.
Former Libyan intelligence
officer Abdelbaset al-Megra-
hi, the only person ever con-
victed over the bombing
maintained his innocence
right up until his death in
May 2012.
Al Jazeera said that new evi-
dence gathered for Megrahis
planned appeal, which was
aborted by his release from
prison on compassionate
grounds in 2012, supported his
innocence and implicated a
Syrian-based Palestinian mili-
tant group.
Campaigners led by Jim
Swire, whose daughter was
killed in the bombing, have
long claimed that Tehran con-
tracted the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine
General Command to carry
out the bombing in revenge for
the shooting down of an
Iranian airliner by the USS
Vincennes, which killed 290
people in July 1988.
The Syria-based PFLP-GC is
blacklisted as a terrorist group
by both the European Union
and the United States.
In the documentary called
Lockerbie: What Really Hap-
pened? Al Jazeera cites testi-
mony from alleged former
senior Iranian intelligence
official Abolghasem Mesbahi,
who defected to Germany in
the late 1990s.
Mesbahi claims Iran con-
tracted the bombing to PFLP-
GC leader Ahmed Jibril, and
provides names of those he
says were involved in the
operation.
Money was given to Jibril
upfront in Damascus for initial
expense. The mission was to
blow up a Pam-Am flight,
Mesbahi told Al Jazeera.
Former CIA agent Robert
Baer, who was involved in the
Lockerbie investigation, told
Al Jazeera that US intelligence
agencies had long been con-
vinced of Irans involvement.
AFP
MH370: hijacking, sabotage areas of concern
Kiev gives Crimea ultimatum
Haroon Siddique and Alec Luhn

U
KRAINES parlia-
ment has warned
the regional assem-
bly in Crimea that it
faces dissolution unless it can-
cels a referendum it has called
to join the region to Russia.
A resolution, supported by a
parliamentary vote, gave the
Crimean parliament until to-
day to call off the referendum,
due to take place on Sunday.
The Crimean parliament yes-
terday passed a motion stating
that it would become inde-
pendent in the event of a yes
vote and then seek to join the
Russian Federation, arguing
that the unilateral declara-
tion of independence of part
of a state does not violate any
international laws.
Increasing their isolation
from Kiev, the pro-Russian au-
thorities have closed Crimeas
airspace to commercial ights.
Also yesterday, acting Ukrai-
nian president Oleksander
Turchinov announced that a
new national guard would be
formed in response to Russian
attempts to annex Crimea.
Turchinov said misman-
agement of the armed forces
under the former president,
Viktor Yanukovych, meant
the Ukrainian military had
to be rebuilt effectively from
scratch. The acting defence
minister said the country had
only 6,000 combat-ready in-
fantry compared with more
than 200,000 Russian troops
on its eastern borders.
Hopes of a diplomatic solu-
tion to the crisis were dealt a
blow after the US secretary of
state, John Kerry, abandoned a
visit to Moscow to discuss the
crisis and the US and Russia
traded accusations over who
was to blame.
As western ofcials prepared
to meet in London yesterday
to identify Russians who will
be subject to asset freezes and
travel bans that they hope will
persuade Moscow to withdraw
its presence from Crimea, the
French foreign minister, Lau-
rent Fabius, sought to ratchet
up the pressure by warning
that sanctions could be im-
posed as early as this week.
So far, Russia has paid little
heed to criticism from the
west. Its foreign minister, Ser-
gei Lavrov, said Moscow was
preparing counter-proposals
to a US plan for a negotiated
solution to the crisis.
With little sign that Moscow
is prepared to change its posi-
tion and a potential ashpoint
approaching in the shape of
Sundays contentious refer-
endum on whether Crimea
should split off and become
part of its eastern neighbour,
Fabius raised the threat of im-
minent sanctions in another
attempt to get Russia to en-
gage in constructive dialogue.
If they respond positively
[to the proposals], John Kerry
will go to Moscow, and then
sanctions will not be immedi-
ate, he said on France Inter
radio. If they do not respond
or if they respond negatively,
there will be a series of sanc-
tions that could be taken as
early as this week.
In his second press confer-
ence since he ed to Russia,
Yanukovych decried the ac-
tions of the new Kiev govern-
ment and its Western allies but
shied away from discussing the
de facto Russian occupation of
the Crimean peninsula.
In his only reference to
Crimea, Yanukovich said the
new regimes policies had led
to the fact that Crimea is seced-
ing, but he did not mention
the seizure of the peninsula
by unmarked Russian forces at
the end of February.
He said he was the legitimate
president of Ukraine, arguing
he had not ed his post but had
simply been in Kharkov, then
in Donetsk, then in Crimea
when opposition forces seized
the government. He called the
presidential election planned
for May 25 absolutely illegiti-
mate and illegal.
Speaking in Rostov-on-Don,
Yanukovych condemned the
West for supporting the new
government in Kiev, which he
said was being taken over by
radical nationalists. I want to
ask the sponsors of this dark
force in the West: have you
gone blind? Have you lost your
memory? Have you forgotten
what fascism is? he said.
A Ukrainian International
Airlines plane was turned back
yesterday on its way from Kiev
to Simferopol, the regions
main city, and had to return
to the capital. The captain told
passengers the Crimean au-
thorities had closed airspace
to all commercial ights, and
there had been no ights on
Monday either. THE GUARDIAN
People walk past a poster in Sevastopol yesterday that reads On March 16 we will choose either . . . or . . .,
depicting Crimea with a swastika and barbed wire and Crimea with the colours of the Russian ag. AFP
Employment Opportunity
Monitoring and Evaluation Team Leader
For Supporting Forests and Biodiversity Project
Winrock International is seeking a highly-qualied M & E Team Leader to join the
USAID-funded Supporting Forests and Biodiversity Project (SFB) in Cambodia.
The position is based in Phnom Penh. Winrock International is a non-prot organization
leading the USAID Supporting Forests and Biodiversity Project. The goals of the
Project include improved conservation and governance of the Eastern Plains and Prey
Lang landscapes to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity.
The M &E Team Leader will be responsible for overseeing the development of all
M and E systems and ensuring coordination with all Project staff and eld teams,
including Project Partners. This position is permanent and requires a self-starting, high-
performing and highly-skilled, person. The M&E Team Leader is a member of the
Projects senior management team. If you meet or exceed the following qualications,
please apply.
Education: A Masters Degree or higher in mathematics, economics, business,
development, public policy or in related eld of study.
Experience: Five or more years of experience in implementing monitoring and
evaluation systems in technical assistance projects in a team environment. Athorough
understanding of developing, maintaining, and using cloud-based systems is a plus and
USAID M &E experience is highly desired.
Languages: Excellent written and spoken Khmer and English language capabilities.
To Apply: Applicants should send their CV and a cover letter to the SFB Project
Ofce: Phnom Penh Center, Building F, Room 588, Sothearos Blvd, Phnom Penh, or
by email to info@winrocksfb.org. The closing date for the position is March 25, 2014. For
a full copy of the Terms of Reference, please call Ms. Sotheavy, HR/Admin Ofcer at the
Project ofce: 023 220 714 or email to info@winrocksfb.org
Winrock International is an equal opportunity employer and women are encouraged to
apply. We regret that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
World
13
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Family of dead street artist stage rally
SUPPORTERS of a teenage
graffiti artist who died from
cardiac arrest caused by a
police Taser on Monday
stepped up their campaign for
the prosecution of the officer
who fired the fatal shot.
The friends and family of
Israel Hernandez staged a rally
outside the office of Miami-
Dade state attorney Katherine
Fernandez Rundle, calling for
criminal charges against police
officer Jorge Mercado.
The rally followed the release
of a medical examiners report
which confirmed that Hernan-
dez, 18, died as a result of heart
failure from electrical device
discharge shortly after an
August 2013 confrontation in
which he ran from police who
found him spray painting an
abandoned McDonalds.
The report is saying what
we have known for seven
months. Israel was killed by
Jorge Mercado in violation of
state law and Miami Beach
policy, said Jorge Estomba of
the Justice for Reefa Commit-
tee, named after the teenagers
handle as a street artist.
Mercado has previously been
accused of using excessive
force and is mentioned in the
wrongful death lawsuit filed
against the Miami Beach police
department by Hernandezs
family in civil court.
The familys attorneys point
out that, had he lived, Hernan-
dez would have faced only a
second-degree misdemeanour
charge for property damage
and might not even have been
arrested. Officers had no rea-
sonable basis to fear for their
own safety or the safety of the
public, the lawsuit claims.
But Miami Beach police chief
Ray Martinez insisted Mercado,
one of several officers present,
was forced to use the Taser to
avoid a physical incident and
that he was acting within
department guidelines.
Martinez added that he had
asked the independent Police
Executive Research Forum to
look at his departments poli-
cies on Taser use, and that he
would not be surprised if it rec-
ommended changes.
The department currently
issues guidelines to officers to
avoid striking a suspect in the
eyes, face or groin, but does not
require them to avoid firing at
the chest, something the Arizo-
na-based manufacturer of the
Tasers warns to avoid due to the
low risk of cardiac problems.
The citys lawyers are expect-
ed to defend the lawsuit by
pointing out that the medical
examiner found that Hernan-
dez had marijuana in his sys-
tem, and that the report also
ruled his death an accident.
Fernandez Rundle launched
an investigation into the inci-
dent, the results of which might
not be known for several
months, according to Ed Grif-
fith, spokesman for the state
attorneys office.
The death of Hernandez, a
graduate of Miami Beach Sen-
ior High School and an aspiring
artist who had won several
local awards for his work, is
among a number of recent
fatalities involving police Tas-
ers in the Miami area.
Willie Sams, 21, died on Feb-
ruary 5 after a confrontation
with officers from the Miami-
Dade police department, a
separate agency. Maykel Bar-
rera, 37, died after fighting with
Miami-Dade police on Febru-
ary 27, the same day an officer
in Hialeah shocked Treon John-
son, 27, as he beat a dog in his
backyard with a metal pipe.
Many previous Taser deaths
have been attributed to excit-
ed delirium, a controversial
diagnosis which according to
the American Civil Liberties
Union is often used to cover up
heavy-handed police tactics.
What kind of police officers
are they, sent on the street to
protect us?, she said. Its more
like us protecting ourselves
from them. How can we live in
such a society where they killed
a young boy? THE GUARDIAN
New push against Assad being planned: reports
AFTER months of battlefield stale-
mate in Syria, a flurry of reports from
Washington, Jerusalem, Amman and
the Gulf suggests a major new clan-
destine effort is under way to open up
a southern front against the regime
of Bashar al-Assad.
Central to the mooted plan is a
renewed push to provide Syrias badly
divided and often ineffectual moder-
ate, secular rebel groups with addi-
tional funding, upgraded weapons
and intelligence support.
What use they may make of such
support, if indeed it fully materialises,
remains to be seen.
The initiative, as reported in the
region, is set against a backdrop of
secret talks in the US last month
between Susan Rice, Barack Obamas
national security adviser, and Prince
Mohammad bin Nayef, the Saudi inte-
rior minister in charge of covert action
programs in Syria.
According to the usually well-in-
formed Washington Post columnist
David Ignatius, spy chiefs from Jor-
dan, Turkey, Qatar and other regional
countries also attended the discus-
sions, focused on making a stronger
effort to help the rebels.
This meeting has been linked in turn
to last months launching by the Free
Syrian Army (FSA) of what they termed
a spring offensive in the south of Syr-
ia. The offensive began days after they
received new US weapons funding
that may eventually total $31.4 mil-
lion, rebel commanders said.
After holding back for months due
to fears that new arms might fall into
the hands of al-Qaeda affiliates, uni-
dentified American officials said Con-
gress had given closed-door approval
in January for renewed cash for light
weapons intended for the moderate,
secular opposition in the south.
The new US funding supposedly
augments a fresh push by Gulf states
to finance rebel operations in the
southern region of Syria, which are
ultimately aimed at Damascus. More
than $1 billion has been disbursed
since last summer, much of it for
weapons purchases in eastern Europe,
according to Gulf government sourc-
es quoted by regional media.
The weapons, mostly supplied via
Jordan, are said to include a variety of
small arms, as well as some that are
more powerful, such as anti-tank
rockets. But due to American reserva-
tions, they do not include shoulder-
launched surface-to-air missiles,
known as Manpads, which could
shoot down military or civilian air-
craft. Saudi Arabia has stockpiles of
Manpads and favours supplying them
to the rebels, but the US disagrees.
According to various reports mostly
based on rebel statements or official
or semi-official leaks, the aim of the
offensive is to push back government
forces in the Daraa, Quneitra and As-
Suwayda governorates in southwest
Syria, so opening the road to Damas-
cus. The offensive has been dubbed
Geneva Horan, a reference to the
plains near the Jordanian border and
Israeli frontier.
This new emphasis on military
action along the southern front fol-
lows well documented concern that
the predominance in northern and
eastern Syria of jihadis belonging to
the al-Nusra Front, which is linked to
al-Qaeda, and rival groups such as the
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
has become both destructive and
counterproductive. THE GUARDIAN
Killing may end Knights Templar
Jo Tuckman
E
VEN by drug lord
standards, Nazario
Morenos reputation
was as bizarre as it
was brutal including sev-
eral years allegedly running
his business from beyond the
grave after he was ofcially
pronounced dead in a shoot-
out with federal forces.
Now that the capo nick-
named The Craziest One
really does seem to have been
killed, hopes are growing that
the days are also numbered
for his cartel, known as the
Caballeros Templarios or
Knights Templar.
He was the key and the
foundation of the Knights
Templar, Catholic priest Gre-
gorio Lopez said in a phone
interview from the cartels
stronghold region of Tierra
Caliente in the western state of
Michoacan. Without him the
whole thing will fall apart.
Moreno was felled early on
Sunday by soldiers and ma-
rines who had tracked him
to a remote part of the sierra,
government security spokes-
man Monte Alejandro Rubido
said. The ofcial stressed that
the authorities closed in on
the drug lord after they cor-
roborated long-held rumours
that he had not died in De-
cember 2010, as the then gov-
ernment had claimed despite
the absence of a body.
Moreno rst rose to promi-
nence as the spiritual leader
of a new cartel calling itself La
Familia, which announced its
presence to the world in 2006
when a group of armed men
rolled ve heads onto a disco
dance oor and left behind a
written message describing
the action as divine justice.
La Familia broke the mould
of traditional Mexican trafck-
ing groups with its cult-like
organisation and quasi-re-
ligious rhetoric, mixed with
claims to be guerrilla-like de-
fenders of social justice.
La Familia split a few months
after Morenos ofcial death at
the end of 2010 amid a bloody
turf war won by a faction call-
ing itself the Caballeros Tem-
plarios that took the weirdness
to new heights, introducing
medieval paraphernalia into
its rituals and propaganda.
The Caballeros also stepped
up their exploitation of
communities in the Tierra
Caliente, imposing taxes on
everything from the local
lime harvest to tortillas, and
reportedly rounding up pret-
ty young women at will.
The reign of terror triggered
the formation of armed vigi-
lantes who began taking on
the cartel themselves, dra-
matically exposing how little
the authorities were doing to
protect their families.
With the vigilantes getting
obviously out of hand, the
government launched an of-
fensive in the Tierra Caliente
in January promising general
disarmament, but this has
since turned into collabora-
tion between federal forces
and the vigilantes, even as
many fear these groups could
develop into full blown para-
military organisations exer-
cising their own terror.
The vigilantes have always
said they will only disarm
when they are convinced the
government is serious about
taking down the cartel capos.
Their insistence that Moreno
was still among these was
initially widely treated as a
reection of the power of the
myth, rather than genuine
intelligence.
We always knew his death
was a farce because people
saw him around, vigilante
leader Estanislao Beltran
said, adding that the capo
was sighted at cock ghts
and parties. He did not con-
rm reports that the dead
trafcker, for whom shrines
pepper the region, travelled
around on a white horse in
full Caballeros garb.
The double death of More-
no adds fuel to the scepticism
with which many Mexicans
have long responded to of-
cial declarations of narco
deaths.
It took years for many to be-
lieve that Juarez cartel founder
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the
so-called Lord of the Skies,
really had died in a botched
plastic surgery operation in
1997. Meanwhile, questions
still exist over the fate of Ze-
tas cartel leader Heriberto
Lazcano, alias El Lazca, of-
cially killed in a shootout in
2012, though his body disap-
peared from a funeral parlour
with identication tests still
incomplete. THE GUARDIAN
Mexican marines and soldiers stand guard outside the morgue where the alleged corpse of Nazario Moreno
was being kept in Apatzingan, Michoacan, Mexico on Sunday. AFP
Hammer time
Penis chop
and death
for rapist
A
CHINESE woman
chopped off her former
boyfriends penis with
scissors and then killed him
with a hammer after he raped
her, a Hong Kong court heard
yesterday.
Yeung Ki, 41, admitted kil-
ling 32-year-old piano teacher
Zhou Hui on Boxing Day 2012
but denies murder, the South
China Morning Post reported.
On the night of the killing,
Zhou beat her, pushed her
to the floor, and slapped their
daughter, then forcibly had
sex with her, the court heard.
Afterwards, she drugged
him with soup laced with
sleeping pills, cut off his penis
and flushed it down the toilet,
then when he woke with the
pain, beat him to death with
almost uncountable blows
from a hammer, the paper
reported.
Zhou had also told Yeung
he had nude pictures of her
which he would post on the
internet unless she gave him
HK$200,000 ($25,800) to buy a
car, the South China Morning
Post reported, citing prosecu-
tors who appeared in court on
Monday. AFP
Tanker escapes to sea
with cargo of rebel oil
A NORTH Korean-flagged
tanker laden with oil from a
rebel-held terminal in eastern
Libya slipped the warships
deployed to intercept it in bad
weather and escaped to sea
yesterday, MPs said. The
Morning Glory, which docked in
Al-Sidra on Saturday and is
reported to have taken on at
least 234,000 barrels of crude,
is the first vessel to have loaded
oil from a rebel-held terminal
since the revolt against the
Tripoli authorities erupted last
July. The central government
had threatened armed action,
even an air strike, to prevent
the tanker getting away. AFP
Sixteen dead in Maoist

attack on India police
MAOIST rebels killed at least 16
people in a massive attack on
security forces in central India
yesterday, less than a month
before the country holds a
general election. Security
officials and police sources said
the victims were all killed when
up to 200 rebels ambushed a
patrol in forests in Chhattisgarh
state, sparking a major gun
battle that lasted for three
hours. Eleven members of the
national paramilitary Central
Reserve Police Force were killed
along with four members of the
state police force, said Mukesh
Gupta, one of Chhattisgarhs
most senior police officers. AFP
World
14
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Judge strangled soldier: Israel
A
J ORDANIAN-PAL-
ESTINIAN judge who
was shot dead by
Israeli troops at the
Jordan border tried to snatch
a weapon and strangle a
soldier, a preliminary army in-
vestigation showed yesterday.
The incident occurred on
Monday when troops opened
re at the Allenby Bridge
border crossing between the
West Bank and Jordan, killing
a Palestinian with Jordanian
citizenship, claiming he was a
terrorist who tried to snatch
a weapon from a soldier.
But Palestinian witnesses
said the man was shot fol-
lowing an argument over a
cigarette in an incident which
prompted a furious response
from the Palestinian Authority
and Amman.
The military said it had con-
ducted a comprehensive in-
vestigation which included
extensive questioning of wit-
nesses by security personnel.
They said the man, identi-
ed by the Palestinians as 38-
year-old Raed Zeiter, had rst
charged at the soldiers with a
metal pole, prompting them
to re at his legs. When he be-
gan strangling a soldier they
shot him dead.
The preliminary conclu-
sion of the investigation in-
dicates that the terrorist at-
tacked the soldier. He charged
at the soldiers shouting Allahu
Akbar [God is greatest] with
a metal pole, and then at-
tempted to seize the soldiers
weapon prompting the sol-
diers to respond by ring to-
wards his lower extremities, it
said. The suspect then began
to strangle a soldier and the
force resorted to using live re
once again.
It said the investigation,
which is being handled by the
military police, was ongoing.
A Jordanian security ofcial
conrmed to AFP that Zeiter
worked as a judge in Amman.
Jordans justice ministry said
he worked at a magistrates
court in the capital.
Hundreds of Palestinians
turned out for Zeiters funeral
on Tuesday, accompanying
the body, which was wrapped
in a Palestinian ag, to its
burial place in his familys
hometown of Nablus in the
northern West Bank.
They killed my only son
in cold blood, said Zeiters
father Ala, who had travelled
from Amman. My son was
unarmed, he wouldnt even
know how to use a weapon,
Ala Zeiter said, adding that a
witness claimed to have seen
soldiers insulting his son and
throwing him to the ground
before shooting him. Jordan
demanded the Israeli soldiers
involved be punished.
After the investigations,
tough measures should be
taken against those responsi-
ble for the shooting, Jordans
Information Minister and gov-
ernment spokesman Moham-
mad Momani said. Jordans
principal Islamist opposition,
which has called repeatedly
for a severing of diplomatic
ties with Israel, condemned
Israeli brutality.
The Israeli action proves
that the Zionist enemy does
not respect any agreements,
Murad Adaileh of the Islamic
Action Front said, referring to
a 1994 peace treaty between
the two countries.
The aggression against the
Jordanian citizen shows the
brutality of the Zionist occu-
pation, he said, urging the
government to deal with the
incident in a way that would
put an end to [Israels] care-
lessness.
Several hours after Zeiters
death, troops shot dead a 20-
year-old Palestinian near the
West Bank city of Ramallah.
The army said that he had
been throwing stones at sol-
diers. AFP
Palestinians carry the body of Raed Zeiter during his funeral in the
northern West Bank city of Nablus yesterday. AFP
Successful People Read The Post.
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Note: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.
15
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
World
Edward Snowden on NSA leaks: I would do it again
Jemima Kiss and Jon Swaine
EDWARD Snowden, the NSA whistle-
blower whose unprecedented leak
of top-secret documents led to a
worldwide debate about the nature
of surveillance, insisted on Monday
that his actions had improved the
national security of the United States
rather than undermined it, and
declared that he would do it all again
despite the personal sacrifices he
had endured.
In remarks to the SXSW culture and
technology conference in Texas,
delivered by video link from his exile
in Russia, Snowden took issue with
claims by senior officials that he had
placed the US in danger. He also
rejected as demonstrably false the
suggestions by some members of
Congress that his files had found
their way into the hands of the intel-
ligence agencies of China or Russia.
Snowden spoke against the back-
drop of an image of the US constitu-
tion, which he said he had taken an
oath to protect but had seen vio-
lated on a mass scale while working
for the US government. He accepted
praise from Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the
inventor of the world wide web,
accorded the first question via Twit-
ter, who described him as acting
profoundly in the public interest.
The session provided a rare and
extensive glimpse into the thoughts
of Snowden, granted temporary asy-
lum by Russia after the US revoked
his passport. He struck back strongly
against claims made again last week
by the NSA director, General Keith
Alexander, that his release of secret
documents to the Guardian and
other outlets last year had weakened
American cyber-defences.
These things are improving
national security, these are improv-
ing the communications not just of
Americans, but everyone in the
world, Snowden said. Because we
rely on the same standard, we rely on
the ability to trust our communica-
tions, and without that, we dont have
anything.
He later added that, thanks to the
more secure communication activity
encouraged by his disclosures, the
public has benefited, the government
has benefited and every society in the
world has benefited.
Snowden rejected claims that
potential adversaries of the US, such
as Russia and China, had obtained
the files he had been carrying. That
has never happened, and it is never
going to happen. If suddenly the Chi-
nese government knew everything
the NSA was doing, we would notice
the difference, Snowden said, noting
that US infiltration of Russia and
China was extensive.
He sharply criticised Alexander and
Michael Hayden, his predecessor as
NSA director, as the two officials to
have most harmed our internet
security and actually our national
security in the era since the Septem-
ber 11 terrorist attacks by elevating
offensive operations over cyber-
defence.
When you are the one country in
the world that has a vault that is more
full than everyone elses, it doesnt
make any sense to be attacking all
day and never defending your vault,
he said.
And it makes even less sense when
you let the standards for vaults world-
wide have a big back door that any-
one can walk in.
The 30-year-old also claimed that
by spending so much effort on har-
vesting communications data en
masse, US security agencies were
failing to pick up would-be terrorists
such as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the
brothers alleged to have bombed last
years Boston Marathon, who had
been previously flagged to the US as
a cause for concern by Russian
authorities. We are monitoring eve-
ryones communications rather than
suspects communications, he said.
If we hadnt spent so much on mass
surveillance, if we had followed tra-
ditional patterns, we might have
caught him.
Snowden also pointed to the case
of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the
so-called underwear bomber who
attempted to blow up a plane bound
for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
The US failed to intercept him despite
several opportunities, including a
warning from his father to US offi-
cials in Nigeria.
An audience of 3,500 packed into
an auditorium in Austin applauded
several of Snowdens answers to ques-
tions from a pair of onstage modera-
tors and others submitted through
Twitter. Despite a glitchy and inter-
mittent video link that he said was
running through seven proxies,
Snowden looked relaxed and confi-
dent. He said that while the US has
an oversight model that could work
to guard against excess by intelli-
gence agencies, in reality it had
proved ineffectual. The problem is
when your overseers are not inter-
ested in oversight, he said, and
champion the NSA instead of hold-
ing them to account.
James Clapper, the director of
national intelligence, has admitted
to not telling the truth when he told
a congressional hearing last year that
the government was not collecting
data on millions of Americans.
Snowden said Clapper had shown
officials can lie to the country, lie to
the Congress, and face not even a
criticism.
He claimed that the behaviour of
the US in online surveillance policy
would only encourage the rest of the
world to do the same, endangering
the privacy of all citizens. If we dont
resolve these issues, if we allow the
NSA to continue unrestrained, every
other government will accept that as
a green light to continue, and that is
not what we want, he said.
Snowden stressed that his message
to technology firms such as Facebook
and Google was not that you cant
collect any data but rather that you
should only collect the data, and hold
it as long is necessary, for the opera-
tion of your business.
He recently became the victim of a
hacking when a scan of his US pass-
port was released online, having been
taken from the files of a professional
organisation that gives certification
to ethical hackers. I submitted
those forms back in 2010, Snowden
said. Why was that still on a web-
facing terminal?
He encouraged ordinary internet
users to protect themselves against
surveillance by encrypting both their
hard drives and their online activity,
describing encryption as the defence
against the dark arts in the digital
realm. He also advised people to
browse the web anonymously using
the Tor system.
He urged software developers to
create more user-friendly secure
communications tools that could
pass the Glenn Greenwald test,
referring to Greenwalds inability to
communicate securely using PGP
encryption when he first approached
the journalist, then working for the
Guardian. However, he warned: If
you are a target of the NSA, it is game
over no matter what unless you are
taking really technical steps to pro-
tect yourself.
Despite now being unable to return
to the US, where he faces a criminal
indictment, a defiant Snowden said
he did not regret his decision to
orchestrate the biggest leak in the
history of US intelligence. Would I
do this again? The answer is abso-
lutely yes, he said. Regardless of
what happens to me, this is some-
thing we had a right to know.
By the end of his interview, the
audience was on its feet to deliver a
standing ovation. Snowden smiled
and looked slightly embarrassed,
before being abruptly cut off by the
end of the video call, when the screen
fell blank. THE GUARDIAN
Golden child
A painted child takes part in the Los Pintados (painted ones) carnival, in San Mateo Ozolco community, Puebla State, Mexico on Sunday. Los
Pintados is a 62-year-old tradition during which young people paint their bodies and threaten to paint locals and tourists if they refuse to give
them money. AFP
MALAYSIA said yesterday
that no ill feelings were
meant by a transport of-
cials reference to black
Italian footballer Mario Ba-
lotelli when discussing two
suspicious passengers on a
missing jet, a comment that
triggered social media scorn.
No ill feelings were meant
to the personality concerned.
We hope this claries the is-
sue, a statement by the Min-
istry of Transportation said.
Civil aviation chief Azhar-
uddin Abdul Rahman had
been asked late on Monday
to conrm another ofcials
assertion that the two men
who used stolen European
passports to board missing
Malaysia Airlines ight 370
looked Asian.
The plane vanished early
on Saturday with 239 people
aboard while en route from
Malaysia to China.
Azharuddin denied they
looked Asian, but he sought
to emphasise that skin colour
does not indicate national-
ity, using as an example the
Ghanaian-born AC Milan
striker Balotelli, who is an
Italian international.
Do you know a footballer
by the name of Bartoli [sic]?
Hes an Italian. Do you know
what he looks like? he told
reporters late on Monday.
I dont want to dwell
about this but they [nation-
ality and race] are not the
same thing.
Malaysian police later said
one of the men was Iranian.
The second is yet to be
identied but photos from
security video cameras re-
leased by police showed he
was not black.
An extensive sea and land
search has turned up no
wreckage so far.
Twitter users commented
that Azharuddins strained
comparison had not helped
matters.
One said: Nice work in
looking for the least obvious
cause for an airplane crash.
The case of the missing
airplane, somehow, just got
weirder, another said, while
one post called the reference
insensitive.
And you wonder why Balo-
telli wears why always me?
a Twitter posting said, refer-
ring to a T-shirt worn once by
the controversial footballer
after one of his many brush-
es with authority. AFP
No offence meant
by Balotelli remark
Mario Balotellis famous goal
celebration. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Comment
16
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
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Y
OUR iPhone is more power-
ful than the evidence-col-
lecting computers in the
cockpit. Simple changes
could mean faster answers for plane
crashes.
Why is a normally safe aircraft the
Boeing 777-200 missing over the
South China Sea, with all 239 passen-
gers and crew on board Malaysia Air-
lines flight 370 presumed dead?
Ill tell you why: it was a fireball
ignited by faulty lithium-ion batteries
carried on board by cellphone-wield-
ing passengers.
No, it wasnt. It was a bomb planted
by terrorists possibly the passen-
gers who were reportedly carrying
stolen passports.
Rubbish: it was structural failure
triggered by internal damage sus-
tained in an airport fender-bender
involving the same aircraft two
years ago.
These, of course, are not answers.
It would be generous to call them
theories.
They are really a tiny sample in an
online orgy of wild guesses that
erupted on social media over the
weekend, in the hours after the air-
craft was reported missing off the
coast of Malaysia.
As search teams continue scanning
the waves for signs of debris, these
online truth-seekers should be asking
a different question: why couldnt the
plane itself tell us exactly what hap-
pened when it went off-radar?
In one of the most galling anachro-
nisms of modern aviation technology,
the black box that carries most if
not all of the answers seems to have
vanished, too.
Depending on the location of the
wreckage, it could be days, months or
even years before anyone turns up
the black box which is usually
orange and there remains a remote
possibility that the device and its pre-
cious recordings of audio and flight
sensor data will never be found at all.
The ongoing mystery of Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370 is the fault of a
bizarre quirk in our networked socie-
ty. Even cars have broadband connec-
tivity now, but the modern jet airliner
perhaps our most technologically
evolved mode of transport still
exists in the age of radio.
Air traffic controllers today must
orchestrate the most congested air-
space using primarily voice com-
mands. You can send and receive text
messages from most aircraft, surf the
web and even stream House of Cards.
The system that powers the plane is
limited to pre-dial-up internet con-
nection speeds.
There is simply no datalink onboard
an aircraft with the bandwidth to con-
tinuously stream the volumes of data
collected and stored during every sec-
ond of a flight by the flight data record-
er and the cockpit voice recorder.
The result is a dangerous silence in
the immediate and sometimes
extended aftermath of what appears
to be the worst airline crash in more
than a decade. In the absence of data,
the biological temptation to seek pat-
terns within the flimsiest of available
evidence is overwhelming.
In the aftermath of the Air France
flight 447 crash in 2009, speculation
focused on particular technologies
with the Airbus A330. It took nearly
two years for an international search
team to locate and raise the flight
recorders lying at the bottom of 4,700
metres of water.
The actual data told a different tale
of a bizarre sequence of fatal errors
made by a confused and disoriented
flight crew attempting to fly through a
major storm.
Until the wreckage of Malaysian
flight 370 is found, it is impossible to
know how long it will take to recover
that little box inside the 777-200.
We shouldnt have to wait at all.
There are technologies in existence
or development today that can
address this glaring gap in the avia-
tion safety net.
To be fair, its not quite that easy. Its
relatively simple and cheap for a
black box to gather and store mega-
bytes worth of flight data every sec-
ond. It is much harder and much
more expensive to continuously
transmit that information by satellite
or radio transmission.
But even a little data is better than
almost none, which the disappear-
ance of flight 370 makes clear. It
should be rather straightforward to
install a processor connected to the
black box that can select a subset of
the most relevant data.
A recent patent application filed
by Boeing describes such a system,
which specifies a limited data set
including the precise location of
the aircraft and the flight control
inputs by the pilot or the automa-
tion system.
There will be costs to mandating
such a system, but the benefits are
clear. Multi-national search and
recovery teams involving a fleet of
ships and search aircraft should no
longer be necessary.
Critical safety data could provide
clues of system or structural failures
much faster, making the entire air
transport system safer.
Most of all, the commercial aircraft
upon which we depend for transpor-
tation and economic growth need to
finally enter the Information Age.
Then searches for missing planes
wont have to resemble the hunt for
Amelia Earhart. THE GUARDIAN
Comment
Stephen Trimble
We need to rethink black boxes
A ight recorder, otherwise known as a black box, from a plane on display at an exhibit in Helsinki, Finland, in 2005. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Stephen Trimble is an author and journalist on
aviation issues in Washington, where he man-
ages the Americas bureau of the Flightglobal
news and data services company.
17
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Lifestyle Lifestyle
Urbexing on Hong Kong rooftops
Plan to stage Hamlet in N Korea draw ire
Jerome Taylor

D
ANGLING his feet
off the edge of a sky-
scraper more than
50 storeys above
the streets of Hong Kong, Jon-
athan Tsang looks as relaxed
as if he was kicking back in his
own living room.
For most people the view
below would be a dizzying,
terrifying spectacle. But for
25-year-old Tsang, it brings a
sense of calm.
The population is really
dense and sometimes its just
kind of suffocating to the point
where you need some time
to yourself, he said. Thats
mostly why I come up here.
Tsang, who asked AFP to use
a pseudonym, is one of a grow-
ing number of so-called ur-
ban explorers, a subculture of
adrenaline junkies, photogra-
phers and history enthusiasts
who treat the worlds forgotten
and often forbidden places
as their playgrounds.
The pursuit has long been
popular in North America
and Europe, and now Asia
is becoming an increasingly
sought after destination for
an intrepid new generation
of urbexer.
In February two Russian
daredevils scaled Chinas tall-
est building with their bare
hands. Vadim Makhorov and
Vitaliy Raskalov took advan-
tage of lax security over the
Chinese New Year holiday to
sneak into the under-con-
struction Shanghai Tower, re-
leasing a hair-raising video of
their stunt that went viral.
Hong Kong, a city with more
skyscrapers than anywhere
else in the world, is a particu-
larly attractive destination for
both local and international
rooftoppers, a daring subset
of adventurers with a head for
heights willing to risk arrest,
injury and even death as they
scale some of the worlds tall-
est buildings.
Getting to the top of many
Hong Kong residential build-
ings, Tsang said, is often as
easy as blufng your way past
the concierge and taking a lift
to the top oor. But some of
the tallest luxury complexes,
hotels and ofce towers pres-
ent a much greater challenge.
You try and do as much re-
search as you can. If other ex-
plorers have been there then
you can get advice about how
to get in like whether there is
a hole in a fence somewhere,
he said.
Usually there are security
guards but you just have to be
patient. You cant just barge
into a place and walk up to the
roof. You have to wait for the
right time.
Many attempts, however,
end in failure.
The success rate on roof-
tops is probably 20-30 per
cent, he said. And at times
it can be discouraging. You
might walk up 30-40 stories
and then you discover you
cant get past the nal door.
But when you do nally get
to the top, wow, its hard to de-
scribe. Its just beautiful.
Accessing the roof of the
skyscraper a luxury hotel in
the citys bustling Kowloon
district was alarmingly easy.
Tsang and an urbexing
friend who uses her exploring
name Airin T simply walked
through a mall, into the ho-
tel and took an elevator most
of the way up. To avoid any
guards or staff near the more
exclusive penthouse suites,
the last few storeys were made
on foot via a staircase and
through an unlocked door
that led to the roof.
But any misconception that
rooftopping is a safe hobby
was soon dispelled as Tsang
and his friend climbed a large
illuminated dome at the top of
the building. The ladder up to
the dome hung over the edge
of the skyscraper whilst the
pathway at the top was little
more than a foot wide. A slip
would mean certain death.
I do have a fear of heights,
said Tsang, visibly elated from
his climb. It sounds kind of
cliched but its about facing
your fears. And it really does
help.
Hong Kongs police declined
an interview request by AFP
but warned that practitioners
could face criminal damage
and burglary charges in the
event of any destruction of
property. No explorers have
been prosecuted to date.
Tsang believes urbexers are
too often portrayed as adrena-
line junkies.
Theres a lot of people
putting labels on us. Calling
us thrill seekers, daredevils.
Thats true, there are some
people like that but it doesnt
fully represent this subcul-
ture, he says. AFP
HUMAN rights groups have
questioned the wisdom of
Shakespeares Globe Theatre
in London taking a production
of Hamlet to North Korea, but
stopped short of calling for the
plan to be scrapped.
The Globe will perform the
play in the secretive state in
September 2015 as part of a
global tour marking the 450th
anniversary of the English
playwrights birth.
We do not believe that any-
one should be excluded from
the chance to experience this
play, the theatre said in a
statement.
But Phil Robertson, the dep-
uty director of Human Rights
Watchs Asia division, said
exclusion would be the order
of the day if the performance
went ahead in Pyongyang
next year.
Its going to be an extreme-
ly limited, elite audience that
would see a production in any
case, Robertson told AFP on
Tuesday.
It would have to be in
Pyongyang, which is a show-
case city whose residents are
selected to live there because
they have shown their loyalty,
Robertson said.
Human rights group Am-
nesty International urged the
theatre to read up on the
reality of North Korea before
going there.
No tragic play could come
close to the misery that the
100,000 people trapped in
the countrys prison camps
endure where torture, rape,
starvation and execution are
everyday occurrences, Am-
nesty said in a statement.
The dates for a performance
in North Korea have not been
set, and it was not clear how far
the Globes negotiations with
Pyongyang had progressed.
When the North Korean
leadership gets around to
reading the plot of Hamlet,
one imagines they might well
insist on something else from
the canon, Robertson sug-
gested.
The play revolves around
family feuds and Hamlets
eventual killing of his uncle,
echoing recent events in
North Korea where leader
Kim Jong-uns regime ordered
the execution of his uncle
Jang Song-thaek in December
last year.
Theres a dark irony in the
fact that Hamlet focuses on
a prince wrestling with his
conscience. Kim Jong-un is
no Hamlet. Sadly he shows no
sign of wrestling with his con-
science, the Amnesty state-
ment said. AFP
Urban explorer Jonathan Tsang dangles a foot over the side of a 50-storey building in Hong Kong last December. AFP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is no Hamlet, says rights group
Amnesty International. AFP

In brief
Colorado nets $3.5m
from sale of cannabis


MARIJUANA sales in Colorado
brought in $3.5 million in tax
revenues and fees in the first
month retail pot outlets were
allowed, the western US state
said on Monday. The figure
included $2.9 million in taxes
for recreational and medical
marijuana in the month of
January, and nearly $600,000
in fees, said Colorados
Department of Revenue. The
Rocky Mountain state had
legalised pot in 2012, but made
drug history on January 1 by
inaugurating retail sales of
marijuana for recreational use.
It levies a 15 per cent excise
tax and a 2.9 per cent sales tax
on the product. AFP

Justin Biebers pretrial
hearing set for April 14
A CANADIAN judge on
Monday ordered a mid-April
preliminary hearing in the
case of troubled pop star
Justin Bieber, who is accused
of assaulting a limousine
driver in Toronto. The April 14
court hearing will deal with
mostly administrative matters.
A trial date has yet to be set,
and could be several months
away, Biebers lawyer said.
The charges are the latest
run-in with the law for the
teen singer after his arrest in
Miami Beach on January 23
for drag racing and impaired
driving, and after his Los
Angeles mansion was
searched because he allegedly
hurled eggs at a neighbours
house. AFP
Carnival debris cleared
as cleaners end strike
RIO cleaners have swept up
more than 18 tons of Carnival
trash since ending an eight-
day strike at the weekend,
authorities said Monday. Trash
had been piled high in the
streets after a week of
festivities before the cleaners
agreed to return to work and
3,000 of them cleared 18,200
tons of debris Saturday night,
city officials said. AFP
Neil Young unveils HD
music player, store
SINGER-SONGWRITER Neil
Young announced plans to
launch a high-definition
portable music player and
download service, saying it will
improve the experience of
listening to digital music on
the go. The Canadian-born
musician, a longtime critic of
the quality of digital music,
said he would be launching an
online store for music
downloads as well as a
portable player through his
new company, PonoMusic. AFP
Health
18
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Payments for polio vaccines among Pakistans kids
Jon Boone
PARENTS in one of Pakistans most
troubled provinces are going to be
paid to vaccinate their children
against polio.
It is hoped some two million
children from some of the most
disadvantaged areas of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the northwest-
ern province wracked by Taliban
violence, will benet from the
scheme.
Parents will be entitled to claim
1,000 rupees (almost $10) for each
newborn child who completes a
15-month program of vaccinations
that will protect them against a
number of diseases including mea-
sles, hepatitis and polio.
It is the rst time the country
has resorted to monetary incen-
tives, which are rarely used around
the world.
Health ofcials battling childhood
diseases face immense challenges
in KP, where militant attacks are a
daily routine, poverty is entrenched
and many people are deeply suspi-
cious of programs enthusiastically
backed by Western powers.
It has to be a good amount of
money to be attractive, even in the
very poorest districts of the prov-
ince, said Janbaz Afridi, deputy
director of the provinces expanded
program on immunisation.
Peshawar, the provinces teeming
capital, has become a global health
problem. The historic frontier city is
one of the last remaining redoubts
of polio, the virus that cripples and
kills children and which has been
eradicated in every country except
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Cases from around the world, in-
cluding China and Syria, have been
genetically matched to the Pesha-
war strain.
Last month the World Health Or-
ganisation declared the city the
largest reservoir of endemic po-
liovirus in the world, a problem
caused in part by the citys open
sewage channels and broken water
pipes. Polio is spread through con-
tact with human faeces.
Within the neighbouring tribal
areas, Peshawar acts as a central
exchange and an amplier for a
disease carried in and out of the
city by the tens of thousands of
people who pass through every
day, including a huge population
of refugees who ed Afghanistan in
the 1980s. THE GUARDIAN
A Pakistani health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child. Parents in Pakistan
are to be paid to vaccinate their children against the disease. AFP
Bird flu epidemic threatens China
Bill Savodove

T
HE handful of poul-
try dealers lingering
at Chengbei Market
have had little to do
since Chinese authorities shut
down their livelihoods after
H7N9 bird u began stalk-
ing the country again, killing
scores of people this year.
They spend their days count-
ing the losses to their business
and cleaning the cages which
once held thousands of live
birds, hoping the government
will allow the trade to resume.
The chickens lay every
day and I cant sell the eggs.
We are losing money, said Li
Guiying, local boss of the Xu-
ancheng Shandi Poultry Co.
H7N9 avian inuenza has
returned to China, sickening
226 people and killing 72 so
far this year, as the govern-
ment girds for what is likely
to be a long battle to contain
what one World Health Orga-
nization (WHO) ofcial has
labelled an epidemic.
China has responded by ag-
gressively closing down poul-
try markets in locations be-
lieved to be at threat from the
virus, raising an outcry from
the agricultural industry and
consumers with a taste for
freshly slaughtered food.
But in the longer term the
government needs to encour-
age a shift in behaviour of
consumers and clean up the
nations food supply chain, ex-
perts say, which has been hit
by health safety scandals.
Fears exist that the H7N9 vi-
rus could mutate and become
easily passed between people,
rampaging through the worlds
most populous country and
crossing its borders to spread
around the planet.
After subsiding following
the rst outbreak early last
year, H7N9 resurfaced in the
autumn, then boomed. The
gures for the rst two months
of the year exceed the tallies of
144 infections and 46 deaths
for the whole of 2013.
The WHO and Chinese au-
thorities maintain there is no
evidence of sustained hu-
man transmission with H7N9,
though there have been cases
of family members in close
contact infecting each other.
But they acknowledge a sea-
sonal spike in cases, possibly
caused by the afnity of the
virus for colder temperatures
and humans greater suscepti-
bility to illness in winter.
The big question always is:
Does it go down as the sea-
son goes away or does it con-
tinue? said the WHO Repre-
sentative in China, Bernhard
Schwartlander.
We seem to start seeing a
decrease again, which con-
rms the seasonal patterns,
but there is of course no rea-
son and no space to relax,
he said.
Poultry dealers accuse the
government of shutting the
markets without scientic evi-
dence and demand compen-
sation for the birds they were
forced to slaughter or sell at
rock-bottom prices.
Chickens cant talk. Ducks
cant talk. We dont know where
bird u came from: chickens,
ducks or other birds, said
Li, at the Chengbei market in
Hangzhou.
Authorities in the city, capi-
tal of the eastern province of
Zhejiang, the centre of the cur-
rent outbreak, shut down the
market in January. The prov-
ince has announced radical
plans to ban forever all live
poultry trading in urban areas,
according to state media, and
replace it with factory-slaugh-
tered and frozen meat.
Chinas National Poultry In-
dustry Association estimates
the sector has lost more than
$3 billion so far this year, on
top of the impact of the out-
break last year as consumers
shunned fowl and markets
stopped business.
Within the industry we call
it a devastating hit, a crown-
ing calamity. With our backs to
the wall, it seems one cannot
adequately depict the severity
of the situation, said the as-
sociations secretary-general,
Gong Guifen. AFP
Chinas National Poultry Industry Association estimates the sector has lost more than $3 billion so far this year. AFP
Travel
19
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
The chaos of Istanbul stands in stark contrast to southwest Turkeys
mellow atmosphere. BLOOMBERG
In southwest
Turkey, easy
vibe prevails
Winston Ross

I
N THE former Greek
settlement of Behram-
kale, narrow cobblestone
streets wind their way up
to the top of a perfect dome of
a hill, where a kindly old man
nds you a place to park.
A short, steep walk to an en-
trance gate gets you into the
Temple of Athena, a sixth-cen-
tury BC Ionic temple, whose
360-degree vista is much more
impressive than the ruins
themselves. On the January
day we were there, we had the
place to ourselves. But for the
wind, rolling up from the sea,
it was the quietest place Ive
been in months.
There isnt much in the way
of signage at Behramkale, so
its hard to tell when youre in
the village and when youre
not. The Lonely Planet guide-
book described this as a place
of twin villages, not just
Behramkale but also Assos. I
assumed at rst that the two
were indistinguishable, that
you skipped through one and
then the next on the way up
that hill.
I was, happily, wrong. On the
way back down, a somewhat
terrifying cliffside road drops
like a meteor into the seaside
village of Assos, founded by
Mysians in the eighth century
BC. Today, its roads are barely
an automobile wide. Aristotle
lived here from 348 to 345 BC.
A nice place to write, surely.
Eager to begin the long drive
home, we only cruised from
one end of the village to the
next, wishing that wed rented
a hotel room here so that we
didnt have to haul all the way
back to Izmir after only a cou-
ple of hours at our destination.
Next time.
That night, we ate some of
the most delicious and differ-
ent food wed had in Turkey,
where restaurateurs dont typi-
cally veer far from the standard
mezze options of grilled lamb
and eggplant. Sakiz burst at
the seams with creative dishes
and fantastic seafood. We had
baked octopus on a bed of
eggplant and calamari.
Here, we got a real feel for
Izmirs reputation as a more
laid-back, progressive answer
to Istanbul. A pair of local folk
artists a singer and her gui-
tar accompanist played an
assortment of Turkish tradi-
tional hits, evidenced by the
chorus of people in the res-
taurant who knew the words
to every song and, at their
favourite parts, belted them
out loud.
After dinner, a professorial
gent in a tweed blazer stood
and invited the man at the
table next to him a stranger,
as far as I could gather to
dance. The man smiled and
got right out of his seat, and
before long, half the people in
the restaurant were spinning
and twirling. This is not the
kind of thing that youd see in
buttoned-down Istanbul, and
it was delightful.
The second night, feeling
adventurous, I asked Apple
Maps to guide me to a res-
taurant called Gozlemicim, at
the top of a monstrous hill in
Izmir, that allegedly served the
best gozleme in the city.
It wasnt until wed spent a
frustrating hour hunting for
the place that the proprietors
of a small internet cafe in-
formed us that gozleme is a
breakfast food (its a Turkish
pancake) and that Gozlem-
icim is a breakfast joint. We
moped back down the hill
and hoped that Sakiz was still
open. It was, and we dined
there on sea bass and seafood
pasta. THE WASHINGTON POST
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT SCHEDULE
FROM PHNOM PENH TO PHNOM PENH
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TG 585 Daily 20:40 21:45 PG 937 Daily 20:15 21:50
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CZ 6060 2.4.7 14:45 18:10 CZ 323 Daily 19:05 20:50
PHNOMPENH- HANOI HANOI - PHNOMPENH
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PHNOMPENH- HOCHI MINHCITY HOCHI MINHCITY- PHNOMPENH
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VN 3856 Daily 19:20 20:05 VN 3857 Daily 18:00 18:45
PHNOMPENH- HONGKONG HONGKONG- PHNOMPENH
KA 207 1.2.4.7 11:25 15:05 KA 208 1.2.4.6.7 08:50 10:25
KA 207 6 11:45 22:25 KA 206 3.5.7 14:30 16:05
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KA 209 3.5.7 17:25 21:00 KA 206 2 15:50 17:25
KA 205 2 19:00 22:35
PHNOMPENH- INCHEON INCHEON- PHNOMPENH
KE 690 Daily 23:40 06:40 KE 689 Daily 18:30 22:20
OZ 740 Daily 23:50 06:50 OZ 739 Daily 19:10 22:50
PHNOMPENH- KUALALUMPUR KUALALUMPUR- PHNOMPENH
AK 1473 Daily 08:35 11:20 AK 1474 Daily 15:15 16:00
MH 755 Daily 11:10 14:00 MH 754 Daily 09:30 10:20
MH 763 Daily 17:10 20:00 MH 762 Daily 3:20 4:10
PHNOMPENH- PARIS PHNOMPENH- PARIS
AF 273 2 20:05 06:05 AF 273 2 20:05 06:05
PHNOMPENH- SHANGHAI SHANGHAI - PHNOMPENH
FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:50 23:05 FM 833 2.3.4.5.7 19:30 22:40
PHNOMPENH- SINGAPORE SINGAPORE-PHNOMPENH-SIEMREAP*
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MI 622 2.4 12:20 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 11:25
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3K 598 .2.4..7 16:00 19:25 *3K 597 .2.4..7 13:50 15:15
MI 607 Daily 18:10 21:10 MI 608 Daily 16:20 17:15
2817 1.3 16:40 19:40 2816 1.3 15:00 15:50
2817 2.4.5 09:10 12:00 2816 2.4.5 07:20 08:10
2817 6 14:50 17:50 2816 6 13:00 14:00
2817 7 13:20 16:10 2816 7 11:30 12:30
PHNOMPENH-TAIPEI TAIPEI - PHNOMPENH
BR 266 Daily 12:45 17:05 BR 265 Daily 09:10 11:35
PHNOMPENH- VIENTIANE VIENTIANE- PHNOMPENH
VN 840 Daily 17:30 18:50 VN 841 Daily 11:30 13:00
QV 920 Daily 17:50 19:10 QV 921 Daily 11:45 13:15
PHNOMPENH- YANGON YANGON- SIEMREAP
8M 402 1.3.6 13:30 14:55 8M 401 1.3.6 08:20 10:45
SIEMREAP- PHNOMPENH
8M 401 1.3.6 11:45 12:30
SIEMREAP- BANGKOK BANGKOK- SIEMREAP
Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival
K6 700 Daily 12:50 2:00 K6 701 Daily 02:55 04:05
PG 924 Daily 09:45 11:10 PG 903 Daily 08:00 09:00
PG 906 Daily 13:15 14:40 PG 905 Daily 11:35 12:45
PG 914 Daily 15:20 16:45 PG 913 Daily 13:35 14:35
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PG 910 Daily 20:30 21:55 PG 909 Daily 18:45 19:55
SIEMREAP- GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU- SIEMREAP
CZ 3054 2.4.6 11:25 15:35 CZ 3053 2.4.6 08:45 10:30
CZ 3054 1.3.5.7 19:25 23:20 CZ 3053 1.3.5.7 16:35 18:30
SIEMREAP-HANOI HANOI - SIEMREAP
K6 850 Daily 06:50 08:30 K6 851 Daily 19:30 21:15
VN 868 1.2.3.5.6 12:40 15:35 VN 843 Daily 15:25 17:10
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SIEMREAP-HOCHI MINHCITY HOCHI MINHCITY-SIEMREAP
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SIEMREAP- INCHEON INCHEON- SIEMREAP
KE 688 Daily 23:15 06:10 KE 687 Daily 18:30 22:15
OZ 738 Daily 23:40 07:10 OZ 737 Daily 19:20 22:40
SIEMREAP- KUALALUMPUR KUALALUMPUR- SIEMREAP
AK 281 Daily 08:35 11:35 AK 280 Daily 06:50 07:50
FLY DIRECT TOMYANMARMONDAY, WEDNESDAY &SATURDAY
YANGON- PHNOMPENH PHNOM PENH - YANGON
FLY DIRECT TOSIEMREAPMONDAY, WEDNESDAY &SATURDAY
SIEMREAP- YANGON YANGON - SIEM REAP
#90+92+94Eo, St. 217, Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Tel 023 881 178 | Fax 023 886 677 | www.maiair.com
REGULAR SHIPPING LINES SCHEDULES
CALLING PORT ROTATION
LINE CALLING SCHEDULES FREEQUENCY ROTATIONPORTS
RCL
(12calls/moth)
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2 Thu, 14:00 - Fri 22:00 1 Call/week
HKG-SHV-SGZ-HKG
(HPH-TXGKEL)
3 Fri, 20:00 - Sat 23:59 1 Call/week SIN-SHV-SGZ-SIN
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(4 calls/moth)
1 Th, 08:00 - 20:00 1 Call/week
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2 Fri, 22:00- Sun 00:01 1 Call/week
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(4 calls/onth)
Sun 09:00-23:00 1 Call/week
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APL
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COTS
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Irregula 2 calls/month BBK-SHV-BKK-(LZP)
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AIRLINES
Air Asia (AK)
Room T6, PP International
Airport. Tel: 023 6666 555
Fax: 023 890 071
www.airasia.com
Cambodia Angkor Air (K6)
PP Ofce, #90+92+94Eo,
St.217, Sk.Orussey4, Kh.
7Makara, 023 881 178 /77-
718-333. Fax:+855 23-886-677
www.cambodiaangkorair.com
E: mai@royalaviationexpert.com
Qatar Airways
No. 296 Blvd. Mao Tse Toung
(St. 245), Ground oor,
Intercontinental Hotel PP
Tel: +23 42 40 12/13/14
www.qatarairways.com
MyanmarAirwaysInternational
#90+92+94Eo, St. 217,
Sk. Orussey4, Kh. 7 Makara,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
T:023 881 178 | F:023 886 677
www.maiair.com
Dragon Air (KA)
#168, Monireth, PP
Tel: 023 424 300
Fax: 023 424 304
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Tiger airways
G. oor, Regency square,
Suare, Suite #68/79, St.205,
Sk Chamkarmorn, PP
Tel: (855) 95 969 888
(855) 23 5515 888/5525888
E: info@cambodiaairlines.net



Koreanair (KE)
Room.F3-R03, Intelligent Ofce
Center, Monivong Blvd,PP
Tel: (855) 23 224 047-9
www.koreanair.com
Cebu Pacic (5J)
Phnom Penh: No. 333B
Monivong Blvd. Tel: 023 219161
SiemReap: No. 50,Sivatha Blvd.
Tel: 063 965487
E-mail: cebuair@ptm-travel.com
www.cebupacicair.com
SilkAir (MI)
Regency C,Unit 2-4, Tumnorb
Teuk, Chamkarmorn
Phnom Penh
Tel:023 988 629
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AIRLINES CODE COLOUR CODE
2817 - 16 Tigerairways KA - Dragon Air 1 Monday
5J - CEBU Airways. MH - Malaysia Airlines 2 Tuesday
AK - Air Asia MI - SilkAir 3 Wednesday
BR - EVA Airways OZ - Asiana Airlines 4 Thursday
CI - China Airlines PG - Bangkok Airways 5 Friday
CZ - China Southern QR - Qatar Airways 6 Saturday
FD - Thai Air Asia QV - Lao Airlines 7 Sunday
FM - Shanghai Air SQ - Singapore Airlines
K6- Cambodia Angkor Air TG - Thai Airways | VN - Vietnam Airlines
This ight schedule information is updated about once a month. Further information,
please contact direct to airline or a travel agent for ight schedule information.
MH 765 3.5.7 14:15 17:25 MH 764 3.5.7 12:10 13:15
SIEMREAP- MANILA MANILA- SIEMREAP
5J 258 2.4.7 22:30 02:11 5J 257 2.4.7 19:45 21:30
SIEMREAP- SINGAPORE SINGAPORE- SIEMREAP
MI 633 1, 6, 7 16:35 22:15 MI 633 1, 6, 7 14:35 15:45
MI 622 2.4 10:40 15:20 MI 622 2.4 08:40 09:50
MI 630 5 12:25 15:40 MI 616 7 10:40 11:50
MI 615 7 12:45 16:05 MI 636 3, 2 13:55 17:40
MI 636 3, 2 18:30 21:35 MI 630 5 07:55 11:35
MI 617 5 18:35 21:55 MI 618 5 16:35 17:45
SIEMREAP- VIENTIANE VIENTIANE- SIEMREAP
QV 522 2.4.5.7 10:05 13:00 QV 512 2.4.5.7 06:30 09:25
SIEMREAP- YANGON YANGON- SIEMREAP
8M 402 1. 5 20:15 21:25 8M 401 1. 5 17:05 19:15
PREAHSIHANOUK- SIEMREAP SIEMREAP- PREAHSIHANOUK
Flighs Days Dep Arrival Flighs Days Dep Arrival
K6 130 1-3-5 12:55 13:55 K6 131 1-3-5 11:20 12:20
Entertainment
20
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Thinking caps
ACROSS
1 Body art, for short
5 Some German autos
10 Drought-stricken
14 Grim Grimm guy
15 Same here
16 Passable, barely
17 Recommend
18 ___ corn (picnic side)
19 Dollar days event
20 ... was I ___ I saw Elba
21 Superlative sequel to a Clint
Eastwood Western?
23 Big-time golf tournament (with
The)
25 Greek Hs
26 I must be off, old chap
27 Coastal areas
31 Mrs. Fitzgerald
33 Banana cluster
34 ___-de-France
35 Tendon suffix
36 Purposeful type of attitude
37 Prefix with vision
38 About 22.5 degrees
39 Drivers may hit them on purpose
40 HBOs Real Time host
41 Kind of insurance
43 One-third of a 1970 film title
44 Oval Office occupant, briefly
45 Mathematical proposition
48 Superlative sequel to a Gary Coo-
per classic?
52 Some forensic evidence
53 Not working
54 Long-time Today host
55 Smokey, for one
56 Aretha Franklins genre
57 Alan or Adam of film
58 ___ spumante wine
59 Flexible Flyer item
60 Small songbirds
61 To ___ (with precision)
DOWN
1 Carved family emblem
2 Ancient gathering place
3 Superlative sequel to a
Schwarze-negger movie?
4 Collectors achievement
5 Golf champ Mark
6 Bursts of laughter
7 Raison d___
8 Unfinished business
9 Tex-Mex snack
10 St. Francis birthplace
11 The Long and Winding ___
12 Place to be marooned
13 Busy bee
21 Gp. against furs
22 Unduly hasty
24 Small amounts
27 Good forecast
28 Superlative sequel to a Bruce
Willis film?
29 French fashion magazine
30 Person with a vision?
31 Vitamin additive
32 Europes highest active volcano
33 MVP of the first two Super Bowls
36 Common side dish
37 Source of poi
39 The Tortoise and the ___
40 Big name in faucets
42 Supported, as an appealed
decision
43 Material of an infamous crown
45 Dip ones ___ the water (test)
46 Related on a mothers side
47 Antoinette or Osmond
48 Sound of escaping air
49 American ___ (talent show)
50 Rubber cement, e.g.
51 Zap in the microwave
55 Barnyard sound
EPIC FILMS
Tuesdays solution Tuesdays solution
LEGEND CINEMA
THE LEGO MOVIE
An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to
be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to
join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing
the universe together.
City Mall: 2:15pm
Toul Kork: 9:30am, 6:05pm
POMPEII
A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race
against time to save his true love, who has been
betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount
Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved
as Pompeii crumbles around him. Starring Kit
Harrington and Emily Browning.
City Mall: 9:35am, 10pm
Toul Kork: 11:35am, 3:55pm, 5:55pm, 8:05pm
3AM PART 2
The second instalment of the Thai short horror film
compilation.
City Mall: 9:30am, 11:35am, 1:40pm, 7:50pm,
9:55pm
Toul Kork: 1:35pm, 3:40pm, 5:45pm, 7:50pm
THE MISSING PICTURE
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and
his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodias
Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
Nominated for the Best Foreign Language category
at the Oscars 2014.
Citymall: 5:55pm, 8:05pm
Toul Kork: 11:45am, 8:05pm
PLATINUM CINEPLEX
THE MISSING PICTURE
(See above.)
3pm, 6:40pm
POMPEII
(See above.)
4:45pm
3AM PART 2
(See above.)
9:30am, 11:35am, 8:20pm
NOW SHOWING
Concert @ La Creperie
La Creperie is hosting a special event
based on a Celtic theme with the band
Kheltica. This newly opened French
restaurant specialises in Brittany-style
crepes.
La Creperie, #12C Street 308. 8pm
Film @ Meta House
A Small Act examines the relationship
between a Kenyan man and the woman
who sponsored him as a child. Years
later, he is a Harvard graduate and a
human rights lawyer for the UN.
Meta House, #37 Sothearos Blvd. 4pm
TV PICKS
10.45am - THE BOURNE LEGACY: An expansion of the
universe from Robert Ludlums novels, centred on a
new hero whose stakes have been triggered by the
events of the previous three films. HBO
2:35pm - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: A naive young
woman comes to New York and scores a job as the
assistant to one of the citys biggest magazine editors,
the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly. Starring Meryl
Streep and Anne Hathaway. FOX MOVIES
5:10pm - CLUELESS: A parody of Jane Austens novel
Emma, about Cher, a popular girl who spends her days
playing matchmaker, helping friends with fashion choices,
advising the new girl at school on a makeover, and looking
for a boyfriend. HBO
6:20pm - QUARTET: At a home for retired musicians, the
annual concert to celebrate Verdis birthday is disrupted by
the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of
one of the residents. FOX MOVIES
Dina Chhans exhibition celebrates womens hard work. PHOTOSUPPLIED
Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz star in The Bourne
Legacy. AFP
Quiz @ The Willow
Probably Phnom Penhs biggest quiz
(they regularly pay out over $100 in prize
money) but they dont take themselves
too seriously.
The Willow, #1 Street 21.
7:30pm
Exhibition @ Equinox
Dina Chhans painting exhibition, The
Quiet Half of the Sky, portrays the
struggles of women all over Cambodia.
Chhans 11 paintings feature factory
workers, human rights activists, beer
girls, farmers, mothers and their
daughters. There is also one painting
that illustrates a girl who works on a
farm but dreams of being a ballet dancer.
The title of the exhibition arises from the
idea that women hold up half of the sky.
Chhan is famous for her sculpture work
examining land mines in Cambodia.
Equinox #3A Street 278. Runs until
April 5.
Sport
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
21
Petanque players take
titles at championships
THE 2014 National Petanque
Championships wrapped up its
events in the U17 age category
at the petanque pits of the
National Sports Complex
yesterday. Mung Titmaneth of
Takeos Department of
Education, Youth, and Sport club
captured victories in both boys
singles and boys shooting, while
Dragon Clubs Um Davin did the
same in the girls section. Mean
Chetra and Bu Rarayu of PSE
won boys doubles, and Ean Srey
Lin and Keo Sovan of Kandal
club topped the podium for girls
doubles. Ministry of Interiors
Som Soriya, Nen Nor Rin and
Chea Heng Leng grabbed gold
in boys triples, as Pov
Chansopeaktra, Thon Tavarith,
Thon Tavary, and Leng Ngech
Ngim (reserve) of Kandal
triumphed in womens triples.
The tournament finishes its final
competitions on Friday. CHHORN
NORN, TRANSLATEDBY CHENGSERYRITH
Heat top Wizards to
clinch playoff berth
THE Miami Heat clinched a
playoff spot and snapped a
three-game losing skid by
beating the Washington
Wizards 99-90 behind a
23-point performance from
LeBron James on Monday
night. Dwyane Wade scored 13
of his 22 points in the fourth
quarter in front of a crowd of
19,657 at the AmericanAirlines
Arena. This was a game that
showed some growth, said
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra.
James also tallied eight
assists and seven rebounds,
while Chris Bosh added 22
points and seven rebounds for
the Heat, who havent lost four
in a row since a five-game
losing streak in 2011. AFP
Pistorius used ammo
designed for damage
THE bullets that killed
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius
girlfriend were of a type that has
been the subject of repeated,
though largely unsuccessful,
bans since the 19th century. A
pathologist who performed an
autopsy on Reeva Steenkamp
the day after she died told the
Johannesburg court on Monday
that the fatal gunshot wounds
were inflicted by a type of
expanding ammunition once
known as Black Talon. The
American-manufactured
bullets, fired by Pistorius from a
9mm pistol, were banned in the
1990s in South Africa, but made
their way back to the market
under a different name, Ranger.
Pistorius, 27, says he fired four
shots at Steenkamp on
February 14, 2013, through a
locked toilet door, believing her
to be an intruder. He denies
intentionally killing her. AFP
Stars Peverley in stable
condition after collapse
DALLAS Stars Rich Peverley
was in stable condition with a
heart condition in a Dallas
hospital after collapsing on the
bench on Monday night during
a game against the Columbus
Blue Jackets. The 31-year-old
Canadian forward was carried
from the players bench to the
dressing room by the teams
trainers and then rushed to a
hospital in an ambulance.
Doctors said Peverley, who has
a history of heart problems, is
recovering after receiving
emergency medical care. AFP
Ly Hong lands Liberty Cup
H S Manjunath

C
AMBODIAS leading ama-
teur golfer Ly Hong won the
second edition of the win-
ner-takes-all 2014 Liberty
Cup after a two-round 78 gross score
in the Stableford tournament which
concluded at the Sir Nick Faldo-
designed Angkor Golf Resort in Siem
Reap yesterday.
The left-handed Ly Hong, who had
represented Cambodia in both the
2011 SEA Games and the 2010 Asian
Games, shot a one-over-par 73 to lead
the eld in the rst round which was
played at the Phokeethra Country
Club on Monday.
He handily kept the lead by ring an
identical score at the AGR for a tally of
78 points under the xed Stableford
point system.
The long-driving Ly Hong placed
great importance on his short game
and putting.
Im very happy to have partici-
pated in Liberty Cup for the second
year in a row. I really enjoyed myself
and have built good relationship with
other participants, the 42 year old
told the Post.
Second shots are very important,
especially [at the] Angkor Golf Resort,
and they turned out well for me.
The Kingdoms cup of joy overowed
after a similarly sounding Lee Hong
emerged as the mens nett winner,
even as the 2013 champion Alex Yap
of Malaysia could only nish third.
As many as 14 local golfers were in
a eld of 88 drawn from Malaysia,
Laos, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore
and the United Kingdom. The event
was jointly organised by Malaysias
Liberty Golf Services and Cambodia-
based PSD travel.
The 2013 Carlsberg Golf Classic
champion Roszali Baharuddin of
Malaysia nished tied for 11th.
Its my rst time to Cambodia and
its an amazing country. My deepest
gratitude to Carlsberg Malaysia for
sponsoring me to participate in this
great event, he told the Post.
Meanwhile, Lillian Wong of Malay-
sia became the rst womens cham-
pion with a two-round score of 69 in
a eld that included eight of her com-
patriots.
The organisers invited BFT, a Siem
Reap-based childrens charity or-
ganisation for a charity drive a
hole-in-one competition. While the
kids enjoyed the golng bit, they also
entertained the tournament partici-
pants to a grand dance performance.
The key partners to the Liberty Cup
were Transview Golf, Titoni, Carls-
berg, RHB Bank, Angkor Golf Resort,
Phokeethra Country Club, Casillero
del Diablo and Vittel.
Kinnear sets a hot pace
Paul Kinnear red a stunning 66 to
take a rst-round lead in the eighth
Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Mis-
sion Hills Golf Club in the southern
Chinese city of Shenzhen yesterday.
The 20-year-old from England
is three shots ahead of American
Zachary Bauchou, who went round
in three-under-par despite missing
the practice day and never having
stepped on the course prior to the
competition.
Kinnear carded four birdies and
two eagles in a superb six-under-par
round on the Sir Nick Faldo-designed
course. The England squad member
from Lancashire is bidding to be-
come the rst European winner of a
Faldo Series Asia Grand Final.
Local boy Bai Zheng-Kai from
Guangdong is leading the Boys U16
division and 14 Faldo Series com-
petitors who also qualify to win the
Mission Hills Trophy. This special
category is awarded to the highest-
placed Chinese golfer and was won
in its inaugural year by Guangzhous
Guan Tianlang.
Guan, who was 14 years old at the
time, went on to nish as the low am-
ateur in the 2013 US Masters Tourna-
ment after spending time with three-
time Masters winner Faldo at Mission
Hills last March.
In the girls division, Ridhima Di-
lawari leads a strong chasing pack by
one shot after an opening round of 71.
The 15-year-old from Delhi is hoping
to become the third Indian after two-
time winner Rashid Khan (2007 and
2009) and Abhijit Chahda in 2010 to
win the Faldo Series Asia title.
With the eld at Mission Hills di-
vided into ve age-categories, three
boys and two girls will each receive
a trophy and an exemption into the
18th Faldo Series Grand Final later
this year. The leading boy and girl
will also be invited to play in a pro-
fessional Tour event and the title of
Faldo Series Asia champion will go
to the player with the lowest gross
score, regardless of age or gender. Cambodias Ly Hong clinched the 2014 Liberty Cup in Siem reap yesterday. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Slipped disc
Siddhartha Rajagopalan of India leaps to catch a disc in the Slip n Slide Layout contest, a sideline diversion of the Big Phat Phnom Penh Hat ultimate frisbee tournament on Sunday, hosted
by Cambodias traveling ultimate frisbee team The Orphans. The two-day event, which took place at the Northbridge International School eld, sees the names of 150 participants drawn
from a hat to establish 10 teams. After pool play on Saturday, the sides were reseeded for knockout rounds on Sunday. The black-coloured team Pirate Nation, captained by Phnom Penhs
Rachel Haig, won all seven of its games to claim the gold medal over the light blue team Kazakhstan in the Olympics-themed event. The Slip n Slide contest was won by Pirate Nations
Phnom Penh resident Dale Marshall, with his team-mate Rajagopalan grabbing the silver medal. Phnom Penh-based Eleanor Hart claimed the womans Slip n Slide gold medal for the
green team Pakistan. Sponsor Cambodia Beer supplied free-owing beer to thirsty participants, while Aussie XL sponsored tournament fees for 15 Cambodian youths. DHFRIENDLY
Talek Harris

T
HE Womens Tennis Asso-
ciation offered only luke-
warm support for the new
International Premier Ten-
nis League yesterday, with some
details still sketchy even after the
player draft.
Melissa Pine, the associations
Asia-Pacic vice-president and
tournament director of this years
WTA Championships in Singapore,
also raised concerns over possible
player burn-out related to the new
exhibition event.
Pine, speaking to AFP in Singa-
pore, admitted the body which
oversees womens tennis remains
unclear on aspects of the IPTL, a
multi-city team tournament to be
played in Asia and the Middle East
from late this year.
Were really just reading about it
as you are. We dont have a lot of de-
tails on the IPTL, Pine said, as BNP
Paribas was announced as the WTA
Championships sponsor on a ve-
year deal.
But I guess just as a matter with
the WTA and players, its for them to
ensure that theyre striking the right
balance in the off-season between
capitalising on promotional oppor-
tunities, while at the same time en-
suring they have the proper rest and
recovery for the upcoming season.
Asked whether the WTA was
broadly supportive of the new ini-
tiative, Pine said: We dont really
have a lot of details, but exhibitions
can be good for tennis.
The IPTL, an invention of Indian
former doubles specialist Mahesh
Bhupathi, is set to launch in Novem-
ber and December a rest period for
most players with stops in Singa-
pore, Bangkok, Mumbai and Dubai.
The tournament will feature 24
matches across the four cities with
each comprising the best of ve
single-set face-offs in singles and
doubles, in an order decided by the
home team.
At the draft in Dubai this month,
the teams spent nearly $24 mil-
lion on top players including Rafael
Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena
Williams, and retired greats such as
Andre Agassi.
However, Agassi has since said
the tournament clashes with his
Thanksgiving holiday, while Pete
Sampras appeared unclear on which
team he is playing for.
Organisers are yet to announce the
identities of the team owners who
are fronting large sums, including a
fee reportedly close to $1 million per
night for Nadal. And Roger Federer,
Maria Sharapova, Kei Nishikori and
Li Na Asias top-ranked player and
a major drawcard are skipping the
tournament altogether.
Adding to the uncertainty is the
fact that the IPTL does not have its
own website and its Facebook page
is out of date.
But the IPTL, inspired by crickets
Indian Premier League, may yet
prove a hit with its made-for-TV for-
mat and strategy of targeting Asian
and Middle East markets.
The event will take place between
the WTA Championships, the tradi-
tional womens season nale which
is debuting in Singapore, and the
start of the 2015 tennis circuit.
Pine said it was critical that the
women playing the IPTL, who also
include Victoria Azarenka, Ana
Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki,
scheduled in time to rest and re-
cover.
I think the critical aspect here
is that players are managing their
off-season time and balancing the
promotional and nancial oppor-
tunities with the critical element of
health and recovery period during
the off-season, she said. AFP
22 THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Tennis
Melissa Pine, the WTA Asia-Pacic vice-president and tournament director of this years WTA Championships in Singapore, speaks
during a press conference in Singapore yesterday. AFP
WTA offers
lukewarm
support to
new league
Nadal, Sharapova toppled at Indian Wells
DEFENDING champions
Rafael Nadal and Maria Shara-
pova suffered shock third-
round exits on Monday at the
Indian Wells ATP Masters and
WTA hard-court tournament
in California.
Ukraines 31st-ranked Alex-
andr Dolgopolov ended world
number one Nadals run of
eight straight trips to the
semi-finals or better at Indian
Wells with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5)
triumph.
Dolgopolov notched his first
career win over Nadal after five
prior defeats including a loss
to the Spaniard in the clay-
court final at Rio de Janeiro
two weeks ago.
Serving for the match at 5-3
in the third, Dolgopolov was
broken at love with a double
fault on break point.
Even then, however, he said
he knew he was playing well
enough to win.
The point was just not to
get too nervous, he said. I
knew hes going to make me
play that game and not miss
much, and I just gave it away.
That was all on me.
I just tried to forget about
that and come back.
In the tiebreaker, Dolgopolov
thought hed sewn it up with
an ace on his first match point,
but Nadal challenged and the
ball was ruled out.
I thought, Youve got to be
kidding me, Dolgopolov said.
I was thinking hes going to
challenge because I didnt
really raise my hands up or
anything after that ace because
I knew it was close and I wasnt
sure it was on the line.
Then I just tried to come
back as fast as I could to the
line, so I didnt have enough
time to think about it and just
serve and start the point.
He put his second serve in
play and ended it with a sting-
ing forehand. I just went for
the winner, he said.
Italian qualifier Camila Gior-
gi, ranked 79th in the world,
upset fourth-seeded Sharapo-
va 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
The Russian superstar, cur-
rently ranked fifth in the world,
was undone by 58 unforced
errors, and the two combined
for 15 breaks of serve.
I did not play a good match
at all, Sharapova said.
Shes quite aggressive, but
some shots she hit incredible
for a long period of time.
But, you know, if Im speak-
ing about my level, it was
nowhere near where it should
have been.
Nadal: I played bad
Nadal, too, was dissatisfied
with his own performance.
I played bad, thats all,
Nadal said. Im disappointed
with the way I played, but that
happens sometimes.
Nadal, who had struggled in
his opener against Czech
Radek Stepanek, said his
groundstrokes let him down,
but his troubles had nothing
to do with the sore back that
slowed him in his loss to Stan-
islas Wawrinka in the Austral-
ian Open final.
I am fine with the back,
Nadal said. I didnt have bad
feelings with my back. The bad
feelings were with the fore-
hand and the backhand.
Elsewhere in mens action,
two-time Grand Slam cham-
pion Andy Murray survived a
scare from young Czech Jiri
Vesely.
Murray, formerly ranked
world number two but cur-
rently sixth, had to rally in the
second and third sets to defeat
the 20-year-old, 77th-ranked
Vesely 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4, and
the Scot dubbed it a frustrat-
ing match.
Seventh-seeded Roger Fed-
erer, a four-time champion at
Indian Wells, also advanced
7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory over
27th-seeded Russian Dmitry
Tursunov.
Federer recovered an early
break in the second set before
dominating in the tiebreaker,
staying on track for a possible
quarter-final showdown with
compatriot Wawrinka.
Wawrinka, who stepped out
of Federers shadow with his
first Grand Slam triumph in
Melbourne in January, cruised
into the fourth round with a
6-0, 6-2 victory over Italys
Andreas Seppi.
Womens top seed Li Na, who
won her second Grand Slam
title at the Australian Open,
secured her fourth-round
berth with a 6-3, 6-4 victory
over unseeded Czech Karolina
Pliskova. AFP
Rafael Nadal hits a return to Alexandr Dolgopolov during the BNP
Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Monday. AFP
Football
THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
23
Heavyweights meet in
third place Cup battle
FOLLOWING their shock exits in
the semi-finals of the Hun Sen
Cup on Sunday, reigning
champions Naga Corp and the
highly rated Boeung Ket Rubber
Field clash from 5:30pm today
at the Olympic Stadium in the
play-off for third place. Boeung
Ket hold the advantage from
recent head-to-heads, having
edged Naga 3-2 in their Group A
Cup match on February 19 and
2-1 in the Metfone C-League
four days previously. DANRILEY
HIV-prevention program
kicks off in Cambodia
AS part of the build up to the
2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil,
UNAIDS (the joint United
Nations program on HIV) has
joined forces with the Asian
Development Bank and the
Asian Football Confederation to
launch an HIV-prevention
program aimed at helping
tackle the risk of HIV
transmission amongst young
people in Malaysia, Myanmar,
Thailand, the Philippines and
Cambodia. Key partners of the
program in the Kingdom include
the Football Federation of
Cambodia, the Ministry of
Education, Youth and Sport, top
flight club Phnom Penh Crown
and Battambang-based SALT
Academy. Communication and
education about the dangers of
HIV/AIDS transmission is so
important that [Phnom Penh
Crown] is wholly committed to
take part in this campaign to
enhance awareness of HIV,
improve access to HIV
prevention and treatment and
eliminate HIV-related stigma
and discrimination, reads a
press release from the club
yesterday. The ultimate goal of
the program, which uses
football as a means to reach
out to people, is to achieve
Three Zeros, namely zero new
HIV infections, zero
discrimination and zero AIDS-
related deaths in the respective
countries. DANRILEY
Injured Strootman to
miss Brazil World Cup
AS ROMAS Dutch international
midfielder KevinStrootman will
miss the World Cup after being
ruled out for the rest of the
season with ruptured knee
ligaments, the Serie A Club
said on Monday. The 24-year-
old will undergo surgery on his
left knee and the recovery
period could take between four
and six months. Its a small
catastrophe, Dutch coach
Louis van Gaal was quoted as
saying on the Netherlands
Football Federation website,
because Kevin was in his best
form for both the national team
and Roma. AFP
Violence forces ref to
abandon Turkish game
TURKISH footballs governing
body announced on Monday a
super league match between
Trabzonspor and league leaders
Fenerbahce was postponed
after fans threw objects onto the
pitch. The match hosted by
Trabzonspor in front of a
capacity crowd was stopped
twice in the first half due to
projectiles from home fans. AFP
Control key to Barcelonas
progress for Cesc Fabregas
B
ARCELONA attacking mid-
elder Cesc Fabregas believes
possession will be the key to
preventing Manchester City
from producing an historic comeback
in their Champions League last 16 sec-
ond leg tonight.
No team in the Champions League
era has ever come back after losing the
rst leg 2-0 at home, but that is what
City must do to reach the last eight
after Lionel Messis penalty and a late
strike from Dani Alves gave Barca a
commanding advantage at the Etihad
three weeks ago.
Barcelonas hopes of retaining their
La Liga title have taken a huge blow
since returning from Manchester
as consecutive away defeats to Real
Sociedad and Valladolid have left them
four points behind Real Madrid.
And Fabregas insisted they still have
plenty of work to do to ensure they
reach a seventh straight Champions
League quarter-nal.
We cannot let it become an open
match, running up and down the
whole time because that plays to their
strengths, the former Arsenal captain
told Uefa.com.
We need to control the game by hav-
ing the ball and creating opportunities,
but the most important thing is to n-
ish our attacks so we dont allow them
to play on the counter-attack.
I think we need to be almost perfect
to ensure we go through to the quarter-
nals.
Barca boss Gerardo Martino has a
fully-t squad to choose from and is
expected to make just one change from
the rst leg with Neymar coming in for
Chilean Alexis Sanchez up front.
City suffered a similarly disappoint-
ing weekend as they were knocked out
of the FA Cup at home by Champion-
ship side Wigan, who also beat them in
last years nal.
Manuel Pellegrini will at least be able
to recall Brazilian international Fer-
nandinho and captain Vincent Kom-
pany as they were rested on Sunday.
Kompany will be tasked with keep-
ing a frightening Barca frontline, that
includes Messi and Neymar, quiet if
his side are to have any chance of pro-
gressing.
However, the Belgian defender
warned against xating on the threat
posed by the South American duo.
Of course there are always names
that crop up because they are a team
with exceptional, fantastic players, he
told Uefa.com.
But the reality is they are above
all a team. They have many players
capable of posing a threat and we must
be aware that it is Barcelona we have to
beat, not only Messi or Neymar.
The threat could come from any-
where, but if we have these concerns I
am sure it is the same for both teams.
City will be bolstered by the return
of Messis Argentine international
team-mate Sergio Aguero, who scored
six times against Barca as an Atletico
Madrid player, after he missed the rst
leg through injury.
David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov
are also expected to start after being
left on the bench for the Wigan game,
whilst Martin Demichelis is suspended
after being sent-off in the rst leg.
Coach Blanc calls for concentration
Paris Saint-Germain cannot afford
to let their concentration slip as they
prepare for their Champions League
last 16 second leg tie at home to Bayer
Leverkusen tonight, their coach Lau-
rent Blanc believes.
The French champions stormed to a
4-0 success in Germany, leaving the tie
as good as over ahead of the Parc des
Princes clash.
Added to that, PSG are on a run of
ve straight victories, having plun-
dered 16 goals in that period, while
Leverkusen only ended a ve-match
losing streak in drawing 1-1 at Hanover
96 on Saturday.
If form and precedence were taken
into account, there would be no doubt
this tie was already done and dusted
no team has ever overturned a 4-0
rst leg decit in a Champions League
knock-out tie but Blanc is not one to
rest on his laurels.
You always have to be demanding
with your team, said Blanc.
In the Champions League, quali-
cation is decided in the second match.
For now, we dont have it yet so we have
to see through qualication.
Whoever plays, we have the de-
sire to win. Thats important because
the biggest teams, even when going
through difcult periods, they need to
concentrate.
The question of who plays will be
an interesting one for PSG, for whom
record-signing Edinson Cavani is avail-
able again having missed Saturdays
3-0 win at Bastia after going back to
Uruguay for personal reasons.
Both games kick-off tonight at
2:45am Cambodian time. AFP
Barcelonas Cesc Fabregas (right) ghts for the ball against Man City players during their UEFA Champions League Last 16 rst leg. AFP
Toni Kroos open to Man United move
TONI Kroos says that he con-
siders a move to the Premier
League to be a possibility,
raising the hopes of Manches-
ter United and his other suit-
ors in England.
The Bayern Munich attack-
ing midfielder is locked in a
contractual stand-off with his
employer.
His deal, which earns him
about 70,000 (US$116,480) a
week, expires in the summer
of next year and the German
international maintains that
he will assess his options at the
end of the season, when he
stands to become one of the
most sought-after players on
the market.
The United manager, David
Moyes, has put the 24-year-old
at the top of his wish-list as he
looks to strengthen after a ter-
rible first season in charge at
Old Trafford. But Kroos, who is
rated among the worlds lead-
ing young players, can expect
interest from every major club
in the Premier League.
It is no secret that the Pre-
mier League is a possibility for
me, Kroos said. But no one
has come to any agreement
with me and it will stay like
this until the summer and,
some time, a decision will be
made. It is also no secret that
the Premier League is not a
bad league.
I think I am a person where
a lot is possible for me. But I
have to think about this for
myself to reach a complete
decision. There will be a deci-
sion in the future but one with-
out giving you [the media] any
time frame.
Kroos was asked whether he
would consider a move to a
team who were not in the
Champions League with
United in mind.
I will consider everything,
he said. If I should leave.
Kroos, who scored the opening
goal in Bayerns 2-0 win over
Arsenal in London, is in a posi-
tion to demand a massive pay
rise. Bayerns honorary presi-
dent Franz Beckenbauer has
warned him not to overplay
his hand. Beckenbauer said
that no player is indispensa-
ble or worth changing your
entire wage structure for.
The Bayern manager, Pep
Guardiola, has no intention of
losing Kroos and he believes
the player can improve further
under him in the seasons
ahead.
Toni is a great talent, a good
player, Guardiola said. Hes
young and he can be better and
better. Ive said to him: You
have time to become an even
better player. I hope he main-
tains his form this season and
for more seasons at this club.
THE GUARDIAN
Toni Kroos would consider joining Manchester United even if they fail to
qualify for Champions League. AFP
Spanish La Liga
Osasuna 0 Malaga 2
Real Sociedad 2
Rayo Vallecano 3
MONDAYS RESULTS
24 THE PHNOM PENH POST MARCH 12, 2014
Sport
Caged dragon
Cambodian mixed martial arts ghter Khim Dima trains with his coach Chan Hun at A Fighter gym on Monday. Dima, nicknamed Black Dragon, and his coach ew out to Kuala Lumpur yesterday ahead of a bout against
Malaysias Saiful Merican on Friday at the ONE FC: War of Nations ght night. Dima is looking to record Cambodias rst win inside a ONE FC cage while also attempting to avenge his countryman Tok Sophons loss to The
Vampire Merican last November. The Malaysian Muay Thai expert will have the home advantage though, with an expected sell-out crowd of 10,000 fans to ll the iconic Stadium Negara. SRENG MENG SRUN
Marussia aim to make F1 mark
M
ARUSSIA, everybodys
favourite other team
in the plutocrats play-
ground of Formula
One, go into the rst race of their
fth season in Melbourne on Sun-
day with a genuine chance of scor-
ing points for the rst time.
That is more a reection of the ex-
ceptionally unpredictable circum-
stances surrounding this season
with the introduction of many
technological changes than any-
thing else.
There is a feeling that Marussia,
along with Caterham, have come
of age and may punch above their
weight; their ambition is to make
regular appearances in the second
round of qualifying on Saturday
afternoons, just as they did in Spa
last year.
Despite reliability issues in testing,
they hope to topple Caterham just
as they did last year, and even push
on to compete with Toro Rosso and
maybe some other mideld teams.
All the big players have struggled
to get their bofnish heads around
the new regulations, in particular
the smaller engine and the new fuel
restriction, but for little Marussias
200-strong team (Red Bull employ
about 550) the challenge has been
immense.
For Marussia, who spend about
1.5 million ($2.49 million) every
week, the challenge is just to stay in
F1 and they have had to nd ex-
tra tens of millions to nance this
years changes.
But this a true racing team and
the dedication of its president and
sporting director, Graeme Low-
don, and the team principal, John
Booth, has impressed everyone in
the paddock.
Booth said: I think its been a slow
process but I think we do get respect
from people within the paddock. I
think that happened in year three,
2012, when we really showed what
we were made of.
The wider TV audience is much
more difcult, because they see us
on the starting grid with Red Bull.
They probably wont know theres
any difference in budgets or num-
bers of staff.
They do see that in football. Most
people can see the cost of the Man-
chester City squad because its on the
back page of every single paper every
day. They can see, when West Brom
play Man City, they can see West
Brom ghting, using clever strat-
egy to nullify the advantage. But fans
cant see how hard were ghting.
We dont have budgets like the
big teams. The cost base of F1 is
ridiculously high, and there is a lot
of waste.
Marussia are the least equal of
equals in formula one. For some
time now Lowdon has been asking
for a level playing eld but his argu-
ment has lost none of its resonance.
We would rather see a differ-
ent model of the way the money is
distributed, he said. Its the easi-
est thing to say when youre getting
the least money but I would like to
think that even if we werent in that
position we would still sing from the
same song sheet.
The biggest problem any busi-
ness has is that you have to be in a
position to plan. But we will start de-
signing next years car in a few weeks
time, and by the middle of this year
the vast majority will be designing
that car. And yet we dont know how
much money we will get from one of
the main revenue streams until we
cross the line in the last race in Abu
Dhabi in November.
By that time we will have spent a
huge amount of our budget for the
following year. So there is a massive
mismatch in timing with a lot of this
stuff.
There are signs that Lowdons view
is receiving increasing support, even
from some of the mideld teams.
He added: Yes, you have great-
er spoils the higher up you nish
but there is a wider way of making
money in Formula One. The higher
up you nish the more youre on TV
and you can monetise that. Thats
hard cash.
But its quite clear that one of
the things the commercial model
should x is the basic sustainability
of the teams. Can a team survive?
The model should make sure that
all teams survive. I cant think of any
other global sport that has that kind
of uncertainty. THE GUARDIAN
Marussia driver Jules Bianchi of France drives in for a pitstop during the United States
F1 Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas on November 17, 2013 in Austin, Texas. AFP