ថតកាលពីរាត្រីម្សិលមិញនៅវិមានឯករាជ្យ។ គេតុបតែងស្អាតទេ បងប្អូន? សូមជូនពរឆ្នាំថ្មីសិរីបវរគ្រប់ទិវារាត្រីជូនបងប្អូនគ្រប់គ្នា!
Archive for April, 2008
សួស្តីឆ្នាំថ្មី ព.ស. ២៥៥២
In Cambodia on Saturday, April 12, 2008 at 2:48 PMDuty on Personal Consumption Imports? WTF!!
In Cambodia, Corruption, My Life, Phnom Penh Airport on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 12:53 AM
A friend of mine arrived from the States via Pochentong tonight, and something unbelievably ridiculous welcomed her at this very port of entry!! What a SHAME!
It all began as she was leaving the arrival hall. As you could imagine, she was walking out with her baggage in one hand and a case of personal laptop in the other. For no clear reasons, a group of our proud, hardworking dumbass customs officials quickly approached her and requested to inspect her laptop. Innocent, my poor friend let them look at it, thinking it was simply a part of their protocol. To her dismay, the officials ordered that she paid an import duty of US$150. In an aggressive manner, one of them claimed the Cambodian customs rules dictate a payment for all imports – be it for commercial or personal consumption. <I seriously doubt such a rule exists! It would be excellent if it were practiced well – by all means, Cambodia would benefit millions of dollars from tax. Sigh!>
Instinctively we responded by questioning the origin of the rule. For a fact, we are no novice air travelers. We’ve been to too many countries to know too well about such tricks. Even the world’s strictest nations – the US, UK, Australia, you name it – do not have such a restriction in use.
Despite our polite reasoning and explanation, these leeches wouldn’t care. They proudly said we were under their authority and that we must follow whatever they said; otherwise, the laptop would be confiscated!!! <Ah! Isn’t Cambodia a democratic nation? Is this how democracy works? With authority in hand, does it mean one may create shitty rules and abuse innocent people any times? Holy Molly! Probably the new year fever is raking up their corrupt mind – time to earn extra dirty bucks! That’s why they don’t have even a tiny bit of shame for themselves.>
A friend of us, who was also there, later said she knew a senior customs official who she believed could intervene on the matter. After several phone calls from our side and the other (I meant the intervener), they finally agreed to let us go. I meant going without pay even a single cent. <They must have realized that after all, we were not someone easily messed up with!
Oh my beloved Cambodia! I wonder when such shameless craps end. It’s a same-old matter. Corruption hurts not only our economy but also our people’s lives!!! It’s high time we ended it. I’m so tired of all this!
Cambodian New Year Parade 2008 in Long Beach, CA
In Cambodia, Cambodian-American, Khmer, ពីនេះពីនោះ on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 10:01 PM
ប្រដាប់ប្រដាសំណែនដូនតានាស.វ. ទី ២១
In Khmer, My Life, Qing Ming, ឆេងម៉េង, ពីនេះពីនោះ on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 10:50 PM
ជារៀងរាល់ឆ្នាំ ឲ្យតែចូលដល់រដូវកាលឆេងម៉េងពេលណា គ្រូួសារ និង បងប្អូនខ្ញុំ តែងតែរៀបចំពិធីប្រក់ផ្នូរ និង សែនជូនអាកុងអាម៉ាជានិច្ច។ ឆ្នាំនេះ ក៏មិនខុសពីឆ្នាំណាៗដែរ ម៉ាក់បានទិញនូវគ្រឿងដង្វាយជាច្រើនហូរហែរ។ និយាយឲ្យចំទៅ គឺមានស្ទើរគ្រប់មុខ។ មានតាំងពីជ្រូកខ្វៃ នំនែក ផ្លែឈើ ក្រដាសសែន ទៀនធូប និង ផ្កាភ្ញីជាដើម។ល។
ប៉ុន្តែ អ្វីដែលខ្ញុំចាប់អារម្មណ័បំផុតសម្រាប់ឆ្នាំនេះ គឺរឿងក្រដាសសែន។ ដូចឃើញក្នុងរូបនេះស្រាប់ សំណែនដែលយើងដុតមានមិនត្រឹមតែក្រដាសមាស ក្រដាសប្រាក់ ប្រាក់ដុល្លារ ប្រាក់កាក់ មាសសន្លឹក គ្រឿងអលង្គារ សម្លៀកបំពាក់ប៉ុណ្ណោះទេ ថែមទាំងមានទូរស័ព្ទដៃ និង សំបុត្រយន្តហោះទៅកាន់ស្ថានសួគ៌ថែមទៀត។ មិនណយដែរហ្នឹង! និយាយពីទូរស័ព្ទវិញ សំបូរសុទ្ធតែ N Series តែម្តង។ មានតាំងពី N74, N75, 3310 ទៀតហ្ន៎! នេះបានថា ទំនើបទាន់សម័យកាលមែនរបស់គេមែន! មិនមែនមានតែមនុស្សឯណា ដែលប្រើទូរស័ព្ទដៃកាលីបៗ សូម្បីតែខ្មោចក៏ប្រើដែរ។
ពូកែរកនឹកគ្រាន់បើរបស់គេ អ្នករកស៊ីខាងនេះ! សូមកោតសរសើរ!
Culture Day-cum-New Year Celebration 2008
In Arts and Culture, Cambodia, IFL, ពីនេះពីនោះ on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 11:09 PM
Driving along the Russian Federation Boulevard last Saturday, passerby must have noticed that something was slightly out of ordinary at the typically tranquil IFL campus. All around this prestigious institute were lines of people in their best traditional outfits patiently queuing for registration. Blaring moderately loud were mindsoothing traditional Cambodian new year melodies, obviously telling us that some sort of festivity must be going on. For those who were there, the event was actually nothing else but the Culture Day-cum-Khmer New Year Celebration, an annual festivity held to raise awareness within the IFL community about Cambodian culture and heritage, and to mark the arrival of Cambodian new year.
Attending this event were H. E. Pit Chamnan, former Rector of the Royal University and currently Secretary of State of the Ministry of Education; IFL administrative and lecturing staff; and over 1,000 other students. The ceremony started off with an opening address by Dr. Mao Sokan, the Vice Rector of the Royal University, followed by another speech from H. E. Pit Chamnan. Central to the event that morning, however, were not the speeches. Instead they were cultural performances performed by the students and staff of the Institute and a forty-five minute Chapei duel by Cambodia’s Ray Charles Kong Nay and his protege Sin Soy.
As a graduate and lecturer of IFL who has been away for so long, I can’t describe enough how glad I am to be back in time for the fun. For us people in the IFL community, this is the most exciting event of the year. It is one among the many activities that the IFL management team has come up in recent years to expand our students’ educational experiences beyond the academic sphere.
Since pictures are said to paint a thousand words, why don’t we let them PICTURES describe some of the day’s major highlights?
The most beautiful dance of the day, Robam Phuong Neary was performed by some members of the IFL Dance Club, a club founded by IFL deputy director Suos Man in 2000. I myself was also a member of it during my undergraduate years.
Kong Nay dueling with his protege Sin Soy on this year’s main themes – culture and ethics.
A short standup comedy show by IFL’s one and only Om Soryong and his student Vattey. ប្រសិនបើអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នាឆ្ងល់ថាគាត់ហ្នឹងជានរណា គាត់ហ្នឹងឯងអធិរាជកំប្លែងស្ងួតប្រចាំ IFL។
Just look at the smiles on these faces! They should very well tell you how much they were enjoying themselves.
Following the yummy buffet lunch came the PARTAY time Cambodian styled 
In other words, lecturers and students alike needed to hit the dancefloor.
I was very glad to run into some of my students from several years ago, who already graduated yet couldn’t help coming back to this annual fun. All that said, they are my pride. I am so proud to learn about what they’ve been doing and achieved in the past years. Keep up the good work, guys!
BarCamp Is Coming to Phnom Penh
In BarCamp, BarCamp Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Cambodian Bloggers, Technology on Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Get ready guys!!
A groundbreaking technological event will soon come to Phnom Penh this September. Known as BarCamp Phnom Penh, the event is slowly becoming a new talk of the town among the local geeks, in place of the First Clogger Summit last year.
The local edition of the International BarCamp, which is a network of user generated conferences and events, the Phnom Penh BarCamp hopes to provide local technology enthusiasts with an opportunity to unionize and share among themselves skills, knowledge, experiences and updates about the world’s latest technological advancement. The event comes at a time when Cambodia is fast moving into the information age and when computers and Internet have become more central to Cambodian lifestyle.
Last Saturday I was fortunate to be part of the BarCamp planning meet-up, thanks an invitation from Tharum Bun, a fellow Cambodian blogger who initiated the local BarCamp idea. Joining us were several other blogger friends, namely John Weeks aka Jinja, Ramana Sorn, Chantra Be, Nobert Klein and Bart Geesink from the Open Institute. From what I understood, that was already their second meeting – the first one was held the previous week.
Our meeting was very informal and laid back, and was full of interesting moments. Our discussion covered not only the BarCamp but also several other topics of interests, the most interesting of which was on the One-Laptop-Per-Child Project. Bart and Nobert were very kind to let us look at a sample of the laptop, thousands of which are slated to be introduced to primary schools across Cambodia in the near future.
A first glimpse of the laptop took our breath away. Everyone simply couldn’t help but admire this cute gadget. Though specifically designed for eight-year-old kids, the laptop operates on a unique operating system called OX, (Not XO Hennesey for sure 
) and comes with word processing, music and color painting softwares as well as wireless internet. Did you notice the two ears? Those are the wireless network antenna. According to Bart, its battery is also very durable. It can last up to 2-3 hours, which, of course, puts many SONY and Apple laptops’ to shame.
Its screen is also very flexible. Users can turn it 360 degrees w/out worries. Though its keyboard is very small (Well, remember? It’s not for adults. 8-year-old kids, OK?), the laptop does come with many USB ports, allowing us to plug in an adult keyboard very easily. To cut the long story short, if interested, please http://www.laptop.org/ for more information. Your kind donation is very welcome. 
Back to BarCamp, we are currently looking for a venue with big space and great atmosphere for the event. We were thinking of bringing it to either IFL or the main RUPP campus, whose suburban locations and characters fit the requirement best. I am planning to bring the issue to the IFL management next week. Hopefully we’ll get a green light from then. Will keep you guys posted, I promise!
So please watch out for this upcoming geeky event! Hope a lot of people will participate.
