My new home at ysamphy.com; goodbye, ysamphy. wordpress.com!

This is just a quick announcement about 1- the discontinuity of this blog and 2- the new home of mine on the Internet. YSAMPHY.COM is where I am trying to grow a little more academically and professionally. For this reason, the topics you find here are not there on YSAMPHY.COM. At least for now, the new site’s core content covers the following:

• Labor Law (my writing about labor law);
• Books I Read (either books I’m reading or have read. It may also include my reviews of them.);
• Facts & Figures (all about the facts and figures he personally finds interesting about Cambodia, as well as those about the world and other countries); and
• Negotiation Lessons (Interested in developing my negotiation skills, this is where I write about my negotiation lessons).

If any of the categories is of your interest, feel free to stop by and comment! Learning from you is as important as learning from books.

A tool I would also like to point out about the new site of mine is the Discussion Board which I wish to be an online forum for people who are interested in discussing the following topics:

• Labor law,
• Development ideas,
• News especially about Cambodia,
• Negotiation,
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and
• Other types of law

Just visit the board, sign up for a username if you want to join and start posting.

Before I finish my last post on this blog of mine, let me tell you two things. First, despite the discontinuity, comments on my posts are appreciated and responded if needed. Second, I’m glad I’ve been learning to blog using both Google-powered Blogger and WordPress.com, which eventually inspired me to learn WordPress publishing platform, on which my new site is based. Without it, it would have been far more difficult for me to create such a dynamic site like YSAMPHY.COM to build up myself both academically and professionally.

Cambodian students in Japan holds essay contest

CSAJ (Cambodian Students Association in Japan) holds an essay contest and is calling for Cambodians 23 years of age or less to participate.

Topic:

Choose one of the following:

1. What are the main problems in your village/ city? And what can you contribute to solve them?
2. What do you think of the womenfs role in the Cambodian society?
3. How should we protect Cambodiafs cultural and natural resources?

Deadline: July 1, 2008

Eligibility:

1- Cambodian nationals residing in Cambodia, and
2- no older than 23 years old.

This essay competition aims to encourage young Cambodians to think of and care about their society and community, and to express their ideas to the public.

How to submit:

You can choose one of the following options to submit your essays.

1- Send your essays by E-mail to:
contest::csaj-khmer.org
(Please replace :: by @)

2- Mail your essays to:
Mr. Sim Vireak
#34AE1, Russian Federation Boulevard,
Sangkat Phsar Depo III, Khan Toul Kork,
Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Rules:

1. Each essay must be:
(a) original,
(b) written in either Khmer or English,
(c) 3-5 pages (A4 size), and
(d) submitted by July 1, 2008.

2. Each participant can submit only one essay.
3. Each essay must be accompanied my a short summary no longer than one page.
4. Each Essay must include the name, age, contact address and phone number of the author on the top of the first page.
5. CSAJ committee reserves the right to publish the winning essays.

Inquiry?

Email: seilaroath[at]csaj-khmer[dot]org
Tel (Cambodia): 092-222-179
Tel (Japan): (+81) 90-8514-1861

More info at http://essaycontest.csaj-khmer.org

2 vessels flying Cambodian flags detained in Russian waters

Two Cambodian vessels have been detained recently in Russian waters for illegal fishing, according to a Russian website which posted the news article in English. Click here to read full article… (last visited Mar 1 .

Swedish mother searching for abducted daughter in Thailand, Cambodia

A Swedish mother announced, in a press conference in Bangkok, her reward of USD10,000 to those who can “tip off police to the whereabouts of her 6-year-old daughter, allegedly abducted by her own father” in June last year, according to Bangkok Post breaking news (link last visited Mar 1 .

35 year-old Maria Elfversson reported that her daughter, Alicia, was last seen in Shihanoukville, Cambodia in February 2007. She claimed that Alicia is now either in Cambodia or Thailand, where the father, Norwegian national Torgeir Nordbo, 47, owns property.

She also posted a video on Youtube seven months ago in an attempt to call for help. In the video clip, she asked that the whereabouts of her be reported either to the nearest police station or directly to her via email at alicia.elfversson@hotmail.com

“[I]t is not a crime for a father to abduct his own children in Cambodia,” Bangkok Post wrote.

Israeli company buys Phnom Penh lot

BGI Investment (1961) Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on purchase of a 4.1 acre lot of land in the capital city of Phnom Penh at the price of over $22 million to build a multi-purpose building, Globes Online announced on Feb 25 (link last visited Feb 25).

If the company is satisfied, it will sign the contract within the next 60 days. The report did not give the details as to when construction will begin.

Other big Israeli companies doing business include Casino operator Queenco Leisure International Ltd. (QLI) and Alony Hetz Property and Investments Ltd. (ALHE).

QLI has bought land in the coastal resort of Sihanoukville for a tourist project.

The article did not give details of the what ALHE is doing exactly in it’s real estate business in Cambodia. However, the company “and Singapore-based Pacific Star Holding pte Ltd. are setting up a $200 million real estate fund to invest in Southeast Asia, to be called Pacific Arrow Star, which will invest in Vietnam and other countries.”

“Alony Hetz believes that Cambodia is a country with real estate potential,” finished the report.

Funcinpec meets Communist Party of China

A delegation from Funcinpec met senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Wang Gang in China yesterday, Xinhua reported Feb 25.

The delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Keo Puth Rasmey in order to beef up cooperation between Cambodia’s Funcinpec and China’s CPC. No further details were reported by Xinhua.

China has become the number one investor in Cambodia, according to RFI’s recent report.

Funcinpec has established “inter-party relations” with CPC as far back as 1995, Xinhua wrote.

Cambodian national baseball team from rice field to SEA Games

There’s been a lot of media coverage on the Internet focusing on Cambodian baseball team lately. Finally i found a video today on news.newamericamedia, i think all Cambodians should watch.

Cambodian-American Joe Cook, the team coach, called his baseball team “a diamond in the rough,” StarTribune.com wrote in one of its Feb 23 headlines.