Rebuilding the rights of starving music fans

IT’S not that I think the music scene in Phnom Penh is bland. It’s just that if I hear the turgid caterwaul of yet another distorted electric guitar playing yet another appalling medley of middle-of-the-road American pap rock, I might just do something drastic. I might just defenestrate a Stratocaster.

OK. So I do think the music scene in Phnom Penh is bland.

Is it life in exile that makes Western expats hanker after the nostalgic sounds of The Eagles, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Santana, or Bon friggin’ Jovi?
These white-bread Southeast Asian cover bands are a guilty pleasure, the sonic equivalent of tucking into fast food. And they leave you feeling just as bloated and ill.

But last Thursday night, lovers of alternative, or at least original, music had a rare chance to burn off a few calories of rage to the post-punk, post-industrial sounds of Beijing-based outfit Rebuilding the Rights of Statues. ( Please read more )

The seductive style of Sapor

Sapor Yon Rendall launches her debut fashion collection this Saturday. Photo Supplied

Owner of Cambodia’s first modelling agency and training school, 37-year-old Sapor Yon Rendall is one of Cambodia’s best-known women.

However, her story is hardly the stuff fairy tales are made of. When Sapor was 10, her father died and she was adopted by her rich, business-savvy Sino-Cambodian neighbours.

She voyaged to Australia with her new foster family - the boat almost sunk on the way there - and, upon her return to Cambodia in 1995, Sapor, endowed with newfound confidence, started her own modelling agency. ( Please read more )

Govt trafficking rating slips

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
Sex workers stand just inside the door of a Phnom Penh brothel on Tuesday night.

THE US State Department downgraded Cambodia’s anti-human trafficking rating on Tuesday from Tier 2 to Tier 2 Watch  - the list’s second-lowest rating - citing “a decline in efforts to combat trafficking in persons”.

In 2008, the US raised Cambodia’s status to Tier 2 for the first time in four years after the National Assembly passed anti-human trafficking legislation.

The US said at the time that the new law “provides law enforcement authorities the power to investigate all forms of trafficking and is a powerful tool in efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers”. ( Please read more )

Travel Angkor Wat, Cambodia - the 8th wonder of the world

Here is the fact about visiting the ruins: There are lots of them, covering an area of 400 square kilometers, though most visit only a handful of temples, which are thankfully very close to each other. The three most magnificent (and popular) temples

Ruins fascinate people. We fly halfway around the world to marvel at the achievements and mysteries of defunct civilizations, and shake our heads in disbelief that there were predecessors capable of producing structures that would present an insurmountable challenge to modern architects and engineers. We stand humbled. ( Please read more )

A window into kingdom Kim

Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON
North Korean waitresses perform for patrons at Pyongyang restaurant prior to its unexpected closure in February this year. Restaurant staff say the eatery will reopen in “about three months”.

Pyongyang, Phnom Penh’s North Korean government-owned restaurant, has long been one of the city’s stranger tourist attractions.

Opened in 2003, South Korean tourists and expats flocked to the Monivong Boulevard eatery, where North Korean-born waitresses - wearing traditional dress and pasted-on smiles - served up servings of kimchi, barbecued squid and shrill karaoke.

No portraits of the Great Leader adorned its walls, but Pyongyang provided customers with a rare glimpse into the hermit kingdom of Kim Jong Il - and a taste of its homely native cuisine. ( Please read more )

Cambodia’s homegrown winery is a hit with drinkers

When Leng Chan Thol and her husband Chan Thay Chhoueng decided to grow grapes for wine production just outside Battambang city, people thought they were crazy.

“You would have to be very strong, courageous or foolhardy. Wine grapes are not a profitable Cambodian crop, and they are sure to fail,’ were the types of things people whispered,” said Leng Chan Thol.

Fortunately, the young entrepreneurs  didn’t let the idle chatter discourage them from pioneering Cambodia’s first valiant attempt at viticulture. ( Please read more )

Fundraising event at Topaz lends support to Khmer performing arts

SEVERAL rising young talents graced Phnom Penh’s Topaz restaurant during a benefit for one of the country’s national treasures Friday night. The two-act show “La Vie en Rose” featured the diverse vocals of 12-year-old soprano Bosba Panh, who took the stage with her younger brother, flautist Panh Lauv, and a 10-piece orchestra.

Photo by: Joel Rozen
Bosba Panh sings “La Vie en Rose” by Edith Piaf.

Organisers cited “supporting the Khmer arts” as the fundraiser’s chief aim. However, part of the proceeds from the sold-out concert will also go to 75-year-old Em Theay, a former Ramayana dancer. ( Please read more )

Food blog provides insight into Khmer cuisine

FOR the past few years, Phil Lees, author of the popular Cambodian food blog Phnomenon, has been sharing his enthusiasm for Khmer food with a growing number of online fans, changing people’s minds about the often-misunderstood cuisine.

Having lived on and off in Cambodia for four years, Lees’s obsession with Khmer food is clearly evident from his Web site, with its drool-inducing photographs and culinary insight. ( Please read more )

Walk, Swim, Eat Right for Health: Doctor

Cholesterol and triglycerides are useful to the body and our brain, but if too high they can create problems, a doctor said Thursday, adding that Cambodia was now experiencing dietary problems.

“However, we can use medicine to lower cholesterol so that it prevents us from having heart attack and stroke,” Dr. Taing Tek Hong said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” ( Please read more )

Cambodian Conservationist Looks to Save Fish

Chouly Ou, a conservationist and biologist, hopes to use her education to save the fish of the Mekong river. Her plan is to pursue a PhD to gain technical knowledge on fish population modeling.

“I plan to develop a model for sustainable management of the fish population in the Mekong river, the largest and most important river in Cambodia,” Chouly Ou said in an interview with VOA Khmer. ( Read More )