Day: March 13, 2023

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, received here this morning newly appointed Ambassador of Australia H.E. Justin Kevin Whyatt.
According to the Premier’s Personal Assistant H.E. Eang Sophalleth, during the courtesy meeting, H.E. Justin Kevin Whyatt expressed his delight to return for a mission in Cambodia after more than 20 years, and lauded Samdech Techo Hun Sen’s wise leadership in rapidly developing the country, effectively preventing the COVID-19 spread, and successfully organising and chairing the ASEAN Summits and Related Meetings, thus enhancing the Kingdom’s prestige and reputation on the international scene.
The new Australian diplomat pledged to do his best to foster the bilateral relations, cooperation and partnership in different areas, including people-to-people and investors-to-investors relations, agriculture, health, mine clearance, social affairs, democracy and human rights, national defence, and prevention of cross-border crimes, drug trafficking, human trafficking and other crimes.
In reply, Samdech Techo Hun Sen extended warm welcome to H.E. Justin Kevin Whyatt, and thanked the Government and people of Australia for their donation in COVID-19 vaccines as well as for their cooperation in mine clearance, economy, trade and investment sectors.
Samdech Techo Prime Minister also expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation between the two countries, mainly in agriculture. Australia has helped Cambodia establish CARDI (Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) which has researched for new varieties of rice, making Cambodian rice the world’s best rice for many times, he recalled.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)

Equinox, a natural phenomenon when the sun rises over the central tower of the Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province, will happen on Mar. 21.
The information was shared by the APSARA National Authority in a recent news release, adding that this year, the special sunrise event will occur twice, on Mar. 21 and Sept. 22.
Mr. Im Sokrithy, Archaeologist and Director of the Department of Conservation of Monuments and Preventive Archaeology of the APSARA National Authority, explained that the equinox is the time between day and night to be equal, unlike some normal months in which the night is longer than the day or the day is longer than the night.
For Angkor Wat Temple, he continued, this is not a coincidence, it is a feature of the Khmer ancestors who prepared the architecture of the temple in advance, with the intention of adjusting the natural phenomena for Angkor Wat to create an event of the sunrise at the temple’s top.
Mr. Im Sokrithy said that the preparation of the Khmer ancestors according to natural phenomena for the event of the sunrise at the top of Angkor Wat is to consider from the architecture, land preparation, mathematical calculations, astronomical considerations as well as combined with faith.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)

A top Cambodian government minister’s public appeal for a peaceful, inclusive national election was being met with skepticism by election watchdog and opposition party officials.

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Sunday said authorities and police forces at all levels should make it easy for all political parties to operate freely as activists begin meeting and organizing in provincial capitals ahead of the July national elections.

“The government has a duty to ensure security, guarantee that all registered parties for election have the opportunity to assemble and have the opportunity to conduct their campaigns in line with their wishes, particularly in line with their political programs to seek popular support,” he said at a fundraising ceremony for the construction of a university in Kandal province.

Opposition party officials, however, say their local offices have been unable to function fully due to continued surveillance by authorities.

“The order of the Minister of Interior doesn’t seem to have any effectiveness,” Candlelight Party spokesman Kim Sour Phirith told Radio Free Asia on Monday. “I’m not sure if the lower authorities listen to him or they listen to other individuals who have ordered them.”

Threatening gestures and words have been taking place less frequently, but local authorities still take pictures of citizens who go to opposition party meetings, he said. Some people are now afraid to participate in non-ruling party activities, he said.

Violence during 2022 local elections

In the run-up to the June 2022 local commune elections, human rights NGOs reported many cases of violence toward Candlelight Party activists and supporters. Some were beaten up or had stones thrown at their houses. Unidentified men riding motorcycles used iron batons to strike supporters on their heads. No one was prosecuted.

The Interior Ministry oversees public administration and policing down to the provincial and local level. Sar Kheng also serves as deputy prime minister and is a top official in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

King Norodom Sihamoni, a constitutional monarch who normally stays out of public debate, issued a message on Feb. 8 calling on all eligible voters to go to the polls for the sake of national development and prosperity.

The King said no person or political party should have to worry about harassment or intimidation, and people should be allowed to exercise the right to vote in accordance with one’s conscience.
For Sar Kheng’s appeal to be effective, officials who violate his order and seek to intimidate opposition party activists must be punished, according to Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia,

“So far, he hasn’t taken legal action against anyone who has done the opposite of his order and instruction,” he said. “Therefore, they [his lower authorities] seem to not care because [they know that] there have been no consequences for the violators of his instruction.”

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PHNOM PENH, Mar 13 (NNN-AKP) – A fire has engulfed one of the royal residence buildings in north-west Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, said a Royal Palace’s press statement today.

The blaze broke out at around 10:05 p.m. local time last night, and firefighters took more than two hours to put out the flames.

“The fire was caused by an electrical short circuit,” the statement said, adding that, the Ministry of Royal Palace was extremely regretful over this unfortunate incident.

Siem Reap provincial department of information director, Liv Sokhon, said, the royal residence is the official mansion for the king to stay, whenever he is in Siem Reap province.

“The burned building was the king’s office and it was almost completely destroyed in the fire,” he said.

According to history, the royal residence was built in 1904, he said.– NNN-AKP

Source: NAM News Network

A 1.82-metre-high, 0.78-metre-wide, and 0.5-metre-thick sandstone door guardian statue from Tonle Snguot Temple has been repaired and displayed in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum.
According to the APSARA National Authority’s news release issued this morning, the head of the exhibition team and the guide at the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum, Mr. Kun Phally, said that the door guardian statue was broken into six different pieces, such as the head, body, arms, legs, and earrings. The face was also eroded, almost losing the shape of the lips, nose, and eyes.
After the team studied the history of the statue, the decoration, and the size of the damage, both inside and outside, the experts used the repair technique according to each stage and reconnected to the original form, he continued.
In addition, to keep the door guardian statue stable and secure, the team also made a new sandstone pedestal and prepared a poster about the history of the statue on display in the Preah Norodom Sihanouk-Angkor Museum for visitors to study and understand the evolution of Khmer art history, he pointed out.
This huge door guardian statue was found during excavations in 2017 at the Tonle Snguot temple, an ancient Angkorian hospital in the north of the former city of Angkor Thom, now located in Nokor Krao village. Sangkat Kork Chak, Siem Reap city. Researchers have speculated that the statue may have been built in the late 12th and early 13th centuries AD, the source added.
Mr. Kun Phally explained that the first door guardian statue of Khmer art was found on the brick walls of the Sambor Prei Kuk group of temples during the 7th-8th centuries AD. Later, the door guardian statue became more popular and evolved into single-door guardian statue in the Pre-Rup style during the 10th century AD and continued to King Jayavarman VII’s reign from 1181 to 1220 AD. In general, the single-door guardian statue in the reign of King Jayavarman VII was big and tall on the body, adorned with ornaments such as crowns, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and ankles. In the hand of Deva door guardian statue, there is a trident, while Asura guardian statue holds a long stick.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse (AKP)