Kim Samath

Brussels – Why do human rights mean to you? This was the question I always asked myself. When I could find the answer, I started to get involved with activities promoting human rights. Being a youth delegate to present human rights in Cambodia at 11th Annual International Human Right summit hosted by Youth for Human Rights International can help Cambodia people’s voice heard worldwide.

The summit conducted at the International Auditorium from 5th to 7th September, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. Youth Delegates from 30 countries joined UN official, human rights representatives, human rights NGOs, religious leader and society at this Annual International Summit.

I attended this International human rights event, travelling the way from Portugal to represent my country. It was such an unforgettable memory in my life.  I met more than 200 hundred attendees packed the venue in the heart of Brussels with the purpose to learn more about human rights, specially the UN universal Declaration of Human Rights and to inspire others to become advocates for tolerance and peace.

Approximately 60 Youth Delegates and I accompany with Youth Ambassadors from around the world joined by local youth carried their flags side-by-sided during the opening ceremony of the 3-day summit including Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Cambodia, Colombia, Congo, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Liberia, Maldives, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Ukraine, USA and Vietnamese Community.

Mistress of Ceremonies Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, Founder and President of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), welcomed the honored guests including UN officials and UN country mission representatives, human rights and religious leaders, NGOs, local community activists and the community at large.

Distinguished speakers from such countries as Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, Taiwan, Togo, Uganda, UK, USA and Yemen addressed the international gathering of youth. Celebrity guitarist and Koto player, Takatani HIDESHI from Japan opened the summit with his outstanding performance followed by performers from Argentina, Belgium, France, India, Italy, the Netherlands and Taiwan.

Waving my flag with the dignity, I felt proud and excited that I could join such a wonderful summit. I was able to share my work in Cambodia with the international community. I presented at the international summit and spoke about my work in Cambodia. I shared with the international guests that as a master student in multimedia who is able to bridge the information from the public to the government and vice versa and give a voice to the voiceless. Through my position as a former publication and communication officer at the Youth Resource Development Program, I used my journalism skills to critically analyze the political, social, and socio-cultural situations through various media outlets. I did volunteer work and educated local children in remote areas about the importance of education, hygiene and human rights.

In my final words I said, “My organization activities plus my work have helped instill within people the qualities of kindness, honesty, self-reliance and self-confidence so that they can become role models and contribute to social development, good governance, peace and justice.”

I was inspired by the success stories of human rights young activist, youth ambassadors and youth delegates who have done great job in their communities forward human rights education.  A highlight of the event was the presentation of four Human Rights Hero Awards to delegations from Australia, Colombia, Mexico and Nepal for their work promoting Human Rights Education.

The summit served as the international platform for youth around the world to share knowledge and experience on human rights. I gained a lot of knowledge and experience from the summit addition to what I have learned from school and my previous working experience. I learned more about human rights in other developing and developed countries. I also learned how to conduct human rights projects, run campaigns, advocate and gather people for human rights education.

The 3-day summit included a full day peer-to-peer mentoring Human Rights Education Workshop, where the Youth Ambassadors shared their experiences and best practices with the new Youth Delegates to prepare them for greater expansion of their initiatives.

The International Human Rights Summit 2014 closing session was held on Sunday, September 7th, when religious leaders including Buddhist, Hinduism, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Theosophy, Scientology and many more gathered for the Inter-Religious Conference for Peace.

I had a chance to meet other participants, NGOs, representatives from embassies. We discussed something related to human rights and social issues in our countries and we also exchanged contacts for future work and cooperation. I was surprised when they asked me what they could help my people and what my people needed the most. It was such a kind and helpful question to me.Furthermore, through the discussion and socialization, I also learned about the culture, tradition, language, political and human rights situation in other countries. Overall, this knowledge and experience I gained from the summit really broaden my world perspectives and equip and prepare me well for my future work forward human rights in Cambodia. 

Founded in 2001, Youth for Human Rights International now has groups and chapters on all continents. Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, Founder and President of Youth for Human Rights International said: “These youth bring their own passions to Human Rights Education taking it to a whole new level by bringing the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights to their peers through creative ways such as murals, rap dances, walks for human rights, large concerts and out into the rural areas where resources are limited through plays depicting the 30 human rights. Human Rights Education is expanding exponentially.”

Link to access the original article:

http://blogs.dw.de/media4sustainability/2014/06/03/new-media-is-a-platform-to-reshape-social-space-for-cambodian-people/

During the Khmer Rouge Genocide Regime from 1975-1979, freedom of expression and freedom of the press was totally prohibited. Cambodian people were not allowed to criticise the leader, share their opinions in public, voice their concerns, say anything related to politics or even complain; otherwise, they would be blamed or even worse killed. It was said, “Plant a Kor tree in front of your house” (Kor in English language means “Mute”). This was the sentence to alert people to shut their mouths or turn a blind eye if they wanted to survive.

After the Khmer Rouge Genocide regime collapsed, people still did not enjoy much freedom. Their freedom of expression and freedom of the press were still limited. In that time, Cambodian people used traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television as a mean for communication, education, information and entertainment.

When the new media emerged and more and more Cambodian people could access the internet, people began to have more space to connect themselves to society and start to actively get involved in politics. The Internet has enabled or accelerated new forms of human interactions, and people use the internet for different purposes, especially to exercise their rights and freedom. For example, they can get information from many sources without limitation (freedom of the press) and express their opinion and ideas, for or against others (freedom of expression).

Much of the freedom of expression has come through Facebook, which is extremely popular among youth in both cities and provinces in Cambodia. According to Angkor.com (2013), there are more than 1 million Facebook users in Cambodia. Facebook empowered Cambodians and provided a voice for a country that was previously silenced by oppressors and a government looking to keep them quiet.

Before and after the Cambodia National Election on 27th July, 2013, Facebook played an important role to promote political parties and seek support from the people. Some people and political activists work as citizen journalists, effectively democratizing media. They used Facebook to not only communicate, but also to share information, news, videos and social issues, many of which were not covered by the mainstream media. They went online to add to the political discussion by posting comments, posting pictures or video content online related to a political or social issues to express their ideas on the current political situation as well as to call for support or against the government.

New media gives the Cambodian people a chance to collect, discus and spread information about their lives, experiences and events. This was quite a contrast to what occurred previously, when it was difficult for people to express their beliefs either in public or through the media, when comments or ideas were censored.

Until recently there haven’t been many outlets where they could effectively exercise those freedoms. TVs in Cambodia are generally tied to political parties or industrial concerns; the press seems written less for the general public than for politicians and other insiders. With new media, however, people now have the ability to write their comments and opinions to reflect on the news. Some citizen journalists explore stories and share information ignored by mainstream media channels.

However, some citizen journalists preach their party line and support their current political party on new media. Sometimes these pieces of news are not balance and do not support the interests of the public at large. They create confusion amongst the people who are looking for more unbiased news.

Recently, a few non-profit organizations in Cambodia have become engaged in developing citizen journalism and they are promoting information ethics and enabling citizens to work with reporters to support investigations such as human rights violations, deforestation or corruption.

Overall, the introduction of new media into Cambodian culture has been a net positive. People have quickly figured out how to disseminate information that is truthful and is helping to educate an entire country about their human and social rights and to help them learn how to advocate on behalf of their communities. This information is spread quickly and also helps organize citizens quickly to help bring about change in our country.

Understanding how to use new media and evaluate their content is important to critical understanding and active participation, which are the basis of every democratic society. It is a great opportunity for me to join Global Media Forum 2014 to learn more about new media’s role and its impact on other countries. I will use this knowledge and experience to improve journalism in Cambodia and to help in the development of my country.

By Kim Samath

It is not a silent weekend in the Cambodian Japanese Cooperation Center (CJCC) even though students and staff have a holiday.

The big hall is crowded with a harmonious mosaic of youth. Some wear YRDP dark-blue T-shirts, some long sleeves and head scarves of different colors such as blue, white and black. Young monks add to the colorful blend, their robes the color of curry or dark red roses.

Having trained and done field work together for the past week, the 25 YRDP trained youth join hands to show the meaning of inter-ethnic understanding to 200 people of Kampong Chnang provice.

“Before I always thought something bad of people who are different from me,” said Seng Sokchandy, a Cambodian Buddhist from Royal University of Phnom Penh. “After I joined this forum, I learned alot. Now I’ve changed my thinking and I have an optimistic view of other people.”

YRDP youth conducted the inter-ethnic forum “Living Together for Harmonization in Multicultural Society” to raise awareness on inter-ethnic issues among diverse university youths and institutions in Cambodia which were engaging in a comprehensive dialogue to respond to questions what is role of youth to deal with inter-ethnic conflict in community which its root causes of inter-ethnic conflict derive from perception, misconception, stereotype, and rumor and not giving a value to people of different faiths.

“In Cambodia, there is no serious ethnic conflict or racial discrimination like other countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and some people do not show their hatred out but they have internal conflict with other ethnic group,” said Ream Rothamony, Deputy Director of the Youth Resource Development Program(YRDP), who spoke at the forum. But learning to live together is an important lesson, he said, so that Cambodia can work in advance to prevent inter-ethnic hatred from happening.

Youth Inter Ethnic Public Forum was supported by American Friendship Service Committee (AFSC) and 460 participated (281 Female) from 54 institutions and universities.

There is probably nothing more important to human being than their “identity” and our ethincity, our culture and our religion are all parts of our identity, said Russell Peterson, Associate Regional Director of American Friendship Service Commitee( AFSC). He continued that,” When our identity is threatened, the seeds of conflict are created. When people criticize us, fear us, or laugh at us because we are different, we suffer immensely. When our identity is affirmed and appreciated by others, we can live happily together. But sadly there are many countries in the world where conflicts between ethnic and religious group have resulted in communal violence or even civil war. ”

Participants engaged in a comprehensive dialogue with guest speakers, ven  Yem Kimteng, director of National Buddhist Association and Som Chanmony, Director of Peace Bridge to respond to questions what is role of youths to deal with inter-ethnic conflict in community.

At the end of the forum, participants join the group dicussion with students from different universities to  find out the ideal solution to deal with inter-ethnical conflict in multicultural society. Those solution messages from group discussion will be sent to every participants by email.

By Kim Samath

“Peace for all, all for peace,” shouted around 200 Cambodians, marching and carrying posters with peace messages and fluttering white-dove flags.

Even though the sun was shining and it was a hot day in Phnom Penh, supporters of International Peace Day on Sept. 21 were determined to stay. Monks, nuns, Christians, Jews and Muslims sat side-by-side to hear reprensentatives of different religions deliver a message of unity.

“Every country has people of different religions and ethnic groups, so they need mutual understanding and negotiation,” Mr. Ly Muslim, 20, a coordinator of Cambodian Muslim youth, told the crowd. “Every group needs peace, whether they are families, communities or whole countries.“

International Peace Day marked its 30th anniversary this year. The United Nations, which established the event, rang the Peace Bell at its New York headquarters, calling for a one-day truce to all war and violence.

Around the globe,  crowds  celebrated with events like a star-studded rock music concert in London and a global conference on violence in Prague.

In Cambodia, YRDP helped organize celebrations throughout the country, including the provinces of Siem Reap, Preh Vihear and Kompong Cham. YRDP promotes peace-building throughout the year to give youth a role as leaders in developing a just, peaceful and democratic society. YRDP youth meet with people of different religions, ethnic groups and generations to share experiences and find common ground.

“Peace starts from all of us,” said Neov Ungheng, 20, a YRDP student volunteer who was among 70 YRDP youth at the peace day celebration in Phnom Penh “In order to bring peace, youth have to use active non-violence for peace building and apply the the peace message and knowledge to their daily life.”

In today’s world, peace meets constant challenges. Tensions, for example, build between China and Japan over islands in the East China Sea. Violence swept the Muslim world over protests to an anti-Muslim film made in the United States. Cambodia is calm by comparison, but young peace-makers at YRDP work to avoid future conflict over issues such as religious, racial and ethnic discrimination and buried anger about the nation’s tragic past.

Leaders everywhere should strengthen the search for peaceful solutions instead of choosing violence, said Dr. Lao Monghay, an independent political analyst, who was among the peace day participants in Phnom Penh.

“Where there is violence, there is destruction, and no loser and winner.,” Dr. Monghay said.

By Kim Samath

PHNOM PENH–Here’s today’s history test: Is this a description of Cambodia’s past or its future?A conspiracy of silence. A culture of fear.An education and economic system in ruins.Bridges, schools, hospitals destroyed.Almost quarter of the population dead of hunger, overwork or execution.The answer to this question about the past and the future is in the hands of young Cambodians today.

“Youth have to learn and find out about history,” said Dr. Sok Touch, an independent political analyst and rector of Khemarak University. “If they have a great deal of knowledge and education, they will not choose a leader like Pol Pot. If they do not have this, they will easily believe in what someone tells them.”Dr. Touch was the guest speaker at the YRDP public forum, “Could the Shadow of the Past Darken Cambodia’s Future?”

The forum, held on Oct. 28 at the Cambodia Japan Cooperation Center, was organized by 20 YRDP student volunteers with donor support from the German Adult Education Association (Deutscher Volkschochschul-Verband e.V,. DVV). It attracted more than 300 participants from different universities in Phnom Penh and others from civil society.The Khmer Rouge Regime existed in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. An estimated 1.7 million people died. Historians have identified a number of root causes, including injustice, corruption, oppression by the Lon Nol regime and the gap between the rich and poor.The forum was a part of a series of YRDP activities about the Khmer Rouge designed to engage youth to practice their critical thinking skills. Students examine the root causes, main values and lessons learned from this tragic part of Cambodian history and reflect on whether this experience still applies to their daily lives.

Ly Seng Hourn, 25, a senior studying international relations and diplomacy at Khemarak University said, “I gained knowledge about the history the Khmer Rouge and know the root causes of it. I will share the knowledge to people who did not join this forum, so they will be able to know and find out about this regime as well.”YRDP students examine Khmer Rouge history in conjunction with inter-ethnic understanding to promote peace, justice and good leadership for Cambodia’s future. In preparation for the public forum, YRDP students spent 36 hours doing critical analysis of Khmer Rouge history.

“Khmer Rouge history contains examples of values such as leadership, morality, social conscience and identity,” said Cheang Sokha, executive director of YRDP. Because history contains lessons in ideology, politics, economics and culture, people who work in those fields can find valuable lessons. “It can sensitize people in the new generation, since they can contribute to social reconciliation and development,” Mr. Sokha said. “It is not only for the memory but also to take concrete action for social change.”

The Phnom Penh Post:

Love is such a complex thing that it’s difficult to say exactly what it means.

It can change us without warning and make us do crazy things. And people endlessly argue whether love takes us to paradise or to hell.

Some of us do illegal things, or even commit suicide, because of love. Young people going through the education system sometimes get into arguments and fight one another in public for love.
Reaksmey, an 18-year-old student, says he used to get into fights with other guys to show how strong and brave he was.

“I wanted to show other men that a woman belonged to me and was already loved,” he says, adding: “I got respect from people, because they didn’t dare to complain to me or about me.”

Love turns some people blind, to the extent that they break the law and society’s rules. Sometimes they employ unusual weapons against their love rivals.

Phan Sophea, 20, a student, carries scars from the love battlefield after coming into conflict with gangsters.

“I’m afraid to go out alone because I’m scared that I will meet them accidentally,” he says.

Phan Sophea says the unlucky encounter occurred while he was riding his motorbike with a friend. “My friend and I were bashed by gangsters we had fought with before.”

Some young women get involved in love fights at school or in public places. Whether honour is as worthy as love is a controversial question.

“When I studied in high school, I did fight with other girls who tried to flirt with my boyfriend and kept calling him,” Sovannara, a 23-year-old student, says.

Rany, 21, says another woman wanted to fight her because of a misunderstanding.

“That woman thought I was having a secret relationship with her boyfriend.

But actually, her boyfriend was trying to woo me,” Rany says.

“I was so embarrassed. I stopped studying English part-time because everyone kept gossiping about me whenever they saw me.”

Parents often don’t know about the love lives of their children, because some of them think their kids go to school purely to study. That may be a wrong – or even dangerous – presumption.

Pech Sovandeoun, 45, a businessman, says his work keeps him so busy that he doesn’t have time to supervise his children’s studies.

“I do trust my children, and I don’t believe they would do anything against my wishes and expectations, even though I don’t scrutinise their studies,” he says.

Ideally, parents shouldn’t depend totally on teachers to educate their children.

Housewife Chheang Sreypich, 40, says she often asks her daughter about her studies.

“It’s not impossible that kids fight with others because of love, but I have noticed that my daughter doesn’t have boyfriends,” Chheang Sreypich says.

“I will punish her if she dares to do anything crazy like that.”

Thav Nimol, a teacher at the Dongkor Secondary School, says some of his students have quit school because they got into arguments with other students, but this happens rarely.

“The students at my school aren’t gangsters like some of the students in the capital city,” Thav Nimol says.

“Students who play truant should have given study a higher priority.

“And parents should pay more attention to their kids’ studies – so please don’t spend all your time on work and business.”

Thav Nimol says teachers spend only a few hours each day with students, so they can’t keep track of all their activities.

“The most important and influential people who can help students stay on the right track are their parents,” he says.

A One decade –ghost town becomes a major tourist destination

First, Chesterton was as a logging town and mining center and then a seriously depressed community. After Chesterton logging Company built a company town in 1891, it grew to become thriving community of over 3,000 people. Number of population increased almost 4,000 and demanded for spruce to build airplanes.

After The World War I

The creation of Chesterton Regional Park brought a new rebirth of the town. Tourism began to grow and the community found a new lease on life. In the past one or two decade, Chesterton has been seen development as a major recreation center and eco-tourism destination. After the war, zinc mine went in to operation at the base of Mount Freedom. The result was great prosperity in the late 1920s even after the Chesterton sawmill shut down. But then with the Great Depression of zinc market, hundreds of workers lost their job. Chesterton’s population shrank not more than 300 souls; town was at the death’s door.