Building or Losing Trust among the Inhabitants of the Global Village

The Mirror Vol.9 , No.446-447
Editorial and Table of Contents only
(for details on how to receive the full version, see below)

For the week of Sunday, 6 November 2005, to Saturday, 19 November 2005

A Weekly Overview of the Khmer Language Print Media
in the Kingdom of Cambodia

Building or Losing Trust among the Inhabitants of the Global Village

The present edition is a two weeks' edition as one
week ago we did not publish because of the three
days national holidays of the Water Festival, where
there were less publications - as can be seen on the
graphs pages 14/15. We apologize for not having
announced this in time. But there is also another
aspect which cannot be disregarded when we look
over a two weeks period. Events are happening
quickly in time, and what was news two weeks ago
is replaced by other events which catch our attention.
Last week US president Bush was in Argentina:
"Demonstrations and Protests Welcome Summit
of 34 Countries in the Americas" - where not
everybody agreed that the rules of free trade between
strong and weak economies are fair. By now, a
similar meeting on the promotion of free trade is
going on in South Korea for the Asia-Pacific region,
again with the presence of the US president - with
similar protests by farmers who fear for their
economic survival when cheaper rice from the USA
would enter their market freely.

It is not only that similar problems are
being encountered in different places. It is also
the fact that we can know about things from all
over the world almost immediately; this has
changed human relations in the world.

In some countries, this experience started in
the 1920ies, when the radio almost eliminated
space and distance as factors to be solved in order
to be able to share information. The rapid
development of modern transport systems -
trains, cars, and airplanes - added to the shrinking
of space. More than 30 years ago, the implications
of the availability of almost instant
communication - locally, nationally, and
internationally - for human society were elaborated
in a book that was translated into many languages:
'War and Peace in the Global Village.'

In a village, everybody knows everybody,
there is mostly a common understanding what
to do and what not to do, what is acceptable
and building up society, and what is destructive,
as it is not in agreement with common norms.

Looking through the newspapers, we easily
find a lot of examples of such sharing:
- The customs administrations in Japan
and in Cambodia agreed on mutual technical
cooperation - customs administration cannot
be too different in different countries;
- When the workers in a garment factory
felt that their building was shaking, they were
afraid they were experiencing an earthquake -
Cambodia does not have earthquakes, but
through television, now many people know
well about it and they run for safety;
- European parliamentarians visit meet
parliamentarian Cheam Channy in prison - it
would be surprising if the villagers of the global
village would not want to visit their colleague;
- A sub-decree on the classification of
hotels and its services has been published,
and though some hotel owners are
concerned that the decree had been issued in
order to make money from them, a system
will be established. - In its format, of course
it has to be comparable in general to the
systems used in other countries in the region;
- As Cambodia has the least capacity to
contain bird flu out of all the countries
experiencing bird flu infections, the EU will
keep providing Cambodia with technical aid
and experts - a quite natural act of solidarity;
- The European Union has asked the royal
government to free the imprisoned border
activists or to release them on bail - people in
the same global village, having similar
statements on freedom of expression, trying
to clarify things, so that all represented in the
Regional Plan can be enjoying the same rights;
- Most Cambodian farmers use
traditional methods, but some have
implemented intensive rice growing systems
based on natural crop yield cycles - so two
organizations with such expertize share their
wisdom, as people in a village do.

During the past week, the UN World
Summit on the Information Society was
held in Tunesia under the following, officially
declared principle:

"We, the representatives of the peoples
of the world, assembled...declare our
common desire and commitment to build a
people-centered, inclusive and developmentoriented
Information Society, where everyone
can create, access, utilize and share information
and knowledge, enabling individuals,
communities and peoples to achieve their full
potential...respecting fully and upholding the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
All the examples of mutual sharing and
of exchange are seen as a beginning towards
a creative, human future.
How far the way to this goal is became
clear during this UN Summit, when the
Tunisian television transmission cut off the
speech of the high delegate of Switzerland,
as soon a he used the words 'human rights.'
Public disillusionment and antagonism
can grow deep, when governments do not
seem to uphold their own principles.


TABLE OF CONTENTS IN THIS WEEKS EDITION:

2 Demonstrations and Protests Welcome Summit of 34 Countries in the
Americas
2 One Third of Khmer Women Operate Informal Businesses and Earn Only
Two
Thousand Riel a Day
2 China Says It Does Not Have any Confidential Documents
3 Om Yentieng Prepares Legal Papers to Sue Say Bory
3 Customs Agree on Technical Cooperation with Japan
4 GTZ Grants Aid in Cash of Over One Million Euro for Promoting Works
of Cambodian National Audit Authority
4 Samdech Euv Has Only Committed One Crime
5 Club of Cambodian Journalists Finds Ways to Fight against Phnom Penh
Municipal Court Imposing Restrictions on Journalists Going to Court
to Cover Information
6 New US Ambassador Pledges to Maintain and Encourage Relations
Between
the Two Countries
6 Hotel Owners Concerned about the Corruption among Ministry of
Tourism'
Officials when Applying for Hotel Classification
6 Some Areas in Phnom Penh Were in Turmoil over Earthquake
7 UNHCR Intervenes in Granting Asylum to Two Border Activists in a
Third
Country
8 Mr. Khieu Kanharith Clarifies Issues Concerning Confidential
Documents
Given by China
8 King and Top Leaders Attend Independence Day Celebration
8 Authorities of Doung, Romeas Haek, Svay Rieng, Prohibit People from
Speaking about Border Issues with Journalists
9 District Authorities and Land Survey Officials Convene for
Questioning
about Land Dispute between the Phanimex Company and the Sovann Komar
Organization
9 Trapeang Phlong Border Crossing Becomes a Cambodian-Vietnamese
International Border Crossing
10 Sam Rainsy Elects Its Candidates for Upcoming Senate Elections
10 Khmer-Siam Agreement Has Six Special Chapters
11 Air Delivery Industry is Key Component in Supporting Cambodian
Competitiveness in Garment Industry
11 Journalists from Eleven Provinces Receive Training in Radio News
Reporting
11 Will the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport Continue to Let
Phnom
Penh Teachers Take Money from Students?
12 New Party - Khmer National Party - Will Takes Part in Competition
in Fourth-Term Elections
13 100% of the National Assembly Members Agreed to Ratify the
Additional Border Treaty, despite the Opposition Party's Condemnation

16 Khieu Kanharith: In Order to Reform the Judicial System so that It
Meets International Standards, We Have to Honor the Court's Request
16 Senate Election: Mr. Rainsy's Decision
17 European Union Pushes to Provide More Assistance to Combat Bird
Flu in Cambodia
17 European Union Appeals to the Cambodian Government to Stop Filing
Accusations against Border Activists
18 Mr. Sam Rainsy Calls Parliamentarians of Opposition Party to Meet
Urgently in the Philippines
18 Villagers in Ratanakiri, no Longer Trusting Authorities, Turn to
Protect Natural Properties Themselves
18 Two Big Parties' Leaders Claim Long-Lasting Coalition
19 All Kinds of Drugs Are Being Heavily Used in Siem Reap
20 Samdech Krom Preah Is Determined to Reclaim Votes from Opposition
Party
20 Cambodian Specialist Demonstrates Study of Recent Earthquake
20 Searching for the Key to Increasing Farmer's Rice Yields
21 Stockton Delegation Holds a Meeting with Battambang Chamber of
Commerce to Talk about Agricultural and Industrial Exports
21 More Than 60,000 Children under Five Years of Age Die in Cambodia
Every Year
22 Samdech Euv Norodom Sihanouk Says that the Border Was Clear in
1969
22 Cambodia Asks China to Help Organize 2011 SEA Games
22 US Court Scheduled to Discuss Legalities on Trial of Hun Sen on 2
December 2005
23 In the Meeting of Opposition Party Leaders, Held in the
Philippines,
It Was Decided that Sam Rainsy Should Be Allowed to Remain Abroad
23 During Three Days of Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Four People
Die;
52 People Get Injured; Road Accidents Are Biggest Problem




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