Siamese Crown Prince The Playboy

Wow

Dick

Cheng Heng’s very satisfying home style Cambodian cooking

BY PHYLLIS LOUISE HARRIS, ASIAN PAGES
July 26, 2010

Wing Young Huie’s cover photo this issue of the Cambodian man in front of the Ankgor Wat temple painting reminded me that I had

By Mary Turck

not been to Cheng Heng for several years–11 to be exact. The photo is of Bunthary Van, father of Kunrath Lam who along with her husband Kevin have operated their Cambodian restaurant Cheng Heng for 13 years. Huie’s camera captured Mr. Van standing in front of the restaurant’s original, framed painting of the temple that they brought from Cambodia.

Kunrath Van, her parents and sister moved to Minnesota from Cambodia in 1984. She went on to finish high school, then college, married Kevin Lam, and opened Cheng Heng in 1997. They had talked of opening a Chinese restaurant in the building they owned on University Avenue in St. Paul, but then decided since there was no Cambodian restaurant in the area, to feature the cooking of Cambodia. So, they started with her mother’s recipes.

From the beginning the food critics and attracted a loyal following. The menu is filled with noodle and rice dishes, substantial soups, coconut-milk curries, and multi-ingredient stir-fries. And, best of all, the food is refreshing and fresh. Like its neighbors Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam, Cambodian cuisine combines cooked with raw, sweet with sour, spicy with bland, and hot with cold, for some interesting dining flavors and textures. Lighter than Vietnamese and more mellow than Thai, the Cambodian food at Cheng Heng seems to appeal to a wide variety of diners. On a recent Friday lunch there were families with children, couples, singles, workers from a nearby business, retirees, and students of a wide variety of nationalities.

This time I had one of their rice noodle salads topped with warm stir-fried beef and onions, Cambodian fried egg roll, chopped peanuts, and fresh mint leaves. It is all served atop crisp, fresh bean sprouts, shredded lettuce, and slivered cucumbers bathed in a slightly sweet vinegar sauce. While I didn’t see them, there was also the light flavor of licorice leaves. Add a little hot sauce and squeeze some fresh lime juice over it, and mother’s home cooking is truly satisfying.

The menu is extensive and includes good descriptions of each dish along with small color photos. Many dishes can be ordered vegetarian and the prices are modest. The small, bright dining room looks out on busy University Avenue and is unpretentious…just as a neighborhood family restaurant should be. Cheng Heng, at 448 University Avenue West in St. Paul, is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. with parking on the street. For information or take-out orders call 651-222-5577.

Phyllis Louise Harris is a cookbook author, food writer and cooking teacher specializing in Asian foods. She is founder of the Asian Culinary Arts Institutes Ltd. dedicated to the preservation, understanding and enjoyment of the culinary arts of the Asia Pacific Rim. For information about ACAI’s programs call 612-813-1757 or visit the website at www.asianculinaryarts.com.

Phiny Ung’s migration story

Saturday, July 24, 2010

My husband drew this portrait of myself soon after my baby was born. There were no oils. He would go around the street trying to look for paint in the big, big sea of rubbish. He was really thrilled in gaining his skill back after it got rusty for four years. I had to sit for him to draw for a few hours and I had to run to feed the baby and come back. We really, really fell in love; it was really sentimental. We built up our relationship through hardship. I know many couples divorce soon after Pol Pot because that was the circumstance that they decide to tie the knot.

• cultural background: Cambodian
• town, region, country of origin: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• start of migration journey: Bangkok, Thailand, 1980
• place of arrival in australia: Brisbane on 25th May 1980
• first home in australia: We were sponsored by my brother-in-law and lived with his family in Brisbane.
• first job in australia: I volunteered as a receptionist for a small taxation office to practice my English, then a TAFE teacher for young, unemployed Cambodians in Sydney.
• other jobs in australia: Interpreter for health department; restaurant owner; Cambodian liasion and multicultural lisasion officer, NSW Police – all located in Sydney.

Click here for Ung Phiny’s complete story, video and additional photos

Phiny’s eldest brother’s wedding, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, January 1975

“I got that photo from his wife’s relative who lives in France, otherwise I wouldn’t have anything. I couldn’t carry much of a memory from my past during my escape to the Thai border.”

The evacuation of Phnom Penh was in April 1975 when Pol Pot came to power. The Khmer Rouge told [us] that the Americans will bomb soon so to survive we have to get fast out of the city.

We learned later that they just want to punish people who live in the city because we were the enemy of state. They said people who [worked] with the government would be called back in a few weeks when they install the new regime. Who is to know that they kill because they want to clean the old regime and start the new one?

They evacuate three or four million people in a few days. It was shock and disbelief. It was terribly chaotic, there was no planning. A big tragedy unfolded, we did not know what to say except follow orders. There’s always a gun fired to the air, to push and order people to move on. The streets were full of people. People died along the street, some woman gave birth to a baby on the street. It was horrible, horrible.

Attendance at Duch’s trial

Monday, July 26, 2010
Source: AP

Cambodian Buddhist nuns and monks line up in front of a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, July 26, 2010. The U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal hands down a verdict Monday in the first trial of a senior member of the Khmer Rouge regime that turned Cambodia into a vast killing field three decades ago. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A man pins his pass to enter the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to his shirt as people wait in line to attend the court session where the verdict is to be announced for senior Khmer Rouge regime member Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, outside the ECCC on the outskirts of Phnom Penh July 26, 2010. Duch will hear his fate on Monday when the U.N.-backed court delivers its first verdict three decades after the Maoist revolution tore Cambodia apart. Duch is charged with murder and torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity as commander of Tuol Sleng prison, a converted high school, also known as S-21, that symbolised the horrors of the ultra-communist regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in 1975-79. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Chum Mey, 79, a survivor of S-21 Tuol Sleng prison, holds up a newspaper page with a picture of senior Khmer Rouge regime member Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, as he arrives to attend the court session where the verdict for Duch’s case will be heard at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on the outskirts of Phnom Penh July 26, 2010. Duch will hear his fate on Monday when the U.N.-backed court delivers its first verdict three decades after the Maoist revolution tore Cambodia apart. Duch is charged with murder and torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity as commander of Tuol Sleng prison, a converted high school, also known as S-21, that symbolised the horrors of the ultra-communist regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in 1975-79. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, appears on the screen of the press center of a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, July 26, 2010. The tribunal is expected to hand down a verdict Monday in the trial of the Khmer Rouge’s chief jailer and torturer Kaing Guek Eav, the first verdict involving a leader of the genocidal regime that created Cambodia’s killing fields. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Civil parties pray at Tuol Sleng

Source: AFP
By:Tang Chhin Sothy
Monday,July,26,2010

Bou Meng, right, survivors of the S-21 prison in the Khmer Rouge regime, carries a wreath during a Buddhist ceremony at Tuol Sleng genocide museum, formerly the regime’s notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 25, 2010. A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal is expected to issue a decision Monday, July 26, 2010, in Kaing Guek Eav’s trial, the first verdict involving a leader of the genocidal regime that created Cambodia’s killing fields. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Hav Sophea, right, whose father was killed by the Khmer Rouge just after she was born, burns incense sticks during a Buddhist ceremony at Tuol Sleng genocide museum, formerly the regime’s notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 25, 2010. A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal is expected to issue a decision Monday, July 26, 2010, in Kaing Guek Eav’s trial, the first verdict involving a leader of the genocidal regime that created Cambodia’s killing fields. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
A Cambodian woman holds a portrait of her brother, who was a prisoner at S-21 during Khmer Rouge regime, during a Buddhist ceremony at Tuol Sleng genocide museum, formerly the regime’s notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 25, 2010. A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal is expected to issue a decision Monday, July 26, 2010, in Kaing Guek Eav’s trial, the first verdict involving a leader of the genocidal regime that created Cambodia’s killing fields.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Norng Chan Phal (L), a child survivor of the Khmer Rouge, prays as his daughter looks on during a Buddhist ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Khmer Rouge at Toul Sleng museum in Phnom Penh July 25, 2010. Survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison attended the ceremony ahead of Monday’s court verdict on former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who is accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Martine Lefeuvre (2nd L), wife of former Cambodian diplomat to Senegal Ouk Ket, her daughter Ouk Neary (3rd L), and former Olympics rower Rob Hamill (2nd R) of New Zealand offer food to monks during a Buddhist ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Khmer Rouge at Toul Sleng museum in Phnom Penh July 25, 2010. Survivors of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious Tuol Sleng prison attended the ceremony ahead of Monday’s court verdict on former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, who is accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. Hamill’s brother Kerry was taken to the S-21 prison where he was tortured and executed, according to New Zealand’s local media. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A Cambodian woman wipes her eye as she cries at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh. Cambodia’s UN-backed war crimes court on Monday gives its verdict on the Khmer Rouge prison chief, in a step towards justice for the “Killing Fields” atrocities more than three decades ago.  Have posted in Here.

Senior Khmer Rouge cadre jailed for mass murder and torture

Mon Jul 26, 7:59 am ET
By Martin Petty and Prak Chan Thul
Writing by Jason Szep
Editing by Miral Fahmy

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – The first Khmer Rouge commander to face a U.N.-backed tribunal was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday for overseeing 14,000 deaths in the 1970s, but he’ll serve about half that, angering many Cambodians.

Kaing Guek Eav, a 67-year-old former prison chief known as Duch, received less than the maximum 40 years sought by the prosecution for his role in the ultra-communist “Killing Fields” regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths from 1975 to 1979.

Duch was found guilty of murder, torture, rape, crimes against humanity and other charges as chief of  Tuol Sleng prison, a converted school known as S-21 that symbolized the horrors of a regime that wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population.

He betrayed no emotion as a judge read the verdict, which cut his sentence to 19 years for time already served. He could be released even earlier on parole if authorities believe has been rehabilitated, according to the court.

“We hoped this tribunal would strike hard at impunity but if you can kill 14,000 people and serve only 19 years — 11 hours per life taken — what is that? It’s a joke,” said Theary Seng, a Cambodian who is now a U.S. citizen and lost her father at S-21.

“My gut feeling is this has made the situation far worse for Cambodia,” she said. “It has taken a lot of faith out of the system and raised concerns of political interference.”

Duch had told the court he had no choice but to carry out orders and “kill or be killed.” Prosecutors insisted he was “ideologically of the same mind” as the Khmer Rouge’s top leaders and did nothing to stop rampant torture at his prison.

Some Cambodians wept after hearing the verdict, expressing outrage at the joint U.N.-Cambodian court, which has spent $78.4 million of foreign donations over five years to bring the first of five indicted Khmer Rouge officials to trial.

Click image to see more photos of Khmer Rouge, trial

Reuters

“There is no justice. I wanted life imprisonment for Duch,” said Hong Sovath, 47, sobbing in the courtroom. Her father, a diplomat, was killed in the prison. Khan Mony, whose aunt was executed after passing through S-21, said she was devastated.

Thousands huddled around televisions in cafes and homes to watch live broadcasts of the verdict.

COMPLEX SENTENCE

The court said it decided against life in prison for several reasons, including Duch’s expressions of remorse, cooperation with the court, his “potential for rehabilitation” and the coercive environment of life under the Khmer Rouge.

“The chamber has decided there are significant mitigating factors that mandate a finite term imprisonment rather than life imprisonment,” the tribunal’s president said in a statement. Cambodia does not have capital punishment.

Now a born-again Christian, Duch had expressed “excruciating remorse” for the S-21 victims, most of them tortured and forced to confess to spying and other crimes before they were bludgeoned to death at the “KillingFields” execution sites during the agrarian revolution, which ended with a 1979 invasion by Vietnam.

Foreign investors see the Khmer Rouge trials as a gauge to whether rule of law is taking root in one of Asia’s fastest-growing frontier markets. Justice, however, could be elusive as controversy surrounds other cadres awaiting trial.

The cases of former President Khieu Samphan, “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, ex-Foreign Minister Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith are highly complex and politicized. Many fear they may never go to trial, or they might die before seeing a courtroom.

Standing in the way of justice, analysts say, is not just the excessive bureaucracy and a drawn-out legal process, but a powerful single-party government that has never fully backed the tribunal and has historical ties to the Khmer Rouge.

Many former Khmer Rouge members are now part of Cambodia’s civil service and occupy top positions in provincial and central government and experts say they are keen to curtail the court’s progress and limit the scope of future investigations.

Long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen is himself a former Khmer Rouge foot soldier who says he defected to eventual conquerors Vietnam. He has warned of another civil war if the court expands its probes into the horrors of Pol Pot’s “year zero” revolution.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon has also admitted his involvement as an interpreter for late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, while Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has been accused of having Khmer Rouge connections and heading a detention center. He denies the claims.

Cambodia: Khmer Rouge prison chief jailed for 30 years

26 JULY 2010
Source: AFP

Interactive graphic on Cambodia as Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is jailed for 30 years for crimes against humanity over mass executions during the “Killing Fields” era.

Thai are suggested to study law now to become a better human

‘Nothing to fear’ from heritage meet

A MUST READ ARTICLE
25/07/2010 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post

Thailand has nothing to fear from the World Heritage Committee meeting starting today in Brazil, a source says.

Cambodian soldiers guard Prasat Preah Vihear

The meeting will discuss Cambodia’s management plan for Preah Vihear temple and its buffer zone.

Thailand has yet to see the plan, because it has not been distributed to committee members.

However, the source said any decision by the committee to back the plan is unlikely to affect Thailand’s territorial dispute with Cambodia over land near the temple.

Preah Vihear has been on Unesco’s world heritage list since 2008.

Thailand opposes the plan on the grounds that sovereignty over the buffer zone, the 4.6 square kilometre disputed area claimed by the two countries, has not been settled.

The source, who works on resolving border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia, said endorsement of the management plan would probably have little impact on the territorial dispute.

He cited the World Heritage Convention which says the listing of a world heritage site will not prejudice concerned parties’ right to conduct territorial disputes.

The source insists the world heritage work will not affect demarcation work in the area as both sides reached agreements following a memorandum of understanding on demarcation work in 2000.

The work has made little progress so far, because they first need to identify all 73 land pegs running along the Thai-Cambodia border.

“I think we need to study the law so we can deal with the issue better. At the moment, emotions are running too high,” the source said.

However, he cautioned about possible encroachments on Thai territory by Cambodia following any plan endorsement.

Country boundaries in Google Earth

A MUST READ ARTICLE

July 22, 2010
Originally posted at: Tambon Blog

Yesterday, on the Google LatLong blog better country boundary depictions were announced for both Google Earth and Google Maps,

Preah Vihear area with disputed boundary line, Google Maps

especially taking into account disputed boundaries. The Thai boundary has become more detailed, and if you compare the picture below with the screen shot from February at Ogle Earth a new dotted line has been added and the original boundary line close to the Thai claims has disappeared.

The other place on the Thai-Cambodian boundary where it has quite a tense situation between both armies over yet another Khmer temple ruins is Prasat Ta Muen Thom, where (at least from the Thai view) the boundary is beyond this temple, but the current boundary displayed the ruins right into Cambodia – and here there’s not even a dotted line. Ogle Earth’s analysis of this new feature in the maps also mentions these two Thailand examples.

But keep the nationalist furor down – Google does not define the national boundaries, they only try their best to show them in their great software, so this latest step of showing where there are disputes and a clear boundary cannot be shown is the right next step. They only need to identify all of the places where the boundary isn’t clear yet. And that’s not easy, not only are there these two locations where the boundary is disputed between Cambodia and Thailand, also quite recently I learned from an article in The Nation that there are also many issues lingering for the Thai-Burmese boundary. And back in 1984 there was even a short military fighting at the Thai-Laotian boundary over two villages, not sure if at least this part of the Thai boundary is completely settled by now.

Such boundary issues will also complicate the setup of Geograph Thailand, since it is impossible to decide which 1×1 kilometer square belongs to Thailand and which one not. And since most of the boundary is in dense jungle and also often not allowed to enter anyway, let alone to cross it at any place except the official border crossing, it won’t be possible to take as many boundary photographs as I did at the German-Dutch boundary in the German Geograph – thanks to Schengen the country boundaries in Euroland are often hardly noticeable.