Cambodia celebrates 20th anniversary of ex-King's return

The signing the Paris Peace Accords in 1991. R-L: Khieu Samphan, Ieng Mouly, Sihanouk, 4th person unidentified, Hun Sen and Hor Namhong.
Sihanouk, French FM Roland Dumas and Hun Sen.

Hun Sen signed the Paris Peace Accords.

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Sunday celebrated the 20th anniversary of ailing former retired King Norodom Sihanouk's return from exile and his 89-year-old birthday turning to 90 on Oct. 31.

The auspicious ceremony was held in front of the Royal Palace with the high presence from King Norodom Sihamoni, Sihanouk's son, Senate acting-President Prince Sisowath Chivan Monirak, President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin, Prime Minister Hun Sen, and foreign diplomatic corps.

In his first public appearance since his abdication in October 2004 in favour of his son Norodom Sihamoni, the former King was warmly greeted by throng of about 40,000 people from all walks of life.

Traditional dance has been performed to bless the former King with good health and longevity.

In his remarks, Sihanouk said he was very happy to have an honor to address to his beloved compatriots and highly appreciated Prime Minister Hun Sen for his tireless efforts and achievements to develop the country.

"Also, I admire the government of Cambodia and the parliament for their joint efforts to develop the nation," he said in a speech and live televised by the state-owned National Television of Cambodia.

The former King and Queen returned to Cambodia on November 14, 1991 from their exile in China's Beijing at the invitation of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said Prime Minister Hun Sen in a speech during the celebration.

He said the celebration was to reflect the sincere hearts of Cambodian people towards the former King Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Norodom Monineath for their tireless efforts and achievements in national construction.

"We, all Cambodian people, wish the king father for good health and longevity in order to stay as a cold shadow for peace, political stability and prosperity of Cambodia and Cambodian people," he said.

Hun Sen said in the history of Cambodian Kings, there have never had any ex-kings who had as long life as the former King Norodom Sihanouk.

"In the past and in the future, the government of Cambodia vows to protect monarchic regime, constitutional law, full peace, political stability and national unification," he said.

During the celebrations, there is an exhibition displaying former King Norodom Sihanouk's royal crusades and achievements in his efforts to develop the nation.

Also, at the night of Oct. 30, there will be fireworks and concerts.
Editor: Yamei Wang

Big Buddha unearthed at Ta Prom

Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:02

Bridget Di Certo 

Phnom Penh Post

Photo by: Photo Supplied

A two-metre section of a Buddha statue unearthed this week sits on blocks at the Ta Prom temple, in Siem Reap province.

 

The largest Angkorian-era Buddha statue to be discovered since the Khmer Rouge regime ended was unearthed at Ta Prom temple last Friday, an official from the Indian embassy confirmed yesterday.

The Ta Prom temple, at the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, has been under restoration by a team of Indian Government-funded technical experts since 2004.

Indian Embassy First Secretary Saurav Ray said the Buddha statue, found in the Hall of Dancers at Ta Prom, was the “largest Buddha statue discovered so far in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge era”.

“The statue is incomplete  – missing a large buddha head with a naga snake fan and part of the base,” he said, adding that the portion of the statue found was a massive two metres high.

“We have had 151 local people employed on the restoration work, and this is an amazing discovery,” Ray added.

Ta Prom temple is thought to have been built in the 12th or 13th century and was founded by King Jayavarman VII as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery and university.

Like most temples at the Angkor Wat complex, Ta Prom was slowly strangled by the jungle after a decade of neglect during the Indochina war beginning in mid-1940s and later the civil conflict that engulfed the Kingdom from 1975 to 1998.

The Archaeological Survey of India first came to the temple in 1983 and conducted brief restoration work, before later returning in 2004 to begin a projected 10-year restor-ation effort of the impressive Angkorian structure.

UNESCO Culture Program specialist Philippe Delanghe said yesterday he had deployed a field officer to invest-igate the impressive find.

“It is a Buddha sitting on a Naga, and seems to be a very huge thing indeed,” he said.

“Such a big statue is quite a significant find – it looks at least as big as the famous Buddha at the Bayon temple.”

Restoration efforts by donor countries such as France and China, being conducted at many of the Angkor complex temples, have previously come under fire from natur-alists as being too aggressive.
However, UNESCO said that so far all restoration efforts had been received positively.

“The International Co-ord-ination Committee adhoc experts have very regularly been visiting the restoration sites and are very happy with the work that is being done,” Delanghe said.

Saurav Ray said Indian technical experts had received nothing but praise for their efforts from the Apsara Authority, the governing body of the Angkor complex.

“We are extremely happy with this very important find,” Ray said, adding that the technical experts were now conducting examination and analysis of the statue.

Representatives from the Apsara Authority declined to comment yesterday.

Gaddafi killed as Libya's revolt claims hometown

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi speaks during a ceremony in Tripoli in this June 12, 2010 file photo.
REUTERS/Ismail Zetouny

By Rania El Gamal and Tim Gaynor

SIRTE, Libya | Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:12am EDT

(Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi was killed on Thursday as Libya's new leaders declared they had overrun the last bastion of his long rule, sparking wild celebrations that eight months of war may finally be over.
Details of the death near Sirte of the fallen strongman were hazy but it was announced by several officials of the National Transitional Council (NTC) and backed up by a photograph of a bloodied face ringed by familiar, Gaddafi-style curly hair.
"He was killed in an attack by the fighters. There is footage of that," the NTC's information minister, Mahmoud Shammam, told Reuters.
Western powers, who have backed the rebellion which took the capital Tripoli two months ago, said they were still checking. NATO said its aircraft fired on a convoy near Sirte earlier, but would not confirm reports that Gaddafi had been a passenger.
Several NTC fighters in Sirte said they had seen Gaddafi shot dead, though their accounts varied.
With a final declaration of the country's "liberation" from 42 years of one-man rule apparently imminent, and crowds firing in the air and dancing in the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi, Libyan television said NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil was about to address the nation.
The two months since the fall of Tripoli have tested the nerves of the motley alliance of anti-Gaddafi forces and their Western and Arab backers, who had begun to question the ability of the NTC forces to root out diehard Gaddafi loyalists in Sirte and a couple of other towns.
Officials said some of Gaddafi's entourage had been killed in the same incident, while his son Mo'tassim and other aides were taken prisoner. Another son, Saif -- long the heir-apparent -- was believed by the NTC to be still at large, possibly in the immense southern deserts of the Libyan Sahara.
ARAB SPRING
The death of Gaddafi himself became perhaps the most dramatic development since the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt and threaten the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and Yemen.
"He (Gaddafi) was also hit in his head," NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters. "There was a lot of firing against his group and he died."
Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi, who was in his late 60s, was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked. He said he had been taken away by an ambulance.
An NTC fighter in Sirte said he had seen Gaddafi shot after he was cornered and captured in a tunnel near a roadway.
The capture of Sirte means Libya's ruling NTC should now begin the task of forging a new democratic system which it had said it would get under way after the city, Gaddafi's hometown rebuilt as a showpiece for his rule, had fallen.
As potentially vast revenues from oil and gas begin to roll in again, Libya's six million people, scattered in towns spread across wide deserts, face a major task in organizing a new system of government that can allocate resources across long-competing tribal, ethnic and regional divisions.
Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians, was toppled by rebel forces on August 23, a week short of the 42nd anniversary of the military coup which brought him to power in 1969.
NTC fighters hoisted the red, black and green national flag above a large utilities building in the center of a newly-captured Sirte neighborhood and celebratory gunfire broke out among their ecstatic and relieved comrades.
Hundreds of NTC troops had surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle that killed and wounded scores of the besieging forces and an unknown number of defenders.
NTC fighters said there were a large number of corpses inside the last redoubts of the Gaddafi troops. It was not immediately possible to verify that information.
(Writing by Jon Hemming, William Maclean and Alastair Macdonald; Editing by David Stamp)

U.S. President to Visit Cambodia for First Time Next Year

President Barack Obama (L) shakes with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during the latter's visit to Washington.

17th October, 2011
Xinhua Web Editor: yangyang66

Cambodia is expected to welcome the visit of the incumbent President of the United States for the first time in history next year when the country chairs ASEAN, officials said.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, minister of foreign affairs, on Monday, visiting Ambassador of the United States to ASEAN David Carden said the U.S. congratulated Cambodia for hosting the ASEAN next year and said the U.S. was ready to assist Cambodia to chair the ASEAN successfully.

"The U.S. fully supports ASEAN to establish an ASEAN community by 2015," he said. "Our president will be given the opportunity to attend the ASEAN-U.S. Summit and related meetinghahas here next year."

Koy Kuong, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the ASEAN-U.S. Summit will be held in late November, 2012 in Phnom Penh, and the U.S. presidential election will be held in early November 2012, so, probably, the incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama will take part in the summit as the new elected U.S. President in the next year's election will take office in December.

During the meeting, Hor Namhong asked the U.S. to accelerate its assistance to Lower Mekong countries including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos under the framework of the Lower Mekong- U.S. cooperation on the sectors of environment, education, health and infrastructure.

"The U.S. plays a key role to help the four lower Mekong countries to develop connectivity. It is a part of ASEAN connectivity, " he said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

David Carden arrived here on Sunday for a four-day visit. During the stay, he will meet Cambodia's ministers of education, environment, and commerce, and also pay a courtesy call on the Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Steve Jobs Was a Dharma Teacher Also

Steve Job's death yesterday came as a shock. We all knew he was dying, but were hoping that he would be a part of this world for a little while longer. As a tribute to him, I would like to share this video of him giving the Commencement Speech for the Stanford class of 2005.

I especially appreciated his story about death:

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And I thought of the wisdom of another man, not famous like Steve, but just as wise . . . 

This is the truth.

 

Original Posted at:  http://minddeep.blogspot.com

Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge in New York, New Jersy and Philadelphia

Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge

Residents, Tourists Seek Higher Ground

Irene causing traffic jams, gas shortages along coast       

NYC orders first-ever mandatory evacuations; mass transit to be hit across Northeast

Please go to the link NBC for VIDEO

NBC, msnbc.com and news services

updated 7 minutes ago2011-08-26T21:38:46

Top developments:

• 2.3 million under evacuation orders; 300,000 are in NYC
• NYC, N.J., Philadelphia to suspend mass transit service during part of weekend
• Storm begins to hit Carolinas; maximum winds weaken to 100 mph
• Obama to leave vacation island a day early due to Irene

NEW YORK -- With more coastal cities ordering evacuations ahead of Hurricane Irene, residents and tourists alike from North Carolina to New York City were moving toward higher ground.
Traffic jams as long as 20 miles were reported and some service stations in New Jersey and other areas had run out of gasoline, according to the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks supplies and prices. Gasoline demand jumped 20 percent to 40 percent in Mid-Atlantic states, the service said.

Evacuation orders covered 1 million people in New Jersey, 315,000 in Maryland, 300,000 in New York City, 300,000 in North Carolina, 200,000 in Virginia and 100,000 in Delaware.
"This is probably the largest number of people that have been threatened by a single hurricane in the United States," said Jay Baker, a geography professor at Florida State University.
New York, the nation's largest city, was among those announcing evacuations Friday.
"We've never done a mandatory evacuation before and we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't think this storm had the potential to be very serious,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in warning some 300,000 people living in low-lying areas.
Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama warned East Coast residents to prepare for the worst, saying all indications point to a "historic" storm.
"Don't wait, don't delay," the president said from his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where many were already leaving ahead of Irene. Obama and his family had planned to leave the island on Saturday, but the White House on Friday said it had been moved up to Friday evening.
Video: Hurricane Irene to bring extensive storm surge
Irene not only is packing 100 mph winds, it is also massive: hurricane-force winds extend 90 miles from the center, and tropical-storm winds extend 290 miles. Up to 15 inches of rain could be dumped across the East Coast by the time she barrels through.
By 5 p.m. ET Friday, Irene remained a Category 2 storm with top winds near 100 mph — 15 mph less than overnight.
Little change in strength was expected by the time the heart of the storm reaches the North Carolina coast on Saturday morning and Irene should then drop to a Category 1 storm with winds around 80 mph as it moves into the Northeast.
Even as a Category 1 storm, Irene has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage. At least 65 million people are in its projected track.

"One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast coast," said Max Mayfield, a former National Hurricane Center director. "This is going to be a real challenge."
Rain from Irene's outer bands began falling along the North and South Carolina coast early Friday. Swells and 6- to 9-foot waves were reported along the Outer Banks. Thousands had already lost power as the fringes of the storm began raking the shore and North Carolina was told to expect storm surges up to 11 feet.
Hurricane warnings extend along the North Carolina coast all the way up into New York City, Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
How to prepare, really, tips from a hurricane vet
Below is a look at impacts and preparations by region:
New York CityBloomberg ordered an evacuation by 5 p.m. Saturday for low-lying areas that include the Battery Park City complex on the southern end of Manhattan; Coney Island, famed for its boardwalk and amusement park; the beachfront community of the Rockaways; and other neighborhoods around the city.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said subways, buses and commuter trains in the city, on Long Island and in the northern suburbs will be suspended starting around noon Saturday.
Cuomo added that 1,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen would help over the weekend
The George Washington and Tappan Zee bridges, among others, were ordered shut if winds top 60 mph, as was the New York State Thruway.
Video: Bloomberg: 'Prepare for the worst, hope for the best'
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have said they can't run the transit system once sustained winds reach 39 mph, and they need an eight-hour lead time to shut it down.
Officials have entreated residents to take it upon themselves to get out early, but it remained unclear how many would heed the warnings that subways and buses might not be there for them if they waited.
A hurricane watch was in effect for New York City and Long Island for Sunday, with storm conditions possible Saturday night.

The MTA has never before halted its entire system — which carries about 5 million passengers on an average weekday — in advance of a storm, though the system was seriously hobbled by an August 2007 rainstorm that disabled or delayed every one of the city's subway lines.
Readers capture Hurricane Irene's approachOn Thursday, Bloomberg ordered nursing homes and five hospitals in low-lying areas evacuated beginning Friday and advised residents on the southern tip of Manhattan and on Brooklyn's Coney Island to start moving items upstairs.
"We do not have the manpower to go door-to-door and drag people out of their homes," he said. "Nobody's going to get fined. Nobody's going to go to jail. But if you don't follow this, people might die."
Apartment building managers emailed residents, telling them to close windows and expect power outages. Flyers were posted in building lobbies.
Forecasters said Irene passing near Manhattan could lead to a nightmare scenario: shattered glass falling from skyscrapers, flooded subways and seawater coursing through the streets.
Even if the winds aren't strong enough to damage buildings in a metropolis made largely of brick, concrete and steel, a lot of New York's subway system and other infrastructure is underground and subject to flooding in the event of an unusually strong storm surge or heavy rains.
Slideshow: Cartoonists poke at Irene (on this page)New York City's two airports also are close to the water and could be inundated, as could densely packed neighborhoods, if the storm pushes ocean water into the city's waterways.
In the low-lying Financial District surrounding Wall Street, the New York Fed was readying contingency plans but expected normal functioning of its open market operations on Monday, a spokesman said.
The city had a brush with a tropical storm, Hanna, in 2008 that dumped 3 inches of rain in Manhattan.
In the last 200 years, New York has seen only a few significant hurricanes. In 1821, a hurricane raised tides by 13 feet in an hour and flooded all of Manhattan south of Canal Street, the southernmost tip of the city. The area now includes Wall Street and the World Trade Center memorial.
Readers capture Hurricane Irene's approachNorth CarolinaTraffic was steady as people left the Outer Banks. Tourists were ordered to leave the barrier islands Thursday, though local officials estimated Friday that about half the residents on two of the islands have ignored evacuation orders.
As a result, officials ordered dozens of body bags.
"I anticipate we're going to have people floating on the streets, and I don't want to leave them lying there," said Richard Marlin, fire chief for one of the seven villages on Hatteras. "The Coast Guard will either be pulling people off their roofs like in Katrina or we'll be scraping them out of their yards."
In Nags Head, police officer Edward Mann cruised the streets in search of cars in driveways — a telltale sign some planned to stay behind. He warned those that authorities wouldn't be able to help holdouts, and that electricity and water could be out for days.
Price gougers put on noticeSome told Mann they're staying because they feel safe or because the storm won't be as bad as predicted. Mann, 25, said some have told him they've ridden out more storms than years he's been alive.
Bucky Domanski, 71, was among those who told Mann he wasn't leaving. The officer handed the retired salesman a piece of paper warning of the perils of staying behind. Domanski said he understood.
"I could be wrong, but everything meteorologists have predicted never pans out," Domanski said. "I don't know, maybe I've been lulled to sleep. But my gut tells me it's not going to be as bad as predicted. I hope I'm right."
Video: N.C. Gov.: Preparing for worst, praying for best As thousands fled beach towns, some farmers began early harvests to minimize any losses to Irene.
VirginiaAfter the Outer Banks, the next target for Irene was the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia, a jagged network of inlets and rivers that floods easily. Emergency officials have said the region is more threatened by storm surge, the high waves that accompany a storm, than wind.
Gas stations there were low on fuel Friday, and grocery stores scrambled to keep water and bread on the shelves.
Few people were left along the coast of Virginia Beach, where officials ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city's Sandbridge section.
Similar orders were issued for at least 10 other localities and some roads inland had backups 7-8 miles long.
MarylandThe beach community of Ocean City was taking no chances, ordering thousands of people to leave.
"This is not a time to get out the camera and sit on the beach and take pictures of the waves," said Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Washington, D.C.Irene forced the postponement of Sunday's planned dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. While a direct strike on the nation's capital appeared slim, organizers said the forecasts of wind and heavy rain made it too dangerous to summon a throng they initially expected to number up to 250,000 strong.
Story: Are you in Irene's path? Share photos, if it's safe to do so New JerseyTransit trains will stop running at noon Saturday, Gov. Chris Christie said Friday.
Aiming to speed up evacuations, Christie also suspended tolls on all parts of the Garden State Parkway south of the Raritan River and the Atlantic City Expressway.
Summer resort towns were emptying as officials ordered mandatory evacuation of the popular tourist areas along the state's coastal barrier islands.
Story: Irene to bring outages, scattered shortages of gas
Hundreds of thousands of people were likely to be affected by the orders, which included evacuation of such heavily visited towns as Wildwood, Ocean City and Avalon, all in Cape May County where the summer tourist population is typically 750,000 people.
Traffic was jammed for some 20 miles on the Garden State Parkway, said Mike Durkin, who drove home to Jenkintown, Pa., from the Jersey shore.
"I think there is a lot of nervous energy," he said. "There are people who have been there for 30 years who always rode out the storms before. A neighbor told me he just wasn't going to take a chance on this one though," he added.
Video: Christie issues stern warning of Irene to N.J. residents All 11 of Atlantic City's casinos were ordered to close by noon Saturday, he added. The city's casinos have shut down only twice before, in 1985 for Hurricane Gloria and in 2006 because of a state government shutdown.
PhiladelphiaMass transit in the city and suburbs will be shut down early Sunday morning, officials said Friday.
Interactive: Hurricane facts, figures & preparation (on this page)ConnecticutGov. Daniel Malloy declared a state of emergency and warned there could be prolonged power outages if Irene dumps up to a foot of rain on already saturated ground.
He said emergency responders must be ready in event of any evacuations from heavily developed urban areas. "We are a much more urban state than we were in 1938," he said, referring to the year that the so-called "Long Island Express" hurricane killed 600 people and caused major damage with 17-foot storm surges and high winds.
At Mystic Seaport, a popular "living history" museum that depicts 19th century New England seacoast life, staff members were hauling parts of the collections to higher ground. The museum will be closed on Saturday and Sunday as staffers load up sandbags.
Story: Airlines begin canceling flights as Irene nears
BostonWhile some residents flocked to the supermarket for bottled water and nonperishable food, others rushed to the local hardware store.
"Our number of customers has tripled in the last day or two as people actually said 'wow, this thing is going to happen,'" said Jack Gurnon, owner of Charles Street Supply, a hardware store in Boston's wealthy Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Tape for windows, flashlights and batteries were flying off shelves, but Gurnon said people were worried about flooding and have been scooping up sump pumps, too.
Rhode IslandThe towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown on Friday announced mandatory evacuations for residents in flood-prone areas for no later than 10 a.m. Sunday.
FloridaWhile avoiding a direct hit, the state did see the first U.S. injuries from Irene when eight people were washed off a jetty in West Palm Beach on Thursday by a large wave churned up by the storm. All survived.
BahamasIrene exited the northernmost part of the archipelago by midday Friday.
The government said the storm knocked out communications to islands such as Eleuthera and Abaco and that only partial reports of damage were available.
No reports of deaths or injuries were received, but 70 homes on the southern island of Acklins were destroyed, 29 sustained major damage and 84 received minor damage.
The capital sustained relatively minor flooding and damage.
Insured losses in the Caribbean from Hurricane Irene will be between $500 million and $1.1 billion, risk assessor firm Air Worldwide said on Friday, adding that the Bahamas will account for more than 60 percent of the loss.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

លោក ហោ ណាំហុង​៖ ​លោក​មិន​មែន​ជា​អ្នក​គ្រប់គ្រង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក​ទេ ???

ដោយ តាំង សារ៉ាដា

RFA/Sok Serey

រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង​ការបរទេស និង​ជា​ឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ផ្ដល់​បទ​សម្ភាសន៍​អ្នក​សារព័ត៌មាន​នា​អាកាស​យានដ្ឋាន​អន្តរជាតិ​ភ្នំពេញ នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១៧ ខែ​ធ្នូ ឆ្នាំ​២០១០។

2011-07-20  "ដើម្បីស្ដាប់សម្លេង ចុចត្រង់នេះ! "

មន្ត្រី​ជាន់​ខ្ពស់​នៃ​ក្រសួង​ការ​បរទេស​កម្ពុជា បាន​ច្រាន​ចោល​ចំពោះ​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​នានា ទាក់ទង​នឹង​ការ​ទទួល​ខុស​ត្រូវ ឬ​ជា​អ្នក​មាន​អំណាច​ក្នុង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក​នៅ​សម័យ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម។

ការ​បដិសេធ​របស់​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ធ្វើ​ឡើង​នៅ​បន្ទាប់​ពី​មាន​ការ​បញ្ជាក់​ពី​ឯកសារ សាក្សី និង​សេចក្ដីរាយការណ៍​របស់​មន្ត្រី​ស្ថានទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​ប្រចាំ​នៅ​ កម្ពុជា ដែល​ថា មន្ត្រី​ការបរទេស​ខ្មែរ​មាន​ជាប់​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្ម​សម្លាប់​ បញ្ញវន្ត​ខ្មែរ ឬ​ក្រុម​អ្នក​ការ​ទូត​ខ្មែរ​ពី​បរទេស ដែល​ជាប់​ឃុំ​ក្នុង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក កាល​ពី​ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៥ ដល់​ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៩ នៃ​របប​កម្ពុជា​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ។
រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង​ការបរទេស​កម្ពុជា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បាន​បដិសេធ​ថា លោក​មិន​មែន​ជា​អ្នក​គ្រប់គ្រង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក នៅ​សម័យ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​នោះ​ទេ។ ផ្ទុយ​ទៅ​វិញ លោក​ថា លោក​ក៏​ជា​អ្នក​ទោស​ម្នាក់​ដែរ។
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ថ្លែង​ប្រាប់​វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ី​សេរី តាម​ទូរស័ព្ទ​ពី​ប្រទេស​ហុល្លង់ កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​អាទិត្យ​ថា ប្រធាន​គណបក្ស​ជំទាស់ លោក សម រង្ស៊ី កន្លង​មក ក៏​ធ្លាប់​បាន​និយាយ​បរិហារកេរ្តិ៍​រូប​លោក​អំពី​បញ្ហា​នេះ​ដែរ ហើយ​តុលាការ​របស់​ប្រទេស​បារាំង​នៅ​តែ​លើកលែង​ទោស​ដល់​លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ដោយសារ​ហេតុផល​នយោបាយ។
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ៖ «តុលាការ​បារាំង​កាត់​ប៉ុន្មាន​ដង​វា​គ្រប់​ហើយ។ ខ្ញុំ​ជា​អ្នក​ជាប់​ទោស​របស់​ខ្មែរ ក្រហម។ ខ្មែរក្រហម​ដែល​ចាត់​តាំង​គណៈកម្មការ​ហ្នឹង គឺ​គណៈកម្មការ​អ្នកទោស។ អត់​មាន​សិទ្ធិ​អំណាច​អី​ទេ។ ខ្ញុំ​មិន​ដែល​ស្គាល់​ខ្មែរក្រហម​យ៉ាង​ម៉េច​ផង ហើយ​តុលាការ​បារាំង​កាត់​ប៉ុន្មាន​ដង លើកលែង​តុលាការ​កំពូល​កាត់​ផ្សេងៗ វា​មិន​ជាក់ ព្រោះ​ថា សម រង្ស៊ី បាន​បរិហារ​កេរ្ត៍​ខ្ញុំ​ពិត​មែន បែរ​ទៅ​ជា​លើកលែង​ទោស​ឲ្យ​គាត់ ដោយសារ​គាត់​ជា​អ្នក​នយោបាយ»។
លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ដែល​កំពុង​រស់​នៅ​និរទេស​ក្នុង​ប្រទេស​បារាំង​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា ការ​កាត់​សេចក្ដី​របស់​តុលាការ​កំពូល​បារាំង​ធ្វើ​ឡើង​ប្រកប​ដោយ​យុត្តិធម៌​ តាម​ការ​ផ្អែក​លើ​ភស្តុតាង និង​សាក្សី​គ្រប់គ្រាន់។
លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ៖ «តុលាការ​បារាំង​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​ឈ្នះ​ក្ដី​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ហ្នឹង គឺ​ដោយសារ​តុលាការ បារាំង​ហ្នឹង​គេ​យល់​ឃើញ​ដោយ​មាន​ប្រភព​ជា​ច្រើន​ដូច​គ្នា ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ពី​រឿង​ដូច​គ្នា ហើយ​អ្វី​ដែល​គេ​អះអាង​នោះ​គួរ​ឲ្យ​ជឿ​បាន។ បើ​គ្មាន ​ពិត គ្មាន​មូលដ្ឋាន គេ​មិន​អនុញ្ញាត​អ្វី​ឲ្យ​យើង​ចេះ​តែ​និយាយ​បាន​ទេ»។
កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ២៧ ខែ​មេសា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ តុលាការ​កំពូល​របស់​ប្រទេស​បារាំង បាន​ច្រាន​ចោល​សេចក្ដី​សម្រេច​របស់​សាលា​ដំបូង និង​សាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍ ដែល​បាន​សម្រេច​ឲ្យ​លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ចាញ់​ក្ដី​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ពី​បទ​បរិហារកេរ្តិ៍​ទាក់ទិន​នឹង​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជា​អតីត​ប្រធាន​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក ក្នុង​របប​ខ្មែរក្រហម។ ប៉ុន្តែ តុលាការ​ក្រុង​ភ្នំពេញ កាល​ពី​ដើម​ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ បាន​កាត់​ទោស​លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ក្នុង​ករណី​ដូច​គ្នា​ឲ្យ​ជាប់​ពន្ធនាគារ​រយៈ​ពេល​ពីរ​ឆ្នាំ។
គេហទំព័រ វីគីលីគ (Wikileaks) កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ១១ ខែ​កក្កដា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ បាន​ចេញ​ផ្សាយ​របាយការណ៍​របស់​លោក Alexander Arvizu អតីត​អនុប្រធាន​បេសកកម្ម​របស់​ស្ថានទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​នៅ​កម្ពុជា ដែល​កាល​ពី​ឆ្នាំ ២០០២ បាន​សរសេរ​ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជា​អតីត​ប្រធាន​គុក​បឹង ត្របែក​ក្នុង​របប​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម។
ក្រសួង​ការ​បរទេស​កម្ពុជា កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១៤ ខែ​កក្កដា​ថ្មីៗ នេះ បាន​ចេញ​សេចក្ដី​ថ្លែងការណ៍​ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង​ការបរទេស​កម្ពុជា​បាន​កោះហៅ លោក Jeff Daigle អនុប្រធាន​បេសកកម្ម និង​ជា​ភារធារី​នៃ​ស្ថានទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​ប្រចាំ​ក្នុង​ទីក្រុង​ភ្នំពេញ ដើម្បី​សំដែង​ការ​តវ៉ា​ជំទាស់​នឹង​របាយការណ៍​នោះ ហើយ​ទាមទារ​ឲ្យ​មាន​ការ​កែ​តម្រូវ។
សាក្សី​ដែល​បាន​ដឹង​អំពី​វត្តមាន​របស់​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅ​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក នៅ​កាល​ពី​សម័យ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ថា ពួក​គេ​បាន​ដឹង និង​បាន​ឮ​ឈ្មោះ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅ​ពេល​នោះ។
អតីត​បុគ្គលិក​របស់​វិទ្យុ​សំឡេង​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក លោកស្រី នៅ សារឹម ដែល​ជា​អតីត​ជន​រងគ្រោះ​ពី​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក​នៅ​ពេល​នោះ មាន​មណ្ឌល​បី​កន្លែង។ មណ្ឌល​មួយ​សម្រាប់​ដាក់​ក្រុម​និស្សិត​ដែល​វិល​ត្រឡប់​ពី​បរទេស ហើយ​មណ្ឌល​មួយ​ទៀត​សម្រាប់​ដាក់​ក្រុម​មន្ត្រី​ការ​ទូត​ខ្មែរ​ពី​បរទេស។
លោកស្រី ដែល​ពេល​នោះ​ជា​និស្សិត​បញ្ចប់​អាហារូបករណ៍​ផ្នែក​ភាសា​បារាំង​ពី​ប្រទេស​ បារាំង បាន​ជាប់​ឃុំ​ក្នុង​មណ្ឌល​មួយ​ក្បែរ​មណ្ឌល​គ្រប់គ្រង​ដោយ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង។
លោកស្រី​បន្ត​ថា ពេល​នោះ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជា​អ្នក​គ្រប់គ្រង​មណ្ឌល​ដែល​ឃុំឃាំង​ ក្រុម​មន្រ្តី​ការ​ទូត​ខ្មែរ​ពី​បរទេស​ក្នុង​មន្ទីរ​បឹង​ត្របែក ៖ «នៅ​បឹង​ត្របែក​ហ្នឹង​មាន​ខ្មែរក្រហម​ធំ​ខាង​លើ​គេ​ត្រួត​ហ្នឹង ឈ្មោះ សាវ៉ន ត្រួត​មន្ទីរ​ហ្នឹង​ណា៎ ចាស។ ហើយ​មន្ទីរ​ដែល​ពួក​គេ​ខ្ញុំ​នៅ​ហ្នឹង មិនមែន​ ហោ ណាំហុង ទេ។ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង គាត់​ជា​ប្រធាន​បឹង​ត្របែក​មួយ​ទៀត​ហ្នឹង ដើម្បី​ដើរ​ឲ្យ​ដល់​កន្លែង​របស់​គាត់ គឺ​ត្រូវ​ដើរ​ឆ្លង​កាត់​តាម​មន្ទីរ​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​នៅ​ហ្នឹង​ចាស។ ដូច្នេះ គាត់​ជា​ប្រធាន​កន្លែង​ពួក​ទូត។ ពួក​ដែល​គេ​នៅ​ហ្នឹង​សុទ្ធ​តែ​ជា​ពួក​ទូត ហើយ​ពួក​ដែល​គេ​ចូល​ទៅ​ស្រុក​វិញ​ហ្នឹង ហើយ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជា​ប្រធាន​នៅ​ពេល​ហ្នឹង។ ក្រោយ​លោក​ណាៗ ទាំង​អស់»។
លោកស្រី​មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា សម្រាប់​មណ្ឌល​ដែល​អ្នកស្រី​ស្នាក់​នៅ លោកស្រី បាន​ឃើញ​មនុស្ស​ប្រមាណ​ជាង ១០ នាក់​ត្រូវ​បាន​គេ​ដឹក​ចេញ​យក​ទៅ​សម្លាប់ «មុន ​គេ​យក​មនុស្ស​ចេញ​គេ​ជេរ​យើង​ខ្លាំង​ណាស់។ រួច​ទៅ​បាន​គេ​ដឹក​មនុស្ស​ចេញ។ ខ្ញុំ​ដឹង​តែ​កន្លែង​ខ្ញុំ។ កន្លែង​ខ្ញុំ​យ៉ាង​ហោច​ជាង​ដប់​នាក់​ដែរ​ចាស៎។ អ្នក​ខ្លះ​ទៅ​ទាំង​គ្រួសារ​តែ​ម្ដង មាន​កូន ប្រពន្ធ​ទៅ​ជាមួយ។ យ៉ាង​ហោច​ហើយ​ជាង​ដប់​នាក់​ចាស៎»។
ចំណែក​សាក្សី​ដែល​នៅ​រស់​ពី​មន្ទីរ​ឃុំឃាំង​បឹង​ត្របែក​មួយ​រូប​ទៀត គឺ​លោក សេង ចាន់អន មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា លោក​ធ្លាប់​ឮ​ឈ្មោះ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នៅ​មន្ទីរ​បឹង​ត្របែក​នៅ​ពេល​នោះ។ ប៉ុន្តែ លោក​មិន​ជាប់​ក្នុង​មណ្ឌល ដែល​គ្រប់គ្រង​ដោយ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង នោះ​ឡើយ។
លោក សេង ចាន់អន ៖ «នៅ​បឹង​ត្របែក​មាន​ជំរំ​បី។ ទី​មួយ ទី​ពីរ ទី​បី ហើយ​ខ្ញុំ​អត់​នៅ​ជាមួយ​គាត់​ទេ​បាទ។ ដូច្នេះ ខ្ញុំ​អត់​មាន​ស្គាល់​ការ​ដឹកនាំ​អី​របស់​គាត់​ទេ ពីព្រោះ​ខ្ញុំ​អត់​បាន​នៅ​ជាមួយ​គាត់ ហើយ​ក៏​អត់​បាន​នៅ​បឹង​ត្របែក​ហ្នឹង​ជាប់​លាប់​ដែរ។ ដូច្នេះ​គ្រាន់​តែ​ដឹង​តាម​មិត្តភ័ក្ដិ​អី​អ៊ីចឹង​ទេ ហើយ​ខ្ញុំ​អត់​ដឹង​ថា គាត់​ជា​ប្រធាន ឬ​ធ្វើ​សកម្មភាព​អី​ច្បាស់​លាស់​នោះ​ទេ»។
ផ្អែក​តាម​សៀវភៅ​ជាង ២០០ ទំព័រ បោះ​ពុម្ព​ក្នុង​ឆ្នាំ ២០០៣ ដែល​សរសេរ​ដោយ លោក អុង ថុង ហឿង អតីត​អ្នក​ទោស​នៅ​មន្ទីរ​ឃុំឃាំង​បឹង​ត្របែក កាល​ពី​សម័យ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម បាន​បញ្ជាក់​ថា គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក ត្រូវ​បាន​បែងចែក​ជា​មណ្ឌល​បី គឺ​មណ្ឌល ប-៣០ ប-៣១ និង ប-៣២ ដែល​មាន​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ជា​ប្រធាន​ក្រុម​អ្នកទោស ហើយ​ភរិយា​របស់​គាត់​ជា​ប្រធាន​ក្រុម​អ្នក​ទោស​ស្រី។ ចំណែក​កូន​ប្រុស​របស់​គាត់​ធ្វើ​ជា​ប្រធាន​ក្រុម​កុមារ។
មណ្ឌល ប-៣២ នេះ ជា​មណ្ឌល​ដែល​ឃុំឃាំង​ក្រុម​បញ្ញវន្ត មន្ត្រី​រាជការ ឬ​អតីត​មន្ត្រី​ទូត​មួយ​ចំនួន ដែល​មាន​វ័យ​ចំណាស់​បន្តិច។
សៀវភៅ​របស់​លោក អុង ថុង ហឿង ក៏​បាន​សរសេរ​ផង​ដែរ​ថា ប្រធាន​ក្រុម​អ្នកទោស​បឹង​ត្របែក​មាន​បុព្វសិទ្ធិ និង​មាន​អំណាច​ក្នុង​ការ​រាយការណ៍​អំពី​អ្នកទោស​ទាំង​អស់​ទៅ​ឲ្យ​ថ្នាក់​លើ​ របស់​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម ដើម្បី​ធ្វើ​ការ​ពិចារណា​ក្នុង​ការ​យក​អ្នក​ទោស​ទៅ​សម្លាប់​ចោល​នៅ​វត្ត​ជើង ​ឯក ឬ​យក​ទៅ​ធ្វើ​ទារុណកម្ម​នៅ​គុក​ទួល​ស្លែង​ជា​ដើម។
ជុំវិញ​ការ​ប្រកែក​របស់​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ដែល​ថា មិន​មាន​ជាប់​ទាក់ទង​ក្នុង​ការ​គ្រប់គ្រង​មន្ទីរ​ឃុំឃាំង​បឹង​ត្របែក​កាល​ពី ​សម័យ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​នោះ លោក​បណ្ឌិត ឡៅ ម៉ុងហៃ ដែល​ជា​អ្នក​វិភាគ​ឯករាជ្យ និង​ជា​អ្នក​ឃ្លាំ​មើល​ស្ថានការណ៍​នៅ​កម្ពុជា មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ខ្លាច​មាន​ឈ្មោះ​ជាប់​ជំពាក់​នៃ​ការ​ដឹកនាំ​របស់​របប​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម។
លោក​បណ្ឌិត ឡៅ ម៉ុងហៃ ៖ «ហើយ​គឺ​គាត់​ខំ​ការពារ គឺ​នៅ​ពេល​ដែល​មាន​ដូច​ថា បញ្ហា​អំពី​តុលាការ​ខ្មែរក្រហម អាច​ធ្វើ​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​ឯ​ទៀតៗ នៅ​មាន​ភាព​ចម្រូងចម្រាស​នៅ​ឡើយ។ វា​មិនទាន់​ដាច់​ស្រេច​ពី​រឿង​តុលាការ​ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​ហ្នឹង។ បើ​តាម​ខ្ញុំ​យល់​គាត់​ខ្លាច​ជាប់​ខ្លួន​គាត់​ដែរ»។
កាល​ពី​ខែ​មិថុនា ឆ្នាំ ២០១០ ឧបនាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី និង​ជា​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង​ការបរទេស​កម្ពុជា លោក ហោ ណាំហុង មាន​ប្រសាសន៍​ថា លោក​គ្រាន់​តែ​ជា​អ្នក​ទទួល​បន្ទុក​ចាត់ចែង​ម្ហូបអាហារ​ក្នុង​គុក​បឹង​ ត្របែក​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ ហើយ​ថា អ្នក​ដែល​ទទួល​ខុសត្រូវ​ធំ​បំផុត​ឈ្មោះ សាវ៉ន។
លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ៖ «ខ្ញុំ​ជា​គណៈកម្មការ​អ្នក​ទោស ដោយសារ​អ្នកទោស​នៅ​បឹង​ត្របែក​នោះ ខ្មែរ​ក្រហម​បាន​ចាត់តាំង​គណៈកម្មការ ដើម្បី​រៀបចំ​ម្ហូប​អាហារ​ដោយ​ខ្លួន​ឯង រស់​បាន​យ៉ាង​ម៉េច​រស់​ទៅ។ ដូច្នេះ គ្រាន់តែ​ជា​អ្នក​ប្រតិបត្តិ​ដ៏​សាមញ្ញ ដែល​មាន​តួនាទី​ត្រឹមតែ​អនុវត្ត​ការងារ​កំណត់​ដោយ​ប្រធាន​មន្ទីរ​ឃុំឃាំង គឺ​អា សាវ៉ន ពេល​ខ្មែរក្រហម។ មេ​គេ​ឈ្មោះ អា សាវ៉ន»។
កាល​ពី​ដើម​ឆ្នាំ ១៩៩១ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បាន​ប្ដឹង​សម្ដេច​មហា​វីរ​ក្សត្រ ព្រះ​បាទ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ទៅ​តុលាការ​ប្រទេស​បារាំង​ទាក់ទិន​នឹង​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​រូប​លោក​ជាប់​ ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​គ្រប់គ្រង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក ហើយ​ពេល​នោះ តុលាការ​បារាំង​បាន​សម្រេច​ឲ្យ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះ​ក្ដី។
នៅ​ឆ្នាំ ២០០១ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បាន​ប្ដឹង​លោក កៃ គឹមសុង អ្នក​យក​ព័ត៌មាន​កាសែត The Cambodia daily ពី​បទ​ផ្សាយ​ព័ត៌មាន​មិន​ពិត ដែល​បាន​ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​អំពី​តួនាទី និង​ការ​គ្រប់គ្រង​របស់​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ក្នុង​គុក​បឹង​ត្របែក​នៅ​សម័យ​ខ្មែរក្រហម។
តុលាការ​កម្ពុជា​តាំង​ពី​សាលាដំបូង​រហូត​ដល់​តុលាការ​កំពូល បាន​កាត់​ឲ្យ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះ​ក្ដី ហើយ​តម្រូវ​ឲ្យ​លោក កៃ គឹមសុង សង​សំណង​ជំងឺ​ចិត្ត​ចំនួន ៣០ លាន​រៀល ស្មើ​នឹង ៧ ពាន់ ៥ រយ​ដុល្លារ​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក។
នៅ​ដើម​ឆ្នាំ ២០១០ លោក ហោ ណាំហុង បាន​ប្ដឹង​លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ទៅ​តុលាការ​ប្រទេស​បារាំង ពី​បទ​បរិហារកេរ្តិ៍​អំពី​សំណុំរឿង​ដដែល​នេះ និង​ទាមទារ​សំណង ចំនួន ១៤ ម៉ឺន​ដុល្លារ​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក។
នៅ​ក្នុង​កំឡុង​ឆ្នាំ ២០១០ ទាំង​សាលា​ដំបូង និង​សាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍​បារាំង បាន​កាត់​ឲ្យ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឈ្នះ​ក្ដី។ ប៉ុន្តែ នៅ​ខែ​មេសា ឆ្នាំ ២០១១ តុលាការ​កំពូល​របស់​បារាំង បាន​បដិសេធ​ចោល​សេចក្ដី​សម្រេច​របស់​សាលាដំបូង និង​សាលាឧទ្ធរណ៍ ហើយ​សម្រេច​ឲ្យ​លោក សម រង្ស៊ី ឈ្នះ​ក្ដី​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ចំពោះ​ការ​ចោទ​ប្រកាន់​នោះ៕

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Buddhism Rebounds in Russia

by JamesBrooke, VOANews, Jul 17, 2011

Ulan Ude, Russia -- For four generations, the Soviets waged war on Buddhists, sometimes branding them “Japanese spies.”  Now, 20 years after the collapse of communism, Buddhism is experiencing a massive revival in its historic areas.

<< Photo: VOA - J. Weeks
Buddhist temple in Buryatia, Russia

 

Yes, there are Russian Buddhists
The drums, the bells and the chants are redolent of Asia.  But the language spoken between the monks here near the shores of Lake Baikal is Russian.

Yondon Ulzutuev, who teaches philosophy at Ivolginsky datsan, Russia’s main Buddhist monastery, says that when he was studying Buddhism in India, people did not believe he was Russian.

The 25-year old is one of over a million people in post-Soviet Russia who are embracing the Buddhist faith of their ancestors.

Attitude change

 

Czarist Russia largely co-existed with the Tibetan Buddhist faith of the Mongolian peoples it conquered in Central Asia. But the Soviets waged war on Buddhism.  They bulldozed temples and monasteries.  They used ancient manuscripts to roll cigarettes.  They shot hundreds of priests - and sent the rest into the gulag. 

 

Buddhist nun Tenzin Choidrin talks of the communist destruction of Buddhist culture and civilization here.

“As a result of communist repression, almost the entire Buddhist system was destroyed," she says. "The Buddhist world view, the basis of the traditional way of life was destroyed, the traditional system of values was destroyed.”

The Soviets forced Buddhism underground.  But, they failed to eradicate the faith from its historic strongholds - the border republics of Kalmykia, Tuva, and here in Buryatia.

Rebound
Although more Russians are Buddhists today than before the revolution, the Kremlin rejects their central demand.

They want their highest spiritual leader, Tibet’s Dalai Lama, to come to Russia and consecrate new temples and monasteries, but Moscow has refused to give the Dalai Lama a visa since his last visit in 2004.

However as a nun, Choidrin says a visit by the Dalai Lama is needed. She says a price can not be put on the role of the Dalai Lama for the rebirth of Buddhism in Russia.  Choidrin says his visit would be like water, which is needed by parched, sunbaked soil.

The nun says now that the Dalai Lama has given up his political role as leader of Tibetan exiles, Russia should give him a visa.

Chinese reaction

But China is now Russia’s largest single trading partner.  Chinese officials have warned that the Kremlin has a clear choice: the 1.3 million followers of the Dalai Lama or 1.3 billion Chinese.
At a neighborhood temple, Buddhist practitioner Irina is praying for her unborn child. After spinning the prayer wheels, Irina explains that she comes to the temple to pray that her pregnancy and baby’s birth will go well.

And, judging by the large number of pregnant women coming to temples to perform rituals and to receive blessings, time seems to be on the side of Buddhism, here in Russia’s Asian corner.

American Buddhism facing generational shift

Norman Fischer, Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Wetzel at the Garrison Institute 

Buddhism's growth in the West has spurred a rich cross-fertilization among the great traditions. In this spirit, Buddhist teachers have met in support of one another on past occasions in the US, Dharamsala and Europe. During the 2011 Buddhist Teachers Council held at the Garrison Institute in June, 2011, Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Wetzel and Norman Fischer sat down to discuss the state of Buddhism in the West today. They spoke with Robert Gabriele, Chief Operating Officer at the Garrison Institute.

American Buddhism facing generational shift

By Rachel Zell, Associated Press, July 17, 2011

GARRISON, N.Y. (USA) -- Crosses still adorn one wall of this former Roman Catholic monastery, but a 6-foot golden Buddha now anchors the main room. The meditation hall, also used as a meeting space, is where the luminaries of Buddhism in the West recently gathered to debate.

<< Buddhist teachers meeting at Garrison, NY, June 2011

The issue they were facing had been percolating for years on blogs, in Buddhist magazines and on the sidelines of spiritual retreats. It often played out as a clash of elders versus young people, the preservers of spiritual depth versus the alleged purveyors of "Buddhism-lite." Organizers of the gathering wanted the finger-pointing to end. The future of American Buddhism was at stake, they said.

So on a sweltering day at the Garrison Institute, a Buddhist retreat overlooking the Hudson River, the baby boomers who had popularized the tradition in the West met with younger leaders to tackle their differences.

"How can those of us who were pioneers in the '60s and '70s, support them without getting in their way and let them know that they have our blessings and support?" said Jack Kornfield, a prominent Buddhist teacher who helped introduce mindfulness, or insight, meditation to the U.S. four decades ago.


Buddhism in America is at a crossroads. The best-known Buddhist leaders, mostly white converts who emerged from the counterculture and protest movements of the Vietnam era, are nearing retirement or dying. Charlotte Joko Beck, a pioneer of Zen practice in America, passed away in June.


The next generation of teachers is pushing in new directions, shaped by the do-it-yourself ethos of the Internet age and a desire to make Buddhism more accessible. Informal study groups are in; organizing around a single teacher is out. Unsettled elders worry that the changes could go too far and lose touch with tradition.

"It seems to be one of the facts of life right now, not only in Buddhism, but in religion in general: it's about mixing and matching," said Zoketsu Norman Fischer, a longtime Zen priest, scholar and poet affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center. "The freedom people feel that they have to experiment — how do you prevent that from becoming consumerist or completely superficial or dangerous?"

It is a complex problem for a spiritual path with no ultimate worldwide authority such as a pope.

Within the United States, Buddhism is even more decentralized. Practices and beliefs that had developed in isolation from each other for centuries around Asia are side-by-side in North America, leading to sampling from different traditions. In Asia, monastics generally lead Buddhism in roles shaped partly by their monarchical societies; in the U.S., the teachers are mostly lay people. Beyond the Dalai Lama, Buddhism is best known in the United States not for any particular clergyman, ritual or liturgy, but through mindfulness-based stress reduction, which adapts strategies from vipassana, or insight medi tation.

Yet, a vein of conservatism runs through American Buddhist communities.

Many American Buddhist pioneers spent a decade or more studying with masters in Thailand, India, Burma and Nepal before returning home to take on students. On their websites, U.S. teachers post photos of themselves as young women in saris, or young men draped in robes, their heads cleanly shaven, on the steps of overseas monasteries. They are handing over leadership to the first convert Buddhist generation that was trained almost entirely in the West.

"The prior generation was modeled after the monastic model, where the old guy was the abbot," said the Rev. Jay Rinsen Weik, a recently ordained Zen priest, who leads the Toledo Zen Center in Ohio with his wife, Karen, who is also a Zen priest. "The last generation suffered from not being able to distinguish the personality of the guy and his dharma (teachings)."

At Weik's center in Toledo, he said, "people would never make that mistake," because they aren't conditioned to defer to one revered teacher.

For younger Americans, spending several years cloistered abroad, absorbing the cultural traditions of another country, seems not only unnecessary but counterproductive for reaching Westerners. Spring Washam, 37, a founding teacher of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, which has brought Buddhism to poorer, more diverse neighborhoods, said the attendees at her center want support, connection and friendship.

"These people want to be happy in their lives," Washam said. "They're not going to be monastics."

One of the most startling developments for elders has been the formation of the Dharma Punx, who participated in the conference. The relatively new, popular movement mixes punk rock-inspired rebellion and Buddhism, seeing both as seeking freedom from suffering. Amid the grey hair and muted clothes of the attendees, the Dharma Punx stood out, with their tattoo-covered arms and T-shirts the color of traffic cones. The movement emerged from the work of Noah Levine, the son of American Buddhist author Stephen Levine. The younger Levine rediscovered Buddhism after a troubled youth; he and his colleagues have built a reputation for successfully bringing Buddhist practices into juvenile detention centers — a sign of the social activism that young Buddhists tie to their meditation practice.

"I'm all about adaptability," said Vinny Ferraro, a Dharma Punx teacher, who said it would make no sense for him to "go off to a cave" and meditate for years.

"What attracts people is relevance," he said. "Youth is suffering. These are prime suffering years, but I need it in my language."

Whatever the elders think of these new approaches, they know they need the energy young innovators are bringing to the communities.

In the 1980s and early '90s, few twenty- and thirtysomethings took up Buddhism. Leaders attributed the problem to a 1980s' backlash against spiritual seeking and society's focus in that era on accumulating wealth. (One Western convert at the Garrison Institute, who became a Tibetan monk, said that when he wore his robes in North America in the 1980s, he was treated like "a nut case.") Interest among young adults slowly grew in the last decade or so, but a still common complaint is that American Buddhists, outside of immigrant Asian communities, have been overwhelmingly older, wealthy and white.

Weik said he doesn't want Buddhist parents to feel they must leave their family behind when they practice. He and his wife started a Sunday dharma school for children as young as 4 years old, and they are trying to develop rites-of-passage for young adults so they feel included. Study groups are meeting online and newcomers are learning about mindfulness meditation through yoga.

Weik said he understood the concerns about the future of Buddhism, but he said the teachings have always had multiple expressions in different cultures.

"That's what's going on here," Weik said. "Our job collectively is to do what's always been done. To authentically make this up as we go."

International Court of Justice's latest Decisions

Request for interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) (Cambodia v. Thailand) - Order - Request for the Indication of Provisional Measures.  Please click here for full article.

Latest press releases "Case concerning theTemple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand)"

Request for interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case concerning theTemple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) (Cambodia v. Thailand) - Request for the indication of provisional measures - The Court finds that both Parties must immediately withdraw their military personnel currently present in the provisional demilitarized zone defined by it, and refrain from any military presence within that zone and from any armed activity directed at that zone.  Please click here for full Press Release.

Footprints In The Dust I

Posted by Shravasti Dhammika at 5:10 PM 
 
 The only two of the great religious teachers who were successful during their own lifetimes were the Mohammed and Siddhatta Gotama, the Buddha. Both had long teaching careers and both lived to see their respective religions firmly established. Prof. Basham has written that Buddhism was a minor religion until its adoption and promotion by King Asoka. Basham bases his assumption on the fact that there is no archaeological evidence of Buddhism before Asoka’s time but this seems to me to be a rather weak argument. What physical evidence are wandering ascetics, which are what the Buddha’s disciples were, likely to leave? They established few permanent monasteries and those they did build were made of mud, bamboo and thatch. As for stupas, these did not become an important feature of Buddhist worship until about the 2nd century BCE. The Pali Tipitaka offers ample and convincing evidence that the Buddha was well known throughout wide tracts of northern India and that his Dhamma attracted large numbers of converts from all classes, especially the elite.

 

The highly critical attitude of Jains and brahmins towards the new teaching as recorded in the Tipitaka suggests that they saw it as a real threat. An important cause of the Buddha’s success was no doubt his extraordinary personality. Even despite the great distance in time between he and us, the heavy editing of the suttas and their rather stilted language, the Buddha’s warm and compassionate presence shines through on nearly every page. The logical consistency of his Dhamma must have been an important factor also. However, no matter how appealing a teacher or how common-sense a teaching it will not attract converts unless they can come into contact with it. The Buddha was a missionary from the very beginning and this was, together with the two things mentioned above, the most important factor in the early success of his teachings. He had a still heart but a very mobile body.

 

According to the Tipitaka, almost the first thing the Buddha did after his enlightenment was to embark on a long journey in order to teach others what he had discovered. Equally significantly, his instructions to his first five disciples was that they should ‘wander forth’ to teach others what he had taught them.

 

The area in which the Buddha wandered during his life corresponds roughly to the modern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The furthermost east he went which can still be identified is Kajangla (now Kankjol, 18 k south of Rajmahal right on the Indo-Bangladesh border) and the furthermost west he is known to have gone is Mathura, some 180 kilometres south of Delhi. These two locations are nearly a thousand kilometers apart. The Buddha’s movements northwards were of course limited by the then impenetrable jungles of the Himalayan foothills and it is unlikely that he ever went further south than the southern edge of the Ganges watershed. Still, this would mean that his wanderings covered an area roughly equivalent to 200,000 square kilometers, a huge area by any standards.

 

The evidence suggests that the Buddha only occasionally visited the outer edges of this region. For example, he only visited Mathura once and he probably visited Anga in the east (i.e. Campa, Bhaddiya and Kajangla corresponding to modern Bhagalpur District) only once also. Incidentally, I believe that Bhaddiya or Bhaddiyanagara as it is also sometimes called in the Tipitaka, can be safely identified with the village of Bhadariya some 12 kilometers south of Bhagalpur. However, most of the Buddha’s wanderings took place in the eastern part of this area, between the great cities of Savatthi, Rajagaha, Vesali and Kosambi. The Tipitaka mention carriageways in towns and paths, roads and highways through the countryside. However there is little doubt that these names referred to the frequency of traffic on these arteries, not to the quality of their paving or their width. All roads in ancient India were little more than dusty, rutted tracks in the summer and impassable rivers of mud in the rainy season. Banditry added to the risks of long distance travel.

 

Travellers on the road between Savatthi and Sakheta were often robbed (Vin, IV: 87) and of course the fearsome Angulimala was a robber and murderer who operated in forested areas around Savatthi. Once the Buddha and an attendant were on tour of Kosala when they came to a fork in the road. The Buddha said they should take one fork while the attendant said they should take the other. This debate continued for some time until in a huff the attendant put the Buddha’s bowl down and walked off on the way he thought correct. He hadn’t gone far before he was attacked by bandits who ‘struck him with their fists and feet and tore his robe’ (Ud, 90). In the more remote districts travellers might have difficulty finding food, water and shelter. The Tipitaka mentions a traveller getting down on all fours to drink from a puddle in a cows footprint because no other water was available and of two parents lost in the wilderness who saved themselves from starvation by killing and eating their child. More normally though travel was just uncomfortable, tedious and undertaken only when necessary. And yet it seems that the Buddha spent most of his time on the road in order to reach as many people as possible. Such was his determination and compassion.

 

In keeping with the rules laid down by himself and in accordance with long established samana tradition, the Buddha spent three months of the rainy season in one location and the rest of the year on what were called ‘walking tours’. According to the commentarial tradition after the 20th year of his ministry he spent every rainy season in or near Savatthi, the capital of Kosala. The fact that more of his discourses are set in this city that in any other place suggests that there is some foundation in this tradition and if it is true he may have decided to limit his wanderings at that time due to age. He would have been sixty years old at the time. All the Buddha’s journeys were undertaken on foot although as there are numerous rivers in the land he knew he must have often had to use boats or ferries despite being no specific mention of him ever actually doing this.

 

We read of monks once crossing a river by holding on to the tails and backs of a herd of cattle that was swimming across the same river suggesting that when there was neither bridges, boats or rafts that the Buddha might have had to improvise as these monks did. There is no mention of the Buddha travelling by carriage or cart. In only one place is he described as wearing sandals, so he probably went bare footed most of the time (Vin,IV:186).

 

The Tipitaka mentions the itinerary of many of the Buddha’s journeys giving us an idea of the distances he sometimes travelled. For example, we know that within the first twelve months after his enlightenment he went from Uruvela to Isipatthana via Gaya and Benares, spent the three months of the rainy season there and then travelled to Rajagaha via Benares, Gaya, Uruvela and Lativanna. All these places can be identified with certainly and thus we can calculate that he must have walked at least 300 kilometers. In the longest single journey recorded in the Tipitaka, he went from Rajagaha: to Vesali to Savatthi and back to Rajagaha via Kitigiri and Avali, a round trip of at least 1600 kilometres (Vin,IV,189). It is likely that he would have started a trip like this at the end of the rains retreat and arrived back in time for the next retreat nine months later. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know how much time these or any of the other journeys might have taken.

 

In the famous Mahaparinibbana Sutta we know that he went from Rajagaha to Kusinara via Nalanda, Patna and Vesali, a total distance of about 300 kilometers. According to the sutta he left Vesali at the end of the rains retreat (October) and of course he is supposed to have attained final nirvana in Kusinara on the full moon of Vesakha (May). This suggests that he took seven months to travel about 95 kilometres. Even allowing for the fact that he was old and in ill health this seems like a very long time. It should be pointed out that only later text in the Tipitaka mention that the Buddha’s parinivana took place at Vesakha and the sutta gives the impression that while his last journey was slow it was at a steady pace. However, it seems likely that the Buddha conducted his journeys at a leisurely pace.

 

 The evidence suggests that he would wake before sunrise, go for pindapata in the nearest town or village just after sunrise and having eaten, would set off while it was still cool. He would walk until the midday heat became unpleasant and then take an afternoon rest. If there was a village nearby he might stay until the next morning and if not he might continue walking until he got to the next village. How long he stayed at a particular place would have depended on many factors - whether local people came to talk with and listen with him, whether food and water was available, whether the atmosphere was congenial. We know for example that he cut short his first stay in Rajagaha when people began to complain that too many young men were leaving their families to become monks (Vin,IV:43). Once he arrived in the village of Thuna to find that there was no water to drink because the brahmin inhabitants, hearing that he was coming, had blocked up their wells with rice husks and cow dung (Ud,78). The warm and respectful reception that Buddhist monks get today was not always available to the Buddha and his disciples. He is often described as travelling with either 500 monks (a conventional number meaning ‘a lot’) or simply with ‘a large group of monks’. At other times he would dismiss his attendant and companions telling them that he wanted to wander by himself for a while (S.III:94).

Thailand has no one to blame but itself

• Published: 28/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: News
• Bangkok Post

Puangthong: We ‘should have known’

Chulalongkorn University political scientist Puangthong Pawakapan believes the decision to withdraw Thailand from the World Heritage Convention will cast a negative light on the country's image. The academic shares her opinions with AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK on the issue. 

What's wrong with Thailand's foreign policy on the world stage?

We have to look at the overall problem. Thai and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over Preah Vihear since Cambodia managed to get the ancient temple listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008. Thailand's opposition has hurt its image. The country is viewed as losing a boxing match, but it and its fans refuse to accept the defeat.

Does a conflict over the 4.6-sq km disputed area (near Preah Vihear temple) not carry enough weight for the WHC to listen to Thailand?

The Abhisit government explained that the listing of the temple and its management plan has allegedly encroached on Thai soil. But the government failed to produce clear evidence showing the alleged encroachment.

If we look at a map submitted by Cambodia for the listing of the temple, the listing has not included the 4.6-sq km disputed area. This area had been removed from Cambodia's application since the Samak Sundaravej government was in office.

Only the temple and areas on the eastern and western sides of it were listed as a World Heritage site. Evidence about the alleged encroachment must be produced when Mr Suwit opposed the listing before the WHC. But I think we have no evidence, only words.

Why did Thailand fail to lobby other membership countries to back its stance?

It's hard to lobby them as we have to produce clear evidence about alleged encroachment. The kingdom should have opposed the management plan before the WHC held a meeting.

The WHC had invited Thailand to participate in a panel to consider Cambodia's management plan but we refused so we had no opportunity to oppose the plan at that time. It's too late to cast an opposition when the WHC meeting [had been] called.

Wasn't the government aware of such procedures?

I think the government was fully aware, but opted not to tell the public. I don't know why it had to make public its opposition to Cambodia's management plan during the WHC meeting.

Cambodia had submitted the plan in February last year.

Thailand also has its representative on the WHC and should have know what was going on.

The management plan is not confidential as its details are displayed on several websites.

Which country has [gained] an advantage and which one stands to lose over Thailand's withdrawal from the WHC?

Most of members of the WHC show an inclination to support Cambodia. Thailand's image over the issue has been badly affected.

This prompts other countries to back Cambodia despite the fact that they don't like Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen for being an authoritarian. Even foreign media based in Cambodia also dislike Hun Sen, but they support Cambodia over the issue.

The Meaning Of Life by Venerable Shravasti Dhammika

From the biological perspective the purpose of life is to acquire the necessities for continued existence, to reproduce and to survive. But what about the purpose of life from the religious point of view? If life has a single and specific purpose, as some religions and philosophies claim, then one would expect everybody, sooner or later, to naturally gravitate towards it, discover it and then strive to achieve it. In actual fact, we see that the various religions posit quite different and sometimes contradictory purposes of life. We also notice that many people manage to get through life alright without ever asking or thinking about whether or not life has a meaning. Others take one path, then another, according to circumstance, embrace each one, and manage to get through. We see yet others who claim that what they believe has ‘given their life meaning’ but later we here they have abandoned it for something else. This suggests very strongly that beyond the biological, life does not have any innate purpose or meaning.

From the Buddhist point of view, this is a good thing - it means that we have the freedom and the possibility to give our life the meaning that we want. If we decide to make the accumulation of wealth or power the purpose of our life, then it will become so. If we decide to make the pursuit of pleasure, dedication to our family or the contemplation of the divine the purpose of our life, then it will become so. Whenever one of his disciples attained enlightenment and became an arahat, the Buddha would always say that he or she had `done what had to be done' (S.III,68). From this we can deduce that for the Buddha, the meaning, the purpose and the fulfillment of life is to attain the joy and freedom of enlightenment.

HUMANITY DIVIDED BY RELIGIONS

Below is a discussion about Christian groups working in Cambodia to help poor Cambodians. Opinions are divided whether they are helping Cambodians or trying to convert Cambodians, who are predominantly Buddhists, to Christianity. Please have a read:

Anonymous said...

I have nothing against Christians but they really need to learn tolerance. Khmer people will lose pride in the Hindu and Buddhist temples they built if this keeps up.
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Anonymous said...

One after another, Christians opportunists trying to grab hold of Cambodian populations through exploitation of their disadvantages by injecting Jesus Christ into their lives. These Christians are on the brink of madness to convert every living human being on earth to believe that only Jesus Christ can save them. The white Christians are notoriously tenacious in their mission of conversion. This is why there are attacks on Christian all over the world.
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Anonymous said...

These Christians are helping poor Khmers so we should welcome their works. When you are poor, religion is secondary, you tend to follow whatever religion that can feed your stomach. Good job.
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Anonymous said...

Something is wrong with the social fabric in Cambodia. I blame on the believing system that contribute to this social ill. You can see the poor kids work and skip school while the capable adults and young adults lived a sedentary lives in monasteries. Monks engaged in outrageous sexual scandals and made money by performing some questionable rituals. Domestic violence and rape are skyrocketing and other crimes and drugs abusing are widespread. I'm coming to admire our Khmer Islam minority whose community is more safe in term of rarely having rapes and less vices etc...
Also the new Christian faith groups are doing well too. Khmer spent a lot of time and resources on Buddhism, let's hope this main stream believing system can serve the society well in this present live and the next.
14 June 2011 1:00 PM
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Anonymous said...

1:00 PM, you're a disgrace for insulting Buddhism, assuming you're not a Buddhist, assuming you're a Christian or a Catholic. These two faiths have committed so much sins onto themselves that they don't even realize it. The history of atrocity committed by these two faiths by the believers have earned themselves a special place in hell. You're just picking and choosing the negative side of a few misbehaved Buddhism monks who have committed sins and generalized that as the fault of Buddhism and blaming the poor and suffering of people who are Buddhists. This is base on your Christian or Catholic ignorance.

You're telling me that Christians or Catholics have no scandals? Well, I hope you remember those huge scandals involving priests molesting and having sex with young boys? Should I blame that on the priests or your faiths?

Buddha, Yesua (Jesus Christ), and Mohammed are masters or great teachers. Please try to open your eyes and realize that all those great masters of each religion preaches to people to do good to one another. As time past, believers take things into their own hands and twisted a bit to serve their purpose. If you don't agree, then you are not practicing the teaching of your religion. If you are practicing the teaching of your religion, don't do it because you are a Christian or a Catholic, but do it because you want to help another human being. If we can do that, we are all god's (whoever he or she might be) children. I'm a Buddhist, when I help another person for whatever reason, I did it not because I'm a Buddhist or make any hint that I'm a Buddhist. I did it because I want to help that human being. His/her appreciation for my help is what god sees in me. This is why I love god and fear god.
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Anonymous said...

HUMANITY DIVIDED BY RELIGIONS,

I can't help it but to say a few more things. Religions seems to be connected with violence virtually everywhere. In recent years, religious violence has erupted among right-wing Christians in America, angry Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, quarrelling Hindus and Muslims in South Asia, and violence clashed in Southeast Asia between 2 Buddhist neighbors of Cambodia and Thailand. The human family is divided by religions with several major religious power locked in perpetual rivalry. Is there any reason to believe that Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims will ever help each other to ever exist together peacefully?

Another sad reality is the fragmentation that exist within each of those principle religious blocs. According to one estimate, Christiandom is broken up into more than 30,000 denominations. Islam is also divided by conflicting beliefs. Disunity amongst Muslims is the root cause of the problems in the Islamic world. Other influential religions such as Hinduism and Judaism are likewise, fractured into many conflicting sects.

Religions seem to influence nearly every aspect of secular life. Religious people are getting more vocal and misrepresent in all sorts of fields in business and politic. Religion is also creeping up in economics. The more damaging influence has to do with the long-standing history of religion meddling in politic. They should be separated. Religions is more likely to be the cause of war when religion and the state authorities become closely allied or intertwined. Religion has been to this day, tightly interlocked with politic. In many part of the world, predominant religions have become symbols of patriotic and racial identities. As a result, the line between nationalistic hatred, racial prejudice, ethnic rivalry and religious enmity are virtually indistinguishable. This explosive cocktail has the necessary ingredients to tear the world apart. The perplexing paradox in all of this is that much of the religions such as Christian, claim to represent the God of the Bible, the Creator. Does it make any sense that an almighty, all-wise, see-all, know-all, loving Creator would have anything to do with divisive and blood-guilty religions?

Source: Khmerization