Em Bunthoeun, editor in chief of The Nature Magazine (Tomechiet), explains to teachers and students of the Don Bosco Social Communication Section of Sihanoukville how the magazine is designed. Students of journalism from Sihanoukville did a visit last Tuesday to some newspapers and media in Phnom Penh.

Soy Sopheap, editor-in-chief of Deum Ampil (DAP News) and television journalist at Cambodian Television Network (CTN), met 17 students of journalism from Don Bosco Sihanoukville on January 17 in the DAP News headquarters in Phnom Penh. Mr. Sopheap, one of the most popular Cambodian journalists, spoke to the students about the profile of a journalist, stressing the ethic behavior and the social role of journalism.

Kevin Doyle, the editor in chief of The Cambodia Daily, told us in our January 17 visit to the paper in Phnom Penh that it is preparing for its Khmer edition. For months, the English edition – it began in 1993 – included four Khmer pages with a resume of the main articles. It is ready to go as a Khmer edition with the same name as in English written in Khmer letters. ‘We decided to keep the same name, because it is already a popular brand, everybody knows The Cambodia Daily’, said Mr. Doyle. The newspaper was created by Bernard Krisher, a personal friend of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Mr. Doyle answered questions related to journalism to 17 students of the journalism school of Don Bosco Sihanoukville.

Khuon Narin, a member of the first generation of students of social communication in Don Bosco Sihanoukville, continues at The Cambodia Daily. In October 2007 I open a simple school of journalism in the former sewing section with 12 young men from rural areas. Thanks to all those who did support and are supporting the developing of the Cambodian media with a social ideal.

Photo courtesy by Arjay Stevens

Even if Cambodia is considered a small country in size, it keeps a variety that goes further than the busy capital, the Angkorian temples and the Sihanoukville beaches. As much as the country develops, places will come out to demonstrate that it is in fact a kingdom of wonders – though you can wonder about many things here too. I can tell you that there is a romantic cafe there on a Cambodian mountain. As I am attached to mountains due to my Andean origin, it is probably that I can see the place more romantic than those who were born at the sea level. The mountain is the Kirirom National Park. It is midway between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and a perfect place for eco-tourism.

I visited the Romantic Waterfall Cafe on January 2. I adventured with some of my students from Kompot to Kirirom by a rural road that took us five hours. If you are interested in seeing hills, lakes and villages in the middle of the wild, it is a well recommended route. If you are in hurry to reach Kirirom, just take the national roads. This map will help you to reach the cafe, an initiative of the German photojournalist Arjay Stevens, based in Cambodia since 1996.

He says on his website:

‘Therefore, there is a growing need for catering facilities such as cafés, restaurants, and affordable accommodations with toilet facilities that conform to the hygienic standard expected by Western visitors. The local infrastructure comprises only ‘home stays’ in homes of villagers, or from resorts.
The goal is now – hopefully in close cooperation with local NGOs – to make Chambok village a more tourist-friendly province destination: good hygiene, conscious ecology and good gastronomical level – our ‘Romantic Waterfall Café’. This German-Khmer ‘social entrepreneurship’ comes from a private initiative and is entirely privately financed. Our method is ‘help for self-help’. We want to enable the participating Cambodians to conduct a business and to improve their lives as a result.’

I am already planning another excursion to the place to enjoy the waterfall, near the cafe and, of course, the walk through the paths of the hills.

Kep City. The popular Cambodian King of Pop, Preap Sovath, performs during the 4th Kep Trade Fair Concert 2011 tonight. It is the third year that Preap Sovath participates in the annual program in the growing tourist spot. The Cambodian female singers Kim Nisa and Pich Sophear and the popular comedian Peak Mi, were on the stage among other artists. The Fair ends tomorrow with more cultural programs and the Boat Festival.

Kep City. A boat returns to the dock in Kep this afternoon after the race of the local Water Festival (properly translated as ‘Boats Festival’) this afternoon. Kep, the smallest Cambodian province at the southeast of the country, is already a tourist destination. This evening is expected the arrival of the popular Cambodian king of pop, Preap Sovath.

Kompot.​

Christian Faith is not too new in Cambodia, a kingdom where more than 90 percent profess the Buddhist religion of Theravada. It is traced since 1555 during the arrival of the Dominican Portuguese Fray Gaspar da Cruz, who was a guest at the Royal Court. The wars and conflicts of the nation, who has also a strong Hindu influence in its culture, have kept Christianity as a minority. The ruling of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) was especially disastrous for the Cambodian Catholic Church with the death of all the native clergy and religious, including Bishop Joseph Chehmar Salas and Mgr. Paul Tep Im Sotha. The current Bishop of Phnom Penh, Mgr. Olivier Schmitthaeusler, appointed the former Bishop Yves Ramousse to research on the possibility to introduce the cause of martyrdom for Catholics, who were killed during the Pol Pot regime.