Dith Pran died

Dith Pran, one of the survivors of the Pol Pot Regime from 1975-1979, died on Sunday at the age of 65.

Dith, who had been battling pancreatic cancer since January, died in the early hours at a hospital in New Jersey with his ex-wife at his side, his friend, the former New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg, told AFP.

Pran has been working hard for his nation, ever since he has done the "great escape" from the land of misery and blood, to the land of freedom and wealth. He, in U.S.A, established his "Dith Pran Holocaust Awareness Project, an organisation devoted to educating new generations about genocide in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the past. This is his legacy which will last forever.

Dith Pran story has been shot into film in 1984 "The killing Fields", starred by Dr. Haing Ngor, which won 3 Oscar awards. This movie has brought many attention to Cambodia, as well as the story behinds the Pol Pot Regime.

We, as Cambodian people, want to say "Thanks" to Mr. Dith Pran, for his priceless contribution to Cambodia and its society and people. We wish you may rest in peace and no more harms or agony follows you.

Good bye Dith Pran, you will be remembered.

VietNam, 6th Country to Ratify the ASEAN Charter

==Ratification of the Asean Charter==
For the 1st Asean Charter to become legally binding, it has been agreed upon that all ten member nations must ratify the Charter before the next ASEAN Summit this December 2008. The Charter will become effective on the 30th day after the 10th "Instrument of Ratification" has been submitted to the ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan.



To date, the following countries ratified and submitted the "Instrument of Ratification":


Remember what I said before in this post: 5th Country to Ratify the ASEAN Charter?

The next five that will ratify it are (in the following order of my prediction): VietNam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar.

VietNam ratified the ASEAN Charter last March 6th and submitted the Intrument of Ratification on March 14th. It was signed by VietNam President Nguyen Minh Triet and submitted to ASEAN and the Foreign Ministers of member countries by VietNam Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Four countries left, namely - Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Myanmar. With the recent developments, I am more inclined that Thailand will ratify the Charter before Indonesia. The road for the new ASEAN is getting clearer, and slowly, the heavy burden is being put on the shoulders of Myanmar. The next three countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) are the founding fathers of ASEAN, if Myanmar ratifies the charter before them, then that will be big news.

Let's all hope for the best!

Member State	Government Ratification	Deposit of Instrument of Ratification	Signed by
Singapore	Tuesday, 2007 December 18	Monday, 2008 January 07	Prime Minister
Brunei Darussalam	Thursday, 2008 January 31	Friday, 2008 February 15	Sultan of Brunei Darussalam
Malaysia	Thursday, 2008 February 14	Wednesday, 2008 February 20	Foreign Minister
Lao PDR	Thursday, 2008 February 14	Wednesday, 2008 February 20	Prime Minister
Cambodia	Tuesday, 2008 February 25	not yet submitted	?
VietNam	Tuesday, 2008 March 06	Friday, 2008 March 14	President

Prime Minister Hun Sen: Use of Electricity to Be Tightened; US$24 Million Is Planned to Stabilize the Price

Thursday, 13.3.2008: Prime Minister: Use of Electricity to Be Tightened; US$24 Million Is Planned to Stabilize the Price

Posted on 13 March 2008.

The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 551

“Phnom Penh: Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a statement to tighten the use of electricity while the petrol price is still mounting. The government plans to allocate US$24 million to help stabilize the cost of petrol.

“In a circular letter on electricity saving dated 12 March 2008, the Prime Minister said that the price of petrol has been constantly increasing on the international market since 2004. As a result, the cost of producing electricity [by Electricité du Cambodge] is also on the increase. In order to stabilize the electricity price in Phnom Penh, the Royal Government is supporting it with US$24 million in 2008. The circular also stated that although the petrol price is increasing, the use of electricity is also increasing gradually. Therefore, the government needs to allocate some resources to stabilize electricity use. The circular added that ‘the royal government has a policy that all cities and provinces should save electricity as well, in order to save national expenses.’

“The circular said that all institutions should also help to save electricity when using electrical equipment. Air conditioners should be set at 25 degrees centigrade. Air conditioners should be turned off 30 minutes before an office is closed. Except on national holidays, electricity should be on only on one side of the road, or only half of the lights should be turned on. Electricity must be used in an economical manner.

“Apart from that, the circular asked the Ministry of Interior and local authorities to collaborate with the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy and with Electricité du Cambodge in order to eliminate illegal connections to the state network, which is happening at present. As for Electricité du Cambodge, it must take very strict measures against its officers who are accomplices to stealing electricity illegally, or who collude with users to reduce the measured quantity of use, different from its real value. Moreover, Electricité du Cambodge has to inform the users of electricity about the time when there are difficulties to supply power, and ask them to stop or to pause using some of their electrical equipment during the time electricity is heavily used.

“The Prime Minister of Cambodia issued this circular to limit the use of electricity while the petrol price is soaring. This affects the daily life of the people. The prices of almost all goods on the market are increasing, because the price of gasoline is more than US$1.00 per liter. Hence, the price of almost all goods increases accordingly.

“An Electricité du Cambodge officers said that electricity use increased by 30% compared to the previous year. One of the reasons is that some factories stopped using their own generators, and they turn to use state electricity which costs less. In order to keep the costs from increasing, there are efforts to find cheaper electrical sources.” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4539, 13.3.2008