Youth of the week: Sok Thea Vuth

Most young urban Cambodians know that Cambodia will host the upcoming 2012 ASEAN Summit, but will often respond with silence when asked what ASEAN is. This week, LIFT found an expert who doesn’t just know what ASEAN is, but will also be involved in the Summit.

35-year-old Sok Thea Vuth, a lecturer at National University of Management, devoted his youth to learning about the functions and operations of ASEAN. Now, in addition to lecturing, he serves as president of the Cambodian ASEAN Youth Association (CAYA) – a group that he also founded.

“I’ve been interested in ASEAN  since Cambodia became a member state, and at that time there weren’t many documents or information about ASEAN for research [in Cambodia],” Vuth said.

“Since I was so curious about ASEAN, I started to find any opportunity to attend conferences and forums related to ASEAN at other ASEAN member countries.”

In a preparatory meeting for the ASEAN Civil Society Conference and ASEAN People’s Forum, organised by a group of Cambodia civil society organisations and held on March 15, Vuth had been elected to be a representative of CAYA at the ASEAN Youth Forum 2012. He was also selected to represent Cambodian youth during the 20th ASEAN Summit. 

The selection process took place at the University of Cambodia during a meeting of over 3,000 people, comprising of civil society members ranging from NGOs to youth associations.

“I almost cannot believe that I gained a lot support from the election . . . to attend ASEAN Youth Forum 2012 and, as a representative of Cambodian youth, to have the opportunity to interface with ASEAN leaders during the informal meeting,” he said.  

Vuth graduated from university with a Bachelor’s in English Literature. After that, he spent a few years volunteering in public institutes and learning about the politics of international relations. Eventually, he won a scholarship to complete his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wales, in the UK.

After attending the ASEAN Youth Forum in Thailand back in 2009, “Empowerment Through Education”, Vuth was inspired to form CAYA in order to share his knowledge and experience.

“I find most of Cambodian youth have little knowledge when it comes to ASEAN, so I had an idea to form a group of youth and establish this association. The purpose is to share knowledge and experience about ASEAN to all youth in Cambodia and also encourage them to join and to be aware of ASEAN,” he said.

“It’s especially important now, because in 2015 ASEAN will become one community, as the motto states: One Vision, One Destination, and One Community.

“Youths are the vital source and one of the main driving forces for economic, social and cultural development in Cambodia. And they’re peace builders. They are the future leaders of our society.”

Bunlong Cheng and Chanpolydet Mer
Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Who’s the boss? Competing in ASEAN

Find a young Cambodian on the street and ask them about ASEAN. Most will know that ASEAN has 10 members, and that Cambodia is hosting the upcoming Summit – but not much else. 

Hout Somnang, 19, a first-year student at the Institute of Foreign Languages, said that although Cambodian students might be interested in learning about ASEAN, there aren't any opportunities. Secondary schools, espec-ially, don't teach about ASEAN.

“Teens need to know about ASEAN and how other member countries work,” he said. “It's because unemployed foreigners who are educated have better job skills than Cambodians, and then they are able to take up many of our job opportunities.” 

Education is another sector young people are hoping the ASEAN Summit will address.

Keo Bunteang, 22, a fourth-year student majoring in International Relations, said he was worried about the low standard of education in Cambodia in comparison with other ASEAN member states. He worried that this will result 

in low productivity for the Kingdom when it enters the ASEAN market. 

“[ASEAN members] will become our boss, and we'll still be the followers,” he added.

He also reflected that in order to educate young Cambodians on ASEAN, the government should implement the basics of ASEAN into secondary school and university curricula. 

ASEAN provides benefits to its member states and citizens through economic growth, regional co-operation, provisional assistance between nations and also the promotion of regional peace, according to the aims and purposes stated in the Establishment of ASEAN.

Cambodia can especially reap benefits in the areas of learning English, receiving scholarships for study, and also getting internships - all funded and provided by ASEAN.

But in order for the Kingdom to compete with other ASEAN member states, Cambodia needs to improve language capability, technology capacity and even our sense of national and cultural confidence.

Chheang Vannarith, Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Co-operation and Peace, said young Cambodians have limited knowledge regarding ASEAN – and that they won't find information about it in school, either.

“Without knowledge about ASEAN, young Cambodians will lose job opportunities in the market [in Southeast Asia],” he said.

He added that Cambodia lacks the human resourced to compete in the international ASEAN job market, but that does not mean Cambodia lacks competence. 

Instead, he emphasised that Cambodia has a lot of room for growth within the ASEAN market - and that the government must put forth as much reform as possible to prepare Cambodians for the ASEAN job market.

Cambodia recently made a successful stride in this respect, as host country for the 20th ASEAN Summit.

On March 15, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a meeting of more than 3,000 students, spanning representatives from 18  universities, to learn about the history, function and purpose of ASEAN.

Sun Narin and Guechly Heng 

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

The ASEAN Community: Grabbing a golden opportunity

Most young Cambodians have probably grown up hearing the word “ASEAN” since they were in high school. But, did they ever really learn about it?

Few youths know the importance of ASEAN, even though they’re worried about the future of their own job security.

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Cheang Sokha, an executive director of the Youth Resources Development Program (YRDP), and a former organizer of the ASEAN youth forum, said that having an ASEAN community is vital for all – especially, young citizens who are members to ASEAN states.

“The ASEAN community can provide a lot of chances to people, especially youths,” said Sokha. “These chances provide future job opportunities.” 

Sokha expressed worry, on the other hand, that young Cambodians’ lack of understanding of how ASEAN works will limit them from competing for these job  opportunities.

“ASEAN should organise more youth forums, and the Cambodian government should encourage youths to participate in them – and the government should address what kinds of job opportunities are available   for young Cambodians,” Sokha said.  

Oum Chanvetey, 20, a third-year student at the Royal University of Law and Economics, said knowledge of ASEAN will provide many advantages to both her and her fellow students.

She added that the more young Cambodians know about the ASEAN community, the more they’ll be able to prepare themselves to be qualified competitors among the international job market across Southeast Asia. 

According to an article in The Phnom Penh Post on January 11, senior officials who met in Siem Reap as part of an agenda-setting meeting agreed to implement visa exemption in 2015 for any citizens belonging to ASEAN member states, in an effort to promote travel between the 10 member nations.  

Regarding this agreement, Chanvatey responded that in today’s challenging job market, only those with a good education – having completed a high-quality Bachelor’s or even a Master’s – will be the first, maybe only, to receive the best jobs in ASEAN member states. Others, however, will be unable to compete. 

“When the ASEAN Community is established, many people from other countries will try to find jobs in Cambodia,” said Chanvatey. “Since they have a better education and better abilities, we might face being jobless in the future.” 

Dr In Sophal, a professor of international relations at University of Cambodia, said that the university’s international relations curriculum primarily focuses on ASEAN. He stressed the importance of studying international relations, saying the field provides a necessary knowledge of how politics, economy and communication works within the international framework of Southeast Asia.

Chakriya Khiev and Dareth Rosaline 

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

18th SEOM-EU Consultations Phnom Penh, 31 March 2012

Phnom Penh, Friday 30, March 2012

The 18th SEOM-EU Consultations will be convened at the Peace Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 31 March 2012. The Meeting will be chaired by H.E. Dr. PICH Rithi, Cambodia-SEOM Leader to ASEAN, Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia, and with the presence of all representatives from ASEAN and EU’s Senior Economic Officials. 

Three important agendas will be discussed during the meeting, such as the ASEAN-EU Economic Cooperation, the preparations for the 2nd ASEAN-EU Business Summit, and the preparations for the 11st AEM-EU Trade Commissioner Consultation. 

(Source: ASEAN General Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia)

Cambodia of ASEAN Chairmanship 2012: One community one destiny

Press Statement
on the Theme of Cambodia’s Chairmanship of ASEAN 2012
“ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny.”

1. It is an honour and privilege for Cambodia to assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2012

for the second time, since it last chaired ASEAN in 2002-2003. The Chairmanship of

ASEAN will mark another historical milestone for Cambodia to ensure that the ASEAN

Summits and other related meetings hosted by Cambodia would have strategic

significance and political importance that will further contribute to the ASEAN Community

building.

2. The rationale for Cambodia to choose the Theme “ASEAN: One Community, One

Destiny.” for 2012 is to reflect the will of the peoples of ASEAN to continue working

together to build the ASEAN Community for all of its peoples, with the vision of “One

Destiny” for all peoples. Cambodia will do its best in the ASEAN spirit of belonging to the

same family and the same community.

3. As the ASEAN Chair for this year, Cambodia, in close cooperation and with the support

of all ASEAN Member-States, will continue to work on ASEAN’s current priorities, as

follows:

• Work toward attaining an integrated, connected, people-oriented, rules-based,

peaceful and prosperous ASEAN Community. ASEAN will continue to encourage the

participation of its peoples and other stakeholders of ASEAN in the community

building process, based on the ASEAN’s three pillars, namely political-security

community, economic community and socio-cultural community.

• Instill in the ASEAN peoples a spirit of unity in diversity, enhance greater

understanding among its peoples, and encourage youth participation in the ASEAN

Community. ASEAN needs to further promote greater awareness and build common

values among its Member-States about its culture, history and civilization. ASEAN

also needs to further promote greater interaction, networking and solidarity and

mutual understanding.

• Further enhance the rule of law and good governance. ASEAN continues to promote

dialogue and partnership among governments, private sectors and relevant

organizations to come up with new ideas, concepts and working methods to enhance

transparency, accountability, participatory and good governance.

• Enhance human rights promotion and protection within ASEAN, including the drafting

of the ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights as early as possible.

• Maintain and enhance ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional architecture. ASEAN

has to show its ability to serve as an attractive centrality in regional frameworks,

particularly in the ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, ASEAN Regional Forum

(ARF), ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) Plus and East Asia Summit

(EAS).

4. To ensure its long-term development in the evolving regional architecture it is in

ASEAN’s best interest to envision beyond the building of the ASEAN Community beyond

2015.

5. To achieve the ASEAN’s above priorities and to maintain the momentum of ASEAN’s

progress, there is a need for Cambodia and ASEAN to work in concert to implement the

ASEAN Roadmap, to continue making steady progress in the ASEAN Charter

Implementation, ASEAN Connectivity and ASEAN Community building, and at the same

time to further advance ASEAN’s relations, cooperation, and partnerships with all

Dialogue Partners and Friends of ASEAN.

Lost Opportunities as Cambodian Labor Goes Abroad: Advocate

Photo: AFP

This picture taken on January 19, 2011 shows a young woman reading advertisements for "maids wanted" outside a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Critics say there are not enough protective measures in place to help Cambodian workers when they get overseas.

“We see a lot of job opportunity in Cambodia these days. The problem is, how many people know about the jobs?”

Even with an improved domestic job market, many Cambodian workers are seeking jobs overseas, despite the risks.

This is mainly due to the government’s failure to get the word out, Moeun Tola, a labor advocate at the Community Legal Education Center, told “Hello VOA” Thursday.

“We see a lot of job opportunity in Cambodia these days,” he said. “The problem is, how many people know about the jobs?”

Cambodia has just five job centers nationwide, he said, but people still don’t know much about them.

The main job creators in Cambodia are in agriculture, industry and tourism, but policymakers have looked at the export of labor as a way to ease employment pressure.

Critics say there are not enough protective measures in place to help Cambodian workers when they get overseas, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

Prime Minister Hun Sen last year put a moratorium on the export of domestic servants to Malaysia, where numerous reports of abuse originated, and a temporary closure the nation’s labor recruitment companies.

Moeun Tola said Cambodia needs to bring more investors in to create more jobs at home. This can be done through strengthening the rule of law, he said.

“Our laws are as good or better than some Asean countries, but our implementation is very bad and not at an acceptable level,” he said.

But he also warned against lowering wages to bring in more companies, which he said would worsen conditions for workers.

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington

Forum, government face off

The government dist-anced itself from a pre-ASEAN summit peoples’ forum yesterday, saying the event had listed Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong as a speaker despite his having no intention of attending the event.

PARTICIPANTS IN THE ASEAN CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE LIGHT CANDLES YESTERDAY AT THE LUCKY STAR HOTEL IN PHNOM PENH. PHOTO BY MENG KIMLONG

As more than 900 packed into the capital’s Lucky Star Hotel for the opening day of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference and ASEAN Peoples’ Forum – one of two forums claiming to give Cambodians a voice ahead of the 10-nation meeting – Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, took aim at its organisers.

“In the agenda, it is written that there is probably a presence of deputy prime minister, the minister of foreign affairs,” he said. “[Hor Namhong] does not know about this.

“Putting this senior leader on their agenda is to attract more participants. There has been no direct contact . . . and [he] has no time to attend.”

Forum steering committee member Thida Khus defended the “tentative” agenda, which states that Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng – who was also not at the forum – had been due to deliver the keynote speech yesterday.

“[We] sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 13 asking [Hor Namhong] to participate in organising this forum,” she said.

“In our schedule, we have not confirmed [his attend-ance]. We put TBC [to be confirmed], so it does not mean we have used his name to get more people to attend.”

Critics of a similarly named forum that began at the Chaktokmok Conference Hall on Wednesday and finished yesterday say it was government-backed and funded, and ignored the real issues facing Cambodians. Organisers have denied government links.

During yesterday’s independent forum, regional steering committee members identified land-grabbing and mig-rant worker conditions as iss-ues that could be raised with ASEAN leaders next week.

Sinapan Samy Dorai, a committee member from Singapore, said the government was “afraid of civil society”.

“The rich and powerful, often connected to the government, abuse the system to maintain their status politically and, of course, [for] money,” he said.

“They are afraid of civil society talking about this and revealing corruption . . . political corruption, police corruption, money corruption. Who is behind the trafficking? Of drugs, women and child-ren? Many of us know.”

ASEAN must address the rights of migrant workers, Sinapan Samy Dorai said.

“None of its 10 countries recognise domestic work under their labour law.”

Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit spokesman Ek Tha declined to comment.

Shane Worrell and Chhay Channyda 

Friday, 30 March 2012