• Labor Law (my writing about labor law);
• Books I Read (either books I’m reading or have read. It may also include my reviews of them.);
• Facts & Figures (all about the facts and figures he personally finds interesting about Cambodia, as well as those about the world and other countries); and
• Negotiation Lessons (Interested in developing my negotiation skills, this is where I write about my negotiation lessons).

If any of the categories is of your interest, feel free to stop by and comment!  Learning from you is as important as learning from books.

A tool I would also like to point out about the new site of mine is the Discussion Board which I wish to be an online forum for people who are interested in discussing the following topics:

• Labor law,
• Development ideas,
• News especially about Cambodia,
• Negotiation,
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and
• Other types of law

Just visit the board, sign up for a username if you want to join and start posting.

Before I finish my last post on this blog of mine, let me tell you two things.  First, despite the discontinuity, comments on my posts are appreciated and responded if needed.  Second, I’m glad I’ve been learning to blog using both Google-powered Blogger and WordPress.com, which eventually inspired me to learn WordPress publishing platform, on which my new site is based.  Without it, it would have been far more difficult for me to create such a dynamic site like YSAMPHY.COM to build up myself both academically and professionally.

35 year-old Maria Elfversson reported that her daughter, Alicia, was last seen in Shihanoukville, Cambodia in February 2007. She claimed that Alicia is now either in Cambodia or Thailand, where the father, Norwegian national Torgeir Nordbo, 47, owns property.

She also posted a video on Youtube seven months ago in an attempt to call for help. In the video clip, she asked that the whereabouts of her be reported either to the nearest police station or directly to her via email at alicia.elfversson@hotmail.com

“[I]t is not a crime for a father to abduct his own children in Cambodia,” Bangkok Post wrote.

If the company is satisfied, it will sign the contract within the next 60 days. The report did not give the details as to when construction will begin.

Other big Israeli companies doing business include Casino operator Queenco Leisure International Ltd. (QLI) and Alony Hetz Property and Investments Ltd. (ALHE).

QLI has bought land in the coastal resort of Sihanoukville for a tourist project.

The article did not give details of the what ALHE is doing exactly in it’s real estate business in Cambodia. However, the company “and Singapore-based Pacific Star Holding pte Ltd. are setting up a $200 million real estate fund to invest in Southeast Asia, to be called Pacific Arrow Star, which will invest in Vietnam and other countries.”

“Alony Hetz believes that Cambodia is a country with real estate potential,” finished the report.

The delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Keo Puth Rasmey in order to beef up cooperation between Cambodia’s Funcinpec and China’s CPC. No further details were reported by Xinhua.

China has become the number one investor in Cambodia, according to RFI’s recent report.

Funcinpec has established “inter-party relations” with CPC as far back as 1995, Xinhua wrote.

The project was established under American Assistance for Cambodia/Japan Relief for Cambodia (AAfC – JRfC), which was founded by American journalist Bernard Krisher, former head of the Newsweek and Fortune Tokyo bureausin 1993.

The US$26,000 donation came as the corporation’s compensation for purchase of a domain name administered by the ad space platform which was running a project called Kumomo Project, as the latter had been donating portion of its revenue from the domain to the Rural Schools Project.

Her father had to follow her like a guard. However, she was happy to stay with the family, the news wrote.

“On February 14, 2008, P’nhieng is in the family garden, wearing a blue sarong and an orange pajama top. Her hair has been bluntly cut into a ragged bob,” the newspaper reported, adding, “She sits on the ground between a barbwire fence and a set of wooden shelves.”

She is aware of her surroundings and takes notice of them. When her mother gave her some bananas, she responded with pleasure.

Unlike when she first appeared in the village suffering from severe malnutrition, P’nhieng is now in good shape. In fact, she has gained a noticeable amount of weight, director of the O’Yadao operational district, Tak Bunthak, told the Post.

Besides her family, only Hector Rifa, a professor of behavioral research methods who works with the Spanish NGO Psychologists without Borders (PSFA), is paying attention to her since the last media coverage at the end of January 2007.

However, when asked why she still does not speak, Rifa declined to give comments for fear of what he called “careless use of psychological labels” or people “playing psychologist,” both of which, he said, can “destroy the life of anybody,” the Post quoted him as saying.

He warned that the audience of the Post should not “make psychological diagnosis by themselves.”

He will guide investigating judges from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal through the center where 14,000 people had their lives taken during the Khmer Rouge regime.

A day before that, he will be taken to the killing fields of Cheung Ek, where S21 prisoners were murdered and buried in “shallow graves”. The news did not report why he would be taken there.

The “re-enactment,” which will be closed to public, is for Cambodian co-investigating judge You Bun Leng and his French counterpart, Marcel Lemonde, to gather evidence against Duch, who has already admitted his role in the massacre.

He will be accompanied by his lawyers.

“For the re-enactment Duch will be assisted by his lawyer,” Lemonde tole guardian.co.uk. “This is a normal investigative action, the aim of which is to clarify the declarations by each of the participants, using photos, audio-visual recordings and 3D reconstructions.”

The visit was to strengthen relationship between the two kingdoms, Chea Sokhom, deputy secretary general for the National Committee for Organizing National and International Festivals.

The Queen will pay a courtesy call to King Norodom Sihamoni at his Phnom Penh-based palace, lay a bouquet of flowers at the Independence Monument, visit mine clearance fields in Battambang, and finally tour Angkor Wat in Siem Reap before returning on February 22.

“FBI directors visits Vietnam,” Vietnam Net’s headlined Jan 30. “FBI chief visits Vietnam: US embassy,” read AFP’s headline today.

“FBI director to visit Cambodia for further legal cooperation” was Xinhua’s Jan 30 headline and that of AFP went, “FBI director to hold talks in Cambodia: US embassy. “Cambodia, US to increase anti crime cooperationMathaba News Agency announced on the same day.

Robert Mueller would arrive in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and other top officials to expand cooperation between the two countries’ law enforcement agencies, according to the articles.

No further details was revealed, Xinhua wrote.

“The globalization of crime — whether terrorism, international trafficking of drugs, contraband, and people, or cyber crime — absolutely requires us to integrate law enforcement efforts around the world,” Mueller was quoted saying on the embassy’s website, according to AFP.

The official visit came after Cambodian National Police Chief Hok Lundy’s visit to Washington for anti-terrorism discussions last April, AFP finished.

The construction would start in 2012 and the plant would begin its operation in early 2016 if the study proved feasible, the news reported.

Italian-Thai Development PCL ITD.BK, Electricity Generating EGCO.BK and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating HOlding RATC.BK failed to reveal how much it would cost in total, it added. “EGCO and Ratchaburi would hold a combined stake of 70 percent and Italian-Thai Power, 15 percent owned by Italian-Thai Development, would have the other 30 percent.”