The Weekly - Phnom Penh March 3

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WEEKLY

THURSDAY - MARCH 3, 2016

Vol: 01 | Issue: 26

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the River

T h e


2/12

8,000+copies every week

600+locations in CambodiaREGULARS

Around Town

The best listings in town PAGES 8 & 9

FILMS, EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

GrowingOrganicPAGE 3 & 4

Vietnam’s LGBTEconomyPAGE 5

PUBLISHER

T. Mohan

EDITOR:

James Reddick

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Maddy Crowell, Sotheavy Nou

ART DIRECTION:

Khiev Chanthara, Aim Valinda

096 217 7770 | 012 244 982

[email protected]

[email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES:

Mary Shelistilyn Clavel

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010 678 324

NEWSROOM:

No. 7 Street 252

Khan Daun Penh

Phnom Penh 12302

Kingdom of Cambodia

023 221 660

PRINTER: TST Printing House

DISTRIBUTION:

Kim Steven Yoro

016 869 302

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AVAILABLE AT:

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No. 53 Street 426

Phnom Penh

[email protected]

023 217 6177

The Weekly is published 48 times a year

in Phnom Penh. No content may be

reproduced in any form without prior

consent of the publisher.

Cover Photo: Fabien Mouret

PAGE 6-7

The main idea was to keep it

modular. I wanted to have the smallest

footprint on the environment. So that

if we decided to pack up and leave,nobody would notice.

River’s EdgeA trip to TataiPAGE 6 & 7

Craft CocktailsLa Familia branches outPAGE 10

Flavors: BorborA simple specialty done rightPAGE 11

xxxxxxxx

S u p p l i e d

S u p p l i e d

Eyes on the World Documentary Series

@French Institute, Meta House and Bophana Center

Over four days, the French Institute, Meta House andBophana Center present 10 documentary lms fromaround the world. Of particular interest to PhnomPenh residents is the brilliant 2015 documentary Lastof the Elephant Men (see a full schedule on Page 8).

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

S

u p p l i e d

This brass band has already been recommended hereonce, but they deserve as many mentions as can begiven. Known for hours-long and sweat fueled sets,these French musicians play everything from NewOrleans jazz to pop remixes.

Soundtrek Project

@Show Box, 11 Street 330, 7:30 PM

FRIDAY

Not to Miss:

A screenshot from “I am thePeople”, showing on Sunday at

the French Institute.

THIS WEEK WEEKLY

the

Phnom Penh

THURSDAY MARCH 03, 2016

2 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh


3/12

CONTINUE ON PAGE 04

Sernan Fortes picks

up a handful of soil,

showing me as it runs

through his fingers

back to the earth. “This soil is

more a clay type, like sand,” he

ays. “That’s why when we do

natural farming we need to use

more organic matter.” Behind

Fortes, who oversees operations

at this farm in Preah Sihanouk

Province and is the planning

manager at a new companycalled Eco-Agri Center, is a

aboratory of natural fertilizers.

n a row of buckets are varieties

of pungent “compost teas,”

gaining potency in the heat.

Next to them, an employee

churns a large pile of manure

with a shovel.

The Picnic Farm, which

upplies produce to Khmer

Organic Cooperative in Chroy

Changvar and BKK1, is a work

n progress. In total, just under

20 hectares out of more than

60 hectares are in productionon the two farms in this area

off National Highway 4. Fortes

shows me a wilted row of lettuce

disappointedly, explaining that

unusually high temperatures

have taken a toll on this year’s

crop. “Natural farming is a

bit slow,” he explains. “The

production is slow because if

you start now you can see the

progress in production within a

minimum of three years.”

That slow pace is fine with

Khmer Organic Cooperative

founder Ieng Sotheara.His two farms and the

produce markets in Phnom

Penh are just one piece of a

larger endeavor that he hopes

will transform sustainable

agriculture in Cambodia. A

former doctor and property

developer, Sotheara now

devotes much of his time to

philanthropy, and to building

up the country’s organic sector.

After founding Green Eagle, a

seed distributor, and Khmer

Organic Cooperative, he is

officially launching the Eco- Agri Center this month. With

technical support from German

development agency Deutsche

Gesellschaft für internationale

Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the

EAC will help farmers transition

away from using chemicals,

supply them with the necessary

products for sustainable

practices and then help them to

get their produce to market.

“In Cambodia now we

import a lot of vegetables.

Organic has a very good

impact on the body. So I see

it as a preventive measure,

for nutrition, food safety and

economics,” Sotheara says.

The idea for the EAC came

about when GIZ, as part ofa regional Asean program

on sustainable Agrifood

systems, was brainstorming

with companies that provide

products and support to organic

farmers. “Everybody said ‘ok, it’s

a nice idea, but the other small

companies couldn’t invest,”

said Claudius Bredehoeft, the

national coordinator for Giz’s

Sustainable Agrifood Systems

program. When approached,

Sotheara was quick to get on

board.

“He saw the free flowof chemical products to

Cambodia,” said Canady Mao,

who is in charge of the program

for EAC. “He’s from a medical

background so he knows the

impact and he wanted to do

something to help.”

One of the first priorities for

the EAC is building up access to

“inputs” for farmers, a technical

term that encompasses

everything from fertilizers to

seeds to irrigation systems.

Currently, there are only a

From the

Ground up

Can a new venture bringtogether the Kingdom’sorganic market?

MARY CLAVEL

[email protected]@khmertimeskh.com

010 678 324010 678 324010 678 324

[email protected]

To advertise in Cambodia's most exciting WEEKLY magazine, contact our Sales Gurus:To advertise in Cambodia's most exciting WEEKLY magazine, contact our Sales Gurus:

handful of natural fertilizersor bio-control producers in

the country. The EAC hopes to

provide a distribution channel

for their products throughout

the country for small and

medium enterprises.

“At the moment, in

Cambodia you find little access

for the farmers to this kind of

product. So what you see now

are a lot of chemicals—illegally

imported or forbidden already

in other countries,” Bredehoeft

said.

On top of chemicals usedby local farmers, he says, are

vegetables imported from

Vietnam by the truckload.

These amount to up to 140,000

tons per year found in local

markets. This is in large part

because of farmers’ lack of

access to transportation and to

the markets, he says.

“From Vietnam they come

in these big trucks, with 10 or 20

tons [of produce],” Bredehoeft

says. “And if you see how veggie

I see it as apreventivemeasure, for

nutrition, food safetyand economics

By James Reddick

Innovation

3 WEEKLY the

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4/12

transportation is organized

in Cambodia, you see small

motorbikes so the farmer has

his bag with 10 or 20 kilos of

veggies. They bring it to Phnom

Penh and what they don’t sell

they bring back to the province.It’s very inefficient.”

If the EAC can manage to

organize farmers into groups,

they can then invest in adequate

transportation to pick up large

amounts of vegetables. If they

are fully organic, this produce

can go to one of KOC’s stores.

If not, EAC can connect farmers

using sustainable practices to

wholesalers.

The company is just

beginning to work with a

collective of farmers in four

provinces–Banteay Meanchey,Stung Treng, Kratie and

Preah Vihear–who have been

organized by development

organization SNV. So far, 150

families are now in sustainable

agriculture farmer groups in

those provinces, a number

EAC’s Mao expects to double

this year. KOC has also hired

an international organic

certification company, Control

Union, and is in the process of

applying for certification.

The most difficult part of

EAC’s ambitious plan is to

change the mentality of bothconsumers and farmers, who

are used to quick fix solutions

and cheap imported goods. One

woman, 29-year-old S. Chan

Ut, who has been working on

KOC’s farm for two

years, says that her

health has improved

drastically since her

days selling produce

in Psar Doeum

Thkov. “Before the

farm, I was very weak.

I would have to check

my health two orthree times a week,”

she said. Now she

plants a garden for

her family without

using chemicals and

says she is healthy.

Everybody I spoke

with expressed a

desire for the kinds of

FROM PAGE 03

services that EAC pledges toprovides: access to materials

and training.

Despite this enthusiasm,

it was hard to tell if

employees from neighboring

villages were true disciples of

organic farming methods or

not. “Nowadays, I practice

farming this way at my

house, and even my neighbors dotoo,” said Sok Nai, 25, as she pulled

weeds from a row of lettuce.

But when asked if she would stick

to using organic principles, she

demurred. “When the yield increases,

I’ll have more money,” she said.

“Then I’ll be able to buy chemical

fertilizers.”

A woman works on Khmer OrganicCooperative’s farm inPreah Sihanouk Province.

J a m e s R e d d i c k

F a b i e n M o u r e t

4 WEEKLY the

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5/12

HANOI (Reuters) - If it had

been in business a decade ago,

Nguyen Anh Thuan’s restaurant

would have been a target forate-night police raids to arrest

awbreakers and stamp out

social evils.”

But Comga Cafe, in the

heart of Vietnam’s capital, is no

gambling den, after-hours bar

or front for dealing drugs. It is an

enterprise friendly to people of

all sexual preferences in a one-

party state where conservative

values are strong.

Yet Thuan is exp erie ncing

uccess instead of resistance.

Prejudice is giving way to

ome liberalism, he says,n a country often labelled

a human rights abuser but

now one of Asia’s most

progressive on gay, lesbian

and transgender issues.

That has spawned a niche

market of an estimated 1.6

million Vietnamese at a time

of galloping growth, offering

money-making opportunities

o firms that provide services

rom travel and weddings to

nsurance and healthcare.

“Our business benefits a lot

rom the LGBT community,”aid Thuan, who also advises

businesses on lesbian, gay,

bisexual and transgender issues,

which are often abbreviated as

R e u t e r s

R e u t e r s

By My Pham

LGBT. “Many LGBT people hold

high positions in big firms and

don’t have to hide themselves.

Society is more open to them.”

While transgender, gay and

lesbian people are persecutedand even jailed in some Asian

countries, Vietnam has quietly

become a trailblazer, with

laws to decriminalize gay

marriage and co-habitation

and recognize sex changes on

identity documents. “I see a

lot more openness in Vietnam

now,” said Bach Linh, a lesbian.

“Many LGBT people make lots

of money and want to spend it.

This will attract the attention of

businessmen soon.”

Seminars and corporate-

sponsored “Viet Pride” festivalsget free rein, and state media

discuss once-taboo issues of

sex and gender preferences. It

is unclear what prompted the

relaxation by the government,

which has never openly spelt

out its policy.

The Justice Ministry did

not respond to questions

from Reuters, and vice health

minister Nguyen Viet Tien,

who was once quoted speaking

in support of gay marriage,

told Reuters his ministry was

not responsible for policy anddeclined to comment.

Marketing firms are tracking

consumer trends among lesbian,

gay, bisexual and transgender

people, including private

healthcare providers such as

Safe Living, which estimates

such clients contributed about

30 percent of its 2015 profit.

MB Market Makers, whichspecializes in development

of what it calls “the uniquely

lucrative LGBT market,” aims

to include Vietnam in its 2016

consumer research.

It recently valued the

Chinese market at $850 billion

annually and the US market at

$950 billion, though there are no

comparable figures for Vietnam.

Budget airline VietJet Air is

targeting the same audience,

with a television advertisement

featuring an in-flight lesbian

wedding.“There’s no law against it, so

why not?” Managing Director

Luu Duc Kanh told Reuters.

Vietnamese transgender people

have strutted the catwalk at

a fashion event with rainbow

bridal dresses and a gay wedding.

“After the show, dozens of LGBT

customers came to me for my

advice and to use my designs,”

said organizer Caroll Tran.

In 2014, USAID said attitudes

had undergone a “radical

change” from a decade ago,

when gay activity was treatedas a crime and a mental health

issue. But family problems,

workplace discrimination and

violence in schools persisted, it

added.

Vietnamese academic Luong

The Huy said the changes

reflected political will and

greater public discussion. Randy

Berry, US special envoy forhuman rights of LGBT persons,

told Reuters that, whatever

its reasons, Vietnam had

actively engaged with an issue

neighbors still consider taboo.

Gay sex is illegal in Singapore

and mainly Muslim Malaysia,

where some states also outlaw

cross-dressing.In Brunei, sharia religious

law forbids sodomy, and

activists in Muslim-majority

Indonesia recently called

growing hostility towards gays

“a witch hunt.” Thailand does

not formally recognize same-sex

unions or sex changes, but a

new constitution is expected to

include “third gender”

provisions. “Progress in places

like this shows it’s completely

possible to honor tradition and

be embracing of diversity,”

Berry said.

A crowd gathers for a partyduring “Viet Pride” in Ho ChiMinh City in August last year.

A man is silhouetted on a rainbow ag during a demonstration for gay rights in Hanoi in November last year.

I see a lot moreopenness inVietnam now,Many LGBT

people make lots of moneyand want to spend it. Thiswill attract the attention ofbusinessmen soon.

VIETNAM’S LGBT

ECONOMY

VIETNAM’S LGBT

ECONOMY

5 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh



6/12

“Y ou will see a

monkey, with

fangs,” Bono,

my tour guide

promised before we boarded

a long blue speedboat headed

for the Cardamom jungle. He

handed me a bamboo stick. I

wasn’t sure if I was supposed

to use the stick to fend for my

life or for balance. I didn’t ask.

“And maybe some snakes,” he

laughed. We stepped off the boat onto

the island we were about to

hike. The mid-morning air was

still, the heat not yet kicked in.

A monk sat cross-legged atop

a pagoda. We walked past two

schools, where children in white

and blue uniforms waved from

behind windows. The skeleton of

a new building lay naked in the

sun.

“They will build a new school

here, but first they need more

teachers,” Bono explained.

“There are only two teachersnow. Not many people know

about this school.”

Nor did many people seem

to know about the area, which was on the southwestern

edge of Cambodia, just 25

kilometers from the Thai

border and Gulf of Thailand.

But Koh Kong province, one of

Cambodia’s largest provinces,

has been relatively untouched

by foreigners, tourists and even

Cambodians. It is still home

to some of the most remote

villages in the country. Bono’s

village had 10 families, he told

me. The surrounding area had

a population of no more than

300. It was one of the rare sliversof the country that remained

untouched by the Khmer Rouge.

But after the Four Rivers

Floating Lodge, an eco-lodge

made up of twelve floating tents

on the Tatai River, was built in

2009 and began to employ local

villagers, the local economy

started to pick up – and two eras

collided: one in which three

generations of villagers still

lived off the land they’d learned

to survive off of, and another

drawing tourists to this remote

backwater.“My grandmother came here

first. She was running from the

Khmer Rouge,” Bono said.

Bono was 24 years old andlanky. Born on a small island off

the Tatai River, he worked part-

time at Four Rivers. He explained

that he met his wife at the hotel,

where she is a housekeeper.

“We had our wedding

celebration with Four Rivers,”

Bono said. He told me it was

the Buddhist way to have a

celebration after the wedding –

otherwise they would be cursed.“Now, we have a three-year-old

daughter. She eats too much

candy.”

Bono is part of the third

generation of 10 families of local

villagers who grew up on the

island. His grandmother settled

on the island with a handful of

others from nearby provinces,

and lived off wild animals for

decades to survive. The secondgeneration of villagers, including

Bono’s mother, moved to

Thailand to make money for

their families. Their children

moved back to live with their

grandparents while the parents

continue to send money from

Thailand.

“I don’t like Thailand,” Bono

said as we climbed thicker into

By Maddy Crowell

The River’s Edge

Where two erasmeet across the TATAI RIVER

M a d d y C r o w e l l


The Four Rivers Lodge tents

By Maddy Crowell

6 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh



7/12

location off the river in Koh Kong

may be an obstacle in attracting

large crowds.

Koh Kong is Cambodia’s

southwestern-most province,

and one of the biggest and

most undeveloped provinces

in the country. It used to bevisited by tourists coming in

from Thailand. Until National

Highway 48 was built in 2008 and

finished in 2012, the area was

virtually unreachable by vehicle

from Phnom Penh or Siem Reap.

“The idea was to build a

floating village,” Vladimir,

the Romanian engineer who

designed and built Four Rivers,

told me by phone. “I was inspired

by the villages in the Mekong, thefloating villages. I was working

before in the cruise industry,

connecting Saigon to Siem Reap

on the Mekong, and so I was

drawn to working with water.”

Vladimir and his wife Anna first

discovered the area in 2006. It was

a quiet vacation spot far removed

from the concrete and noise of

Phnom Penh where they lived.

In 2009, Vladimir approached

Wildlife Alliance, an NGO working

to preserve endangered species in

the area, with the idea of building

an eco-lodge.“I didn’t want to use wood

because the idea was to not cut

any wood for this,” Vladimir

said. “The main idea was to

keep it modular. I wanted to

have the smallest footprint on

the environment. So that if we

decided to pack up and leave,

nobody would notice.”

Together with a Frenchmen

and 60 villagers in the area, Vladimir built Four Rivers

in seven months. Originally

constructed to accommodate

four small villas, a private

investor caught wind of the

project and expanded the eco-

lodge into 12 private villas.

“The first idea was to have

wooden houses. But during the

design, we switched to tents

because it was faster to build, and

when we finished we realized we

were the first in the world to put

tents on the water.”

Leaving a small, if notinvisible, carbon footprint is

Vladimir’s primary intention.

The entire lodge is made

from recyclable materials: the

base is built of a wood plastic

composite made of recycled

wood embedded in plastic. The

12 houses are kept buoyant by

floating pontoons shipped in

from China, and the waterproof

tents are safari tents imported

from South Africa. The lodge

almost exclusively employs local

villagers as housekeepers, cooks,

boat drivers and tour guides likeBono.

Bono said goodbye at Four

Rivers when we arrived back. He

was returning across the river

where his family lived.

“See you soon,” he said,

smiling.

By sunset, an elaborate four-

course meal was being served for

dinner, including delicacies like

fresh warm baguettes, imported

liquor and roasted chicken.

About six foreign couples dined

outside, under the warm glow

of lights generated by a solarpanel that attracted swarms of

tiny gnats. The sun sank into an

orange ball over the horizon.

The faraway screech of monkeys

or wildcats could be heard far

into the distance. A bed of stars

hung over the sky. Shadows of a

leftover sunset were imprinted in

the water.

Smoke from a campfire on

the island across from my

bedroom hovered in the air. I

wondered if it was Bono’s

family’s fire. Blanketed by the

thick jungle of the CardamomMountains and the Gulf of

Thailand, I felt like I was floating

on the edge of the universe.

he jungle. “This is my country.”

We walked in silence for a

couple hours, following our local

guide. The afternoon air was

hick and heavy, even under the

hade of the wildly overgrown

rees. We ducked under

branches, following a narrow

path uphill.Our guide stopped abruptly.

A spider the size of my hand

hung suspended in the air. I took

a photo. I asked Bono where the

monkeys were. He screeched,

and then laughed, promising

me he was summoning them.

Eventually he stopped us to rest,

handing out water. He sat on the

orest floor, which was dry and

ull of red ants. He began talking

about the Khmer Rouge.

“I don’t understand why my

countrymen would do this,” he

aid, sipping the water. “Whywould they kill millions of

people?”

I asked him if he would ever

consider leaving Koh Kong.

“I studied hotel management

in Phnom Penh,” he said as we

started walking, passing water

buffalo and a flock of egrets.

“I don’t like Phnom Penh. I’m

happy to return here. I missed

my family.”

We hiked for three hours;dripping in sweat as we walked

through thick, dry brush.

Bono told me forest fires were

frequent and becoming a

growing problem during the dry

season. Animals were already

endangered, he said. We took a

break for lunch, by a river that

was supposed to be replenished

by a waterfall. The waterfall

was dry and we didn’t see any

monkeys.

On the boat ride back to the

Four Rivers Floating Lodge,

Bono and I talked about funeralsand Buddhism.

“Maybe I would like to be a

Monk one day,” he told me. “But

I don’t want to leave this area.”

His family, along with the ten

others in the area, makes a living

off of the Lodge. This is both the

benefit and the difficulty of the

Lodge’s business model.

“We haven’t made a profit

yet,” Anna, the General Manager

at Four Rivers Floating Lodge,told me by phone back in Phnom

Penh. “We could find cheaper

options, for example, by using

our own boats, but that defeats

the purpose of employing

locals.”

Anna explained the biggest

difficulty for the Lodge has been

maintenance: the metal rusts, the

canvas tents need to be cleaned,

flotation devices checked.

“We’re still learning, trying

new things out,” she explained.

Built in 2009 in seven months,

the Lodge has been successful inbringing in some tourists, but

has yet to attract high-profile

attention. In part, its remote

The firstidea wasto have

wooden houses. Butduring the design,we switched to tentsbecause it wasfaster to build

The view from inside one of thelodge's tents.

7 WEEKLY the

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8/12

no, from the Royal Academyof Music

DRINK ‘N DRAW@ Show Box Bar, #11 Street 330,7:00 PM

$3 entry provides you twohours with a live model, bringyour own drawing materials

OPEN DATA DAY @Emerald Hub, Street 169, 8:30

AM-5:00 PM All-day forum on open datain Cambodia, with lightning

presentations

Mon, March 7

PULSATION@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

Rob Bianche Playing TechFunk Breaks

RUBBER STAMPING FOR BE-GINNERS@N o w h e r e, 35e0 Street 312,11 AM-1 PM, $30 per student

Lolli Park will introduce mate-rials for the rubber stampingand carving techniques.

Tue, March 8

SOUL SONIC GROOVE@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

Alan Ritchie dropping old-school Hip Hop, Soul Funkand B-Boy breaks.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAYSPECIALS@Himawari Hotel

Himawari Hotel Apartmentscelebrates strong, confidentand valued women. Enjoy aspecially-crafted High TeaSet from 8 am to 5pm, $10per set includes choice ofcoffee, tea or juice and astalk of roses. At The Oyster

Restaurant, every lady enjoysa 15 percent discount all dayoff our a la carte menu, with acomplimentary mocktail anda stalk of roses. For reserva-tions, please call 016 871766 / 016 871756

Wed, March 9

PHNOM PENH MINI MAKERFAIRE, WED-FRI@Institute of Technology of Cam-bodia

OPEN MIC@ Show Box Bar, #11 Street 330,8:00 PM

Classical Music Concert

@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, $10, students/chil-dren $3

Performance by the stu-dents of the Yong Siew TohConservatory of Music inSingapore.

EXHIBITIONS

Wed, March 9

36 VIEWS OF PHNOM PENH@The Plantation, 28 Street 184,Opening at 6:30

Amateur of “Barang archi-

tecture” and admirer of Vann

Molyvann as well as Khmer

modernism, Laurent draws

heritage buildings that are be-

ing demolished or will be.

Ongoing

CAFÉ ELEPHANT@French Institute, 218 Street 184

ARTWORK BY CARTOONISTJIRI SLIVA

EVENTS

Thu, March 03

PUB QUIZ@ Show Box Bar, #11 Street 330,8:00 PM

$1 dollar entry, with prizes

NO PROBLEM DISCO@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

DJ Jack Malipan playingSexy Funky Disco House

HAPPY HOUR: SAVING LIVESUSING INNOVATIVE TECH@Impact Hub, 17 Street 306, 6:00PM-7:00 PM

TRIPPY THURSDAYS@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, 9 PM:

DJ Nicomatic and Friends

BOOK LAUNCH@Romdeng, 74 Stree 174

Jim Mizerski presents hisbook ‘Cambodia Captured: Angkor’s First PhotographersIn 1860’s Colonial Intrigues’

Fri, March 4

PULSE THE HOUSE@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

Alan Ritchie, Dj Shaman &Special guest Marco Lenziplaying upfront House &Techno.

ACOUSTIC FRIDAYS@Farm to Table, 16 Street 360,6-8 PM

Live music with Jeffro(Chicago-style blues)

BRAZILIAN RODIZIO @Intercontinental Hotel – Regen-cy Cafe, 296 Mao Tse Toung

Every Friday in March, trya Brazilian buffet priced at$28.00++, add $10.00+++for a free flow of caipirinha.Meats and seafood areserved on skewers directlyfrom the grill to your table.

LIVE MUSIC@Alley Cat Café, 42 Street 19z, 7PM-10 PM

Moi Tiet (rock)

COMEDY NIGHT@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, 8:30 PM:

Verbal High monthly comedyshowcase, $3 entry, featuring10 international performers

Sat, March 5

SOUNDTREK PROJECT@ Show Box Bar, #11 Street 330,8:00 PM

The French brass band per-forms a 2.5 hour set

BOOK LAUNCH@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, 7:00 PM:

Author Guy Singer discusseshis new book, ‘The WhiteBuilding – A Broken UtopianDream’

HIGH RISE @Reggae Bar, 46-48 Street 172,

10:00 PMFeaturing DJ Sequence andDJ Prez

BBQ POOL PARTY @Intercontinental Hotel, 296 MaoTse Toung, 4:00 PM-8:00 PM

BBQ Buffet priced at$29.00++, add $15.00+++ forfree flow of drinks (margaritacocktails, mocktails, winesand Heineken Draught).$5.00+++ for all the drinksquoted.

SATURDAY TECH LOUNGE@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

With DJ Flo & Special guest Achaya

BACK TO THE ‘50S, ‘60S, ‘70S,‘80S@Eluvium Lounge, 205A street19, 8:00 PM-10:00 PM

Favorite songs and romanticballads from the 50s, 60s,

70s and 80sLIVE MUSIC@est. bar, 19z Street 214, 8:45PM-11:45:

Tony Elchico

Sun, March 6

HOUSE SENSATION@Pontoon Pulse, 80 Street 172

DJ Shaman playing DeepFunky House music.

PIANO SHOP CONCERT SERIES@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, 8:30 PM:

Spanish pianist Luis Avenda-

DO WE HAVE YOPlease email all details to James.redd

Ingredients

Vodka Kahlua Baileys Vanilla

FROZEN MUDSLIDE

While also doing your

standard cocktails, The

Watering Hole has an un-

usual specialty that you

won’t see anywhere else

on Street 308, if at all in

Phnom Penh: the alco-

holic milkshake. With its

ever growing bar scene,

this street is normally

where well-heeled young

expats go to bar hop.I’m not really sure how a

milkshake fts in to a long

night out, but to satisfy

an after-dinner dessert

craving this low-key bar

is my kind of social en-

terprise. Without a doubt,

the drinks are delicious,

but how could a vanilla

milkshake with Baileys,

vanilla and chocolate not

be? The instant sug-

ary satisfaction quickly

gives way to a borderline

coma. NOTE: Not suit-

able for binge drinking.

The Watering Hole, M39 Street308, 3 PM-11 PM

KROENG

SROVOENGKhmer for Alcohol

FILMS

“EYES ON THE WORLD”DOCUMENTARY SERIES

Thursday

@French Institute, 216 Street 184

Mograbi Cinema (2012, 85 mins),

6:30 PM

A portrait of the Israeli director Avi

Mograbi, known for his provocative

and anti-Zionist opinions.

Friday

@French Institute, 216 Street 184

Burmese Days (2015, 91 mins), 5 PM:

This documentary questions

Burmese people of today about

George Orwell’s first novel.

We Come as Friends (2015, 110

mins, EN subtitles), 7 PM

Divided into two nations, Sudan

is coveted by China and

Under the cover of friend

old demons of foreign do

are back!

Saturday

@French Institute, 216 Stree

Short Docs for Kids (64

with EN subtitles), 10 ANine animated shorts wil

you unknown rituals, imp

animals and ignored land

Metal Bread (2014, 45 mins)

The daily life of Zulya, in

Kyrgyzstan, and her que

more dignified lifestyle.

Je Suis Charlie (2015, 9

FR w/ EN subtitles), 7 P

In January 2015, terrorist

struck in Paris the magaz

Charlie Hebdo, taking th

12 people, as well as inju

policewoman and Jews o

This documentary pays h

8 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh

Around Town



9/12

GERMAN-CAMBODIAN ART@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard:

The German artist Alfred

Banze presents “2.5 Street“,

Together with students and

local artists he created large

drawings and video clips with

the theme: Rise and fall of a

Community Art Space.

Sorrows and Struggles: Wom-en‘s experience of Forced Mar-iage during the Khmer Rouge

Regime@Tuol Sleng Museum (BuildingA)

The exhibition is based on

survivor oral histories re-

counting personal experienc-

es of forced marriages during

the Khmer Rouge regime.

The Altered Mirror: Refections

rom Guatemala and Cambodia@Bophana Center 64 Street 200,Okhna Men, Opening Receptionat 6:00 PM

Erick Gonzalez, renowned

Franco-Guatemalan artist

resident in Phnom Penh since

2015, exhibits his latest cre-

ations consisting in objects,

installations and paintings.

FILMS

Thu, March 3

@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard:Finding Vivian Maier (2013, 83mins), 4 PM:

A documentary on the late

Vivian Maier, a nanny whose

previously unknown cache of

100,000 photographs earned

her a posthumous reputation

as one of the most accom-

plished street photographers.

Southeast Asian Short FilmNight, 7 PM

Includes the premiere of The

Law of Karma, a film shot in

Cambodia

Fri, Mar 4

@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevardThe Jungle War (1983, 90 mins),

4 PM: An investigation into Cam-bodia’s 1980s civil war

Sat, March 5

Khmer Women@Bophana Center, 64 Street200, 5:00 PM

In honor of International

Women’s Day, the center

presents three films:

Women during Sangkum

Reastr (Khemara Pictures,

24min, 1960, Khmer ver-

sion), The role of Women in

the Reconstruction of the

Country (Department of Cin-

ema and Diffusion, 20min,

1990, Khmer version), Wom-

en in Politics (Department of

Media and Communication,

12min, 2011, Khmer version

with English subtitles).

@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevardRise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014,96 mins), 4 PM:

A computer programmer’s

active interest in Bitcoin

helps illustrate the social

and political impact of the

world’s first global digital

currency

VENT LISTED?mertimeskh.com by Monday at 5pm

Dogora (2004, 80 mins), 9 PM: An impressionistic, sensorial

tapestry of existence in and

around early 21st-century

Cambodia

Sun, March 6

@Meta House, #37 Sothearos

BoulevardTimbuktu (2015, 97 mins), 4 PM:

A cattle herder and his fam-

ily who reside in the dunes

of Timbuktu find their quiet

lives -- which are typically

free of the Jihadists deter-

mined to control their faith

-- abruptly disturbed.

The Khmer Harp (2013, 42 mins),6 PM, with a q&a with PatrickKersalé:

French ethnomusicologist

Patrick Kersalé has helped re-

introduce a piece of Cambo-

dia’s lost musical heritage

Tue, March 8

Step it Up Film Fest@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevard, 7 PM

Three films, The Last Reel,

Girls Against the Rain and

Choices Made in Life, with a

Q&As with directors Kulikar

Sotho and Sao Sopheak.

Wed, Mar 9

@Meta House, #37 SothearosBoulevardDreamcatcher (2015, 98 mins),

4 PM: A portrait of a former teenageprostitute from Chicago, who

is now running her own

Step it Up Film Fest, 6:30 PMFeaturing documentaries and

short films Sold Out, Rice,

Red Ink and Red Wedding,

with Q&As with Sothea Ines

and Polen Ly

the victimes.

@Bophana Center, 200 Oknha

Men

Remnance of Madness (2014,

100 mins, FR with EN subtitles,

FREE), 2 PM:

Through her experience of mental

illness, writer and filmmaker KhadySylla investigates the recent history

of Senegal, establishing a link be-

tween psychiatry and colonialism.

Sunday

I am the People (2015, 45 mins),

10 AM

In 2011, a revolutionary chant rises

from Tahrir Square. Hundreds

of kilometers away, an Egyptian

peasant follows what people have

called the Arab Spring via his

television.

Roundtable on the production of

documentary films, 2 PM

Producers will discuss international

co-production in a long-term per-

spective, both through an econom-

ic and cultural lens. Debates will be

in French, translated in Khmer and

English.

Last of the Elephant Men (2015,

86 mins, KH w/ EN subtitles), 4

PM

In Cambodia, the lifestyle of the

Bunong people is threatened due

to massive deforestation and the

disappearance of the elephants.

@Meta House, #37 Sothearos

Boulevard:

Beltracchi - The Art of Forgery

(2014, 93 mins, GER w/ EN sub-

titles, FREE), 7 PM

For nearly 40 years, Wolfgang

Beltracchi has tricked the world of

arts by forging and selling paint-

ings which he was able to pass as

legitimate.

A d v e r t i s e w i t h T

h e W e e k l y n o w !

C o n t a c t M a r y C l a v e l t o b o o k y o u r s p a c e

T e l : 0 1 0

6 7 8 3 2 4

9 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh

Around Town



10/12

For more than

a year, a small

crew has been

working behind

the scenes to elevate the

capital’s cocktail scene.

Called La Familia, they

have been supplying

bartenders around the city

with specialty ingredients,

bartending equipment,

premium spirits and with

training sessions.

Spearheaded byS i n g a p o r e - b a s e d

entrepreneur Andre

Chalson, who has

witnessed the drinking

scene evolve from a haven

for cheap drinks to a

hub for the latest trendy

cocktails, the crew has

high hopes of the city

rivaling cocktail capitals

like Singapore and Hong

Kong.

The team also features

Americans Louisa

D’Orazio and JenniferQueen, who met through

mutual friends in San

Diego over a year ago.

With years of

hospitality experience,

D’Orazio found that manybartenders’ repertoires

here were limited to just

two or three types of

cocktails.

The ladies recruited an

enthusiastic bartender,

Sok Dara, who worked

at a local hotel, into

the family. They grew

their network with tiki

pop-up bars at places

like local rum distillery

Samai and established

live bartending shows

at various venues in

town. Since establishing

themselves, the team

has been teaching local

bartenders and supplying

products to venues likeRaffles, Chinese House,

Bouchon, Farm to Table,

Samai, The Room and Le

Boutier.

One philosophy La

Familia seeks to teach isthat “craft” permeates

all aspects of making

cocktails; every element

is handmade or tailored

specifically to the drink,

from custom glassware,

specially made ice cubes,

and is mixed with house-

made syrups or splashed

with a dash of fragrant

bitters.

*****

La Familia just opened

its first brick-and-mortar

space, called La Casita, in

February. On Street 244, it

is an apothecary of hand-

crafted alcoholic elixirs,

as well as a training centerand tasting room. Queen,

who spent much of her

youth in a dive bar in Ohio

where her mother was a

bartender, leads master

classes for bartenders ondifferent spirits, including

a lesson last Tuesday on

agave-based liquors, as

well as the history behind

various brands.

With an encyclopedic

cocktail knowledge, she

can list off liquor trivia of

all sorts. For example, she

explains that the Sipsmith

Gin from London is

actually part of the

F a b i e n M o u r e t

F a b i e n M o u

r e t

original Hotel Raffles Le

Royal’s Singapore Sling.

The company specifically

created the gin, which

may feature ingredients

from Cambodia like

Jasmine. As one of the first

houses Queen trained, the

Raffles bartenders have

now used that knowledge

to think about other local

ingredients like Kampotpepper or Cambodian

cucumber – a creativity

that was never encouraged

before.

*****

W h i l e

continuing

to host

t r a i n i n g

sessions, soon La Familia’s

cocktails will be more readily

available to the public. They

plan to open a craft cocktail

bar, called the Elbow

Room, which was originallyplanned for last year.

It was put on hold

because of construction

delays, but they hope it

will open on Street 308 in

the next few months. The

delays, Mr. Chalson said,

have in some ways been a

blessing in disguise.

“We realized that what

we really needed to do

was focus on changing

craft culture,” he said.

“We had some issues

with construction for

the bar, but the plan was

always to do craft product

distribution to really grow

the scene – so we built it

from the ground up.”

“We have a strong

family,” he said, citing the

support they have received

from local alcohol brandslike Samai’s Rum. “I never

thought we would have

brand owners coming to

us asking how they can

help grow Cambodia.”

They are now the sole

distributor for a few flagship

brands like Sipsmith and

Diplomatico Rum.

Part of La Familia’s

mission is to show bars

that investing in higher-

end ingredients can pay

off in the long run. “I

cannot buy a product thatcosts $30-$40 and sell it at

a $2 mark, so I have to

educate the town as to

why these are better

products and [we need to]

talk with one another to

say to edge it up a bit,”

Queen says. “Let’s work

together and build

ourselves up slowly, which

also drives the economy in

our little sector.”

Paul Mathew (right)with Louisa D'Orazio,Jennifer Queen andSok Dara.

C R A F T I N G A

C O C K

T A I L S C E N

E

La Familia Movesinto New Digs

I have to educate thetown as to why theseare better products and

[we need to] talk with one an-

other to say to edge it up a bit.

Bartenders attend a training session in La Casita last week.

By Sotheavy Nou

10 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh



11/12

There is neither a sign

nor an address for the

estaurant that goes by the

name Toul Tom Pung, after

he market just a block

away. Only its popularity,

made noticeable by a longine of parked motorbikes

and cars that crowd the

mall street, make it

visible. But in spite of – or

perhaps thanks to – its

obscurity, Toul Tom Pung

s arguably one of Phnom

Penh’s best-kept secrets,

offering some of the best

borbor in the city.

By 4 PM, the restaurant

was already packed with

customers. I was told it

would be full at 3 PM when

t opens, and that theush doesn’t slow down

until it closes at around

1 PM. Located on Street

444, just behind Russian

Market in what looks like

an abandoned warehouse,

the restaurant is one of the

oldest and most popular

family-owned enterprises

in the area. There is no

door and feels more like

an open market than a

restaurant. Rows of bluetables line the interior, with

bright plastic chairs that

are nearly all occupied.

I stood awkwardly at the

front of the restaurant,

waiting for direction.

A man carrying stacks

of folded riels in his pocket

and a small notebook

approached me.

“No speak English,”

he said, smiling. He led

me to the corner of the

restaurant, which I realized

was the hub: a groupof young women stood

behind a makeshift counter

dishing out bowls of

borbor. The man pointed

behind the glass, where I

was supposed to choose

between chicken, fish and

pork. I chose chicken and

fish and found a table. A

waitress in a red t-shirt and

bright lipstick brought out

a bowl of chakwai, soft fried

Khmer donuts not unlike aFrench beignet. I sprinkled

granulated sugar on top.

Within 10 minutes, two

large bowls of steaming

borbor appeared; with

Japanese-style spoons and

red hot chili spice, prahok,

and a mushroom and

pepper sauce on the side.

Though a popular

“street dish” in Cambodia,

borbor is a Khmer

porridge typically made

with steaming rice

and water, and can beinfamously bland. Many

serve it with salted eggs,

pork intestines or grilled

dried fish to add flavor.

But Toul Tom Pung has

turned the simple dish

into an art. “We used my

mother’s recipe, and kept

testing it and testing it

with different ingredients

until we thought it tasted

good,” explained Chan

Taa, the restaurant owner.He didn’t elaborate on

what the ingredients were.

Mr. Taa spoke no

English, but as I stood

helplessly trying to ask

him a few questions, a

customer at the restaurant

offered to translate. When

I told Mr. Taa I was a

reporter, he shied away.

“I am very busy,” he

said in Khmer. He gave me

a brief story, perhaps to be

polite: his family started

the restaurant 20 years ago. At the time, it was a small

business, but the popularity

of their food drew in more

customers. Soon, they had

enough money to expand

into the warehouse they’re

currently in. Dishes are

between 3,000 and 5,000

riel, and prepared in large

metal basins heated by a

charcoal fire.

The restaurant was

around before foreignersinvaded the area. Most

were Russians who came

in the 1980s, but the

neighborhood has now

become a popular and

cheap place for many

expats to live. On a nearly

daily basis, upscale

restaurants catering to

foreigners are opening.

I asked how this has

affected their business.

“I don’t want it to

change,” Taa said. “Many

foreigners come here, butI want to preserve the

family-style.”

The restaurant is

located on Street 444, just

west of Russian Market.

Hours: 3 PM-11 PM

By Maddy Crowell

To Place Your Ad in Khmer Times,

Please email Mary:

[email protected]

BORBOR: A SIMPLE

SPECIALTY DONE RIGHT


The crew doles outheaping portions of

borbor.

11 WEEKLY the

Phnom Penh

Flavors



12/12

The Weekly - Phnom Penh March 3

Documents

Transcript of The Weekly - Phnom Penh March 3