Cam News Book

PHNOM PENH — With Cambodia’s national elections fast approaching, garment workers who had largely backed the opposition in the last poll say they are being coerced to vote and face hostility if they abstain, as the ruling party tries to paint the ballot as democratic.

Phnom Penh —  A Cambodian court sentenced a Belgian man to life in prison on Friday on charges of smuggling cocaine into the country.

Thirty-three pregnant Cambodian women who were carrying babies on behalf of Chinese clients have been discovered during a raid on an illegal commercial surrogacy operation, police said on Saturday.

Prime Minister Hun Sen called on Cambodian cultural figures and officials to step up the campaign against illegal drugs in a public letter released this week.

Thirty-three pregnant Cambodian women hired to act as surrogate mothers were formally charged with surrogacy and human trafficking offences.

SIEM REAP: Ban Mon Thong is a tuk-tuk driver plying the streets of Siem Reap to support his wife and children. Sofia Goh is single and working in Singapore as a procurement executive. Despite their cultural and language differences, their friendship is strong: They WhatsApp and send photos to each other regularly, and she has even visited his family.

Doves flew into the sky and traditional dancers performed at huge rallies in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Saturday, as the ruling party of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen launched campaigning for general elections on July 29.

On July 29, the Cambodian government will hold the nation’s sixth general election to elect representatives for the National Assembly. International entities have spent billions of dollars funding pro-democracy civil society efforts over the past 25 years yet the vote has been deemed the most unfair and unfree since the United Nations organized the first post-genocide election in 1993. The government, headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen who has been in power since 1985, believes otherwise.

Cambodia has made headlines this year over its increasingly cozy relationship with China, with journalists picking up on the tensions this has caused with local populations.

As part of AIA’s commitment to ensuring people live ‘healthier, longer, better lives’, AIA Cambodia invited our Asia-based coaches Anton Blackwood and Shaun Harris to a sporting extravaganza, where they engaged with over 850 participants in a variety of technical football sessions.