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Cambodia ‘ripe’ for money laundering
Cambodia is also the only “high-risk” country in Southeast Asia.
The report noted that it could only measure risk of money-laundering and terrorism financing since most of it occurs in “absolute secrecy”.
Bridget Di Certo
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Cambodia is ripe for money-laundering and terrorist financing activities due to rampant corruption, banking-sector secrecy and an overall lack of financial transparency, a governance institute says in a report released this week.
The Switzerland-based Basel Institute on Governance has ranked Cambodia the third “highest-risk” country out of 144 listed for its failure to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards.
Cambodia’s ranking is based on standards and other “risk categories such as financial regulations, public transparency, corruption and rule of law”, according to the report’s authors.
Cambodia’s risk score is 8.46 out of 10, only slightly lower than Iran, which had the highest score at 8.57.
Cambodia is also the only “high-risk” country in Southeast Asia.
The report noted that it could only measure risk of money-laundering and terrorism financing since most of it occurs in “absolute secrecy”.
Transparency International executive director Kol Preap said the lack of transparency in Cambodia’s banking sector was paramount.
“Any significant amount of money could be channelled through this system of secrecy,” Kol Preap said yesterday.
The Purpose and Meaning Vishaka Celebration 2556
Namo Sakya Muni Buddha;
Venerable Monks, Nuns and Members of International Buddhist Foundation
Ladies, Gentlemen and Distinguished Guests,
Today, we are gathered here to celebrate the most sacred and auspicious day for Buddhists worldwide. This day was also recognized by the United Nations as the most sacred day and passed a resolution on December 15, 1999 as the Global Holiday.
Vesak or Visakha in Pali language means the sixth month of lunar calendar. On a full moon day of this month, three very powerful events transpired in Buddha life.
1st His Birth: In the scripture (Tri Pittaka) describes that “Lord Buddha was born on Friday, full moon of Vesak, the year of dog in Lumbini Park (probably on May 13, 624 B.C.)”
2nd His Enlightenment: Buddha renounced his luxurious palace life at age 29 to seek Enlightenment. For six years He practiced the ancient methods of self denial (Dukkharakiriya) until his skin emaciated and blood dried out without achieving Enlightenment. Then He realized that extreme asceticism was not the answer.
Finally, through using his own method of middle path (Majjhimakka Padipadha) at age 35 Buddha attained Enlightenment. It was on a Wednesday, full moon of Vesak, the year of Rooster (probably on May 13, 589 B.C.) Lord Buddha then embarked on His journey from place to place and tirelessly taught the Dhamma for 45 years.
3rd: His Parinibbaba. Lord Buddha ascended to Parinibbana at age 80 in Kusinara district. It was a Tuesday, on a full moon day of Vesak, the year of Snake (probably on May 13, 544 B.C.),
On this especial day we should be mindful of Buddha’s final advice: “all compound things are constantly changing and decaying, so strive on diligently to achieve individual goal.”
We are grateful to the founding members of the International Buddhist Foundation for celebrating this day since its inception. On behalf of The International Buddhist Foundation I would like to thank all communities and their members for their support and participation. We are grateful to the Prajna Buddhist Temple of Vietnamese community for hosting this event at this beautiful temple.
Sophan Seng
President of International Buddhist Foundation of Canada (IBF)
President of Khmer-Canadian Youth Association of Alberta
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Tags: ibfcanada, Khmer Youth, Vesak, Vishaka
Sri Lanka-Cambodia Relations with Special Reference to the Period 14th – 20th Centuries
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka,
New Series, Volume XLVIII, Special Number
Issued on July 21, 2003 to commemorate the
250th Anniversary of Upasampada in Sri Lanka
The emergence of Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia is conventionally traced back to the 13th century A.C. However, there is emerging epigraphical and sculptural evidence, that Buddhism of both the Mahavihara and Abhayagiri of Sri Lanka had made a strong early impact on the development of Theravada Buddhism in South East Asia when a good part of this region was dominated from about the 5th-6th century A.C. by the Mon Khmer culture, and later became part of the Khmer empire.
The movement of Buddhist monks and teachers from Sri Lanka to the region was facilitated by advances in navigation technology that witnessed a quantum leap during the period of the fourth-fifth centuries. This helped the spread of the Pali language, the lingua franca of Theravada through
Pali texts written in Sri Lanka.
Cambodian monk translates Sri Lankan Pali text into Chinese
From the first to the sixth century, Funan, the earliest known kingdom in Cambodia with Oc Eo (in present day Vietnam), as the central port, was a trading power, and known as the most powerful kingdom in mainland Southeast Asia. The capital city of Funan was Phnom Ksach Sa in the province of present day Prey Veng in Cambodia. According to a local legend, the kingdom was founded by an Indian Brahmin named Kaundinya (Chinese form: Hun-t’ien) after subduing the queen of Funan, Soma (Chinese form: Liu-ye), a legend paralleling our Vijaya-Kuveni legend.
During the fifth and sixth centuries, Funan was an important centre of Buddhist learning (P. Pelliot, “Le Fou-nan”, BEFEO, vol. III,1903, Briggs 1951, p. 12). According to the Chinese History of Southern Ts’i (479-501), the King of Funan, Kaundiya Jayavarman (478-514) sent in 484, an Indian Buddhist monk, Nagasena, a resident of Funan as ambassador to the Court of the Chinese Emperor Wu-ti taking ivory stupas with him. According to another Chinese source, History of Leang (502-556), the same king sent another envoy to China in 503 with gifts including a coral statue of the Buddha (Hazra, 1981, p. 73). These illustrate the importance of Funan as a centre of Buddhism then.
One of the earliest references to Buddhist relations between Cambodia [Funan] and Sri Lanka goes back to 505 A.C. The Vimuttimagga, (a manual of practical instructions on sila, samadhi and panna) a Pali text of the Abhayagiri school of Sri Lanka, composed by Upatissa in the 2nd century
A.C., exists today in the Chinese language. At the invitation of the Chinese emperor, the Funanese monks Mandrasena and Sanghabhara (or Sanghapala) had taken many Theravada and Mahayana texts to China. It was the latter who translated the Vimuttimagga into Chinese in 505 A.C. (Demieville et al 1978). The Pali language and the Abhayagiri tradition of Theravada, it can be concluded, was known in Cambodia during this time. It may be noted here that it was several decades before this time that the Chinese Buddhist monk Fa-Hsien stayed at the Abhayagiri Vihara, and went back to China with a large number of Buddhist texts written in Sri Lanka.
Further evidence for the presence of Pali Language in CambodiaThere is other evidence for an early Pali presence. A statue of the Buddha with an inscription with the formula in the Pali language “Ye dhamma…” was found near Toul Preah in the province of Prey Veng in Southern Cambodia (IC, Vol. I, p. 297). The whole inscription is in Pali with only the word hetuprabhava in Sanskrit. On the basis of the script, Bhattacharya has dated this inscription to the 7th century. The presence of the Pali language in the 7th century in the Southern part of Cambodia indicates that Theravada Buddhism existed there at the time, at least in some pockets.
CAMBODIA: Khmer Buddhist New Year 2056 is time for Cambodians to spark effective change
FOR PUBLICATION
AHRC-ETC-012-2012
April 15, 2012
An article by Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth published by the Asian Human Rights Commission
Talking about the need for political change in Cambodia gets “old.” I write aplenty in this space and elsewhere on the topic, yet Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People’s Party persists and keeps piling on more reasons why change must occur.
It’s obvious a lot has changed in Cambodia, especially the mirage of development and progress seen in images of bustling metropolitan cities with high rises, latest model cars, crowded markets and restaurants, camera-toting tourists. Cambodia is a paradise for foreign investors who compete for her markets and resources. This influx of capital accelerates change, but these are the sort of changes that should be taken only after deliberation and consideration of their potential impact. This broad-based review does not occur in Cambodia today.
The more things change
An oft-quoted proverb of French origin by novelist Alphonse Karr (1808-90), later quoted by George Bernard Shaw and others, says, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose,” or “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Is this paradoxical?
I admit to being chagrined at reading a commentary by an editor of the Bangkok Post who in “Poor Cambodia not looking so ‘poor’ anymore,” (April 6) noted ironically that “billions of dollars in aid money” help make Phnom Penh visibly “clean” and “spotless” a la Singapore, “at least in those areas where (foreign) delegates (to the ASEAN conference) were either visiting or staying,” with “perhaps … the highest number of Lexus vehicles per capita” and “only three beggars” observed. “I personally don’t believe that the funding (from aid donors) ever reaches those Cambodians in real need in any case,” the editor writes, among other things.
Widespread concern among observers about the worrisome widening gap between those is confirmed by a longtime friend, a non-Cambodian professional with decades-long experience working with peoples in developing countries, who shared World Bank data that show the dramatic rise in economic inequality.