Joint Statement of the Cambodian-Canadian Community

The following statement was handed to Canadian MP Justin P.J. Trudeau during his meeting with Ven. Loun Sovath and members of the Cambodian-Canadian community.

http://www.box.com/s/glqbyy991gkyp84srbef

Man not responsible for wife's death, judge rules

Narin Sok (Photo: Edmonton Journal)

May 16, 2011
CBC News (Canada)

A 52-year-old Edmonton man was found not criminally responsible Monday in the death of his wife.

A Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled that Narin Sok did not know what he was doing when he strangled his wife Deang Huon, 40, in their central Edmonton apartment on July 30, 2008.

The Crown and defence lawyers recommended in a joint submission last week that Sok not be held criminally responsible. Justice Darlene Acton agreed.

Sok's fate in now in the hands of Alberta's Mental Health Panel which will decide if and when he should be released into the community.

International Symposium on oral history of Cambodians living in Montreal on May 5-7, 2011

Chers compatriotes et amis ,

Le groupe Cambodge qui travaille depuis plus de 3ans en partenariat avec l'université Concordia pour l'histoire oral des Cambodgiens montréalais déplacés par la guerre, le génocide ainsi que toutes autres violations des droits de l'homme, vous invite chaleureusement à participer à notre colloque bilingue international qui aura lieu le 5, 6 et 7 Mai à l'université Concordia . Plusieurs conférenciers et invités intéressants sont invités à ce colloque . Pour les plus amples informations veuillez voir lien ci joint www.curakhmer.org

Bonne journée

Mme Channarét

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Unofficial English translation by KI-Media

Dear Compatriots and friends,

The Cambodian group that has been working for over 3 years in partnership with Concordia University on an oral history of Cambodians in Montreal who was displaced by war, genocide and other human rights violations, warmly invites you to attend our International bilingual symposium to be held on 5, 6 and May 7 at Concordia University. Several interesting speakers and guests are invited to this symposium. For additional information please click on the following link www.curakhmer.org.

Good day

Ms. Channarét

Please help vote for Cambodian-Canadian hopeful skater Lexis Ly for her chance to share the first skate experience with Olympic heroes

11-1/2-year old Lexis Ly

Dear All KI-Media Readers,

Please, take your one minute to vote for Lexis Ly, a Cambodian-Canadian girl who is competing for Winspot Canada - First Skate Contest.

To vote for her, click on the link below, then scroll down to "Lexis L." and click "Vote Now!".

Click here to vote for Lexis

To view a video of our hopeful and spunky Cambodian-Canadian skater, please watch the Youtube video below.

Thank you!

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Vote NOW for your favorite top ten finalist!

The top three vote-getters will win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share the first skate experience with Olympic heroes Hayley Wickenheiser, Elvis Stojko and Christine Nesbitt on one of three new ice rinks at Canada Olympic Park.

Please view the top ten video and essay submissions and cast your vote from December 6 until December 12, 2010.

The winners will be unveiled and claim their prizes on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at the athletic and ice complex at COP at the First Skate event.

Green Scene: [Cambodian-Canadian?] Marketer mingles lavish parties with sustainable values

Teang Tang says her marketing group Mingle Events is largely based on her Buddhist values, which teach to give back to the community and respect life. (Photo courtesy Joi Media)

“It was in business school that I realized I didn’t want to make a career out of (fashion design). I didn’t want to be chained to a sewing machine all day. I just wanted to be able to have an outlet for my creativity." — Teang Tang, founder of Mingle Events

Friday, 30 October 2009
Written by Theresa Tayler
The Calgary Journal (Canada)

Teang Tang knows how to throw a lavishly glam — yet exceedingly sustainable — party.

The 27-year-old is the founder of Mingle Events, an eco-focused marketing group that puts on high-end bashes, which at heart have been planned around a very conservative core set of values.

The Calgary bred marketer credits her religion as the influence behind her passion for the environment.

“I’m Buddhist and part of the teaching is to give back to the community and respect life, whether it be your own, others, animals, plants, etcetera,” she says.

“You have to respect the environment that you operate in, the people that you hire and the materials that you use. You don’t want to be a leech on the world — whatever you take, you need to give back.”

Whether it’s planning the opening launch party of a new Roots Canada store or co-ordinating an eco-chic fashion show, Tang acquires goods from sustainable food and beverage providers, finds ways to reuse and recycle, focuses on securing venues that fit her eco-friendly vision and helps clients build green business models in the process.

“I started (Mingle) because I saw a need in the market for socially responsible events,” says Tang, whose company launched in 2006.

Tang was born in Thailand and moved to Canada when she was an infant. Her family eventually settled in Calgary in 1988 as Tang entered Grade 1.

“My parents have a huge influence on my life. As immigrants, they came to this country without knowing the language and already in debt to the government (for immigration fees),” she says.

“My father couldn’t even speak enough English to figure out where they could go to buy a bag of rice. My dad used to go to English school during the day and then in the evenings wash floors and clean dishes at a local Chinese restaurant. He didn’t get home until 4 a.m. and then he would get up at 6 a.m. and start the routine all over again.

“I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like. It was a tough life and I’m grateful each day for the sacrifices that they have made.”

As a little girl, Tang had her heart set on becoming a famous fashion designer.

By high school, she was interning with Calgary clothing designer Lisa Arcega, who advised the garb-adoring teen that success in the style industry was based on not only being a fabulous stitch and sew, but excelling as a business woman.

Tang took Arcega’s advice.

She enrolled at Athabasca University, where she majored in accounting. As her first year progressed, Tang quickly realized that she had a knack for numbers and promotion — she left the sewing machine behind and never looked back.

“It was in business school that I realized I didn’t want to make a career out of (fashion design),” says Tang. “I didn’t want to be chained to a sewing machine all day. I just wanted to be able to have an outlet for my creativity.”

When Tang graduated in 2004 and began working for Momentum Calgary, a not-for-profit society that partners with low-income Calgarians to help create productive futures.

She started as a Business Development Facilitator and moved on to Marketing & Community Relations.

“It was very motivating working for non-profits. I was always in direct contact with our clients and would experience first-hand how our work really helped them gain entrepreneurship skills or helped them take another step away from poverty.”

When it became Tang’s turn to start building up her own business, Momentum signed on as her first client. She planned Marketing Photoshoot events for them, an Annual General Meeting and Dinner as well as a Business Breakfast.

Carolyn Davis, Associate Manager of Momentum says Tang bring a “tremendous” amount of energy to her work.

“She invests herself personally to ensure that events she organizes come off smoothly ad smartly,” says Davis.

“Teang’s commitment to sustainability is authentic, and this is one of the reasons we continue to work with her.”

Over the past three years things have begun to take off for Tang and Mingle. In 2008, Roots Canada hired her to handle their opening gig for their new Calgary flagship store on 4th St.

She also planned an eco-chic fashion show, showcasing local designers and eco-boutiques, during Calgary’s 2008 Career Show.

Jennifer Peters, owner of DIRT, a Calgary-based online eco-fashion store, was one of the vendors featured in the Career Show runway show. Peters says Tang’s strength is in her creativity and organizational skill.

“She takes care of all the external marketing and promotions so all (you) have to do is supply her with promo materials,” says Peters.

“The first time I worked with Teang she single handedly planned an eco-fashion and trade show. She really managed to highlight some of Dirt (then named Green Bee Boutique) best styles and eco-designers and showcase them excellently on the runway. She helped showcase our clothes in a way that was chic and beautiful. No one would have ever guessed, if Teang hadn’t told them, that the runway show featured eco-friendly fashions.”

Mingle holds their own annual promotional bash, Masherari, a New Years’ Eve party equipped with a ton a glitz and glamour, to help build awareness about sustainability.

You’ll be hard pressed to find any traces of hemp on her fashion runways, or patchouli-scented candles at her parties. Those stereotypes of sustainable fashion shows and eco-events couldn’t be further from Mingle’s mantra.

In the Future Tang says she wants to expand to cities across Canada.

“We currently have clients in Toronto, but I'd like to offer our services to other cities, specifically Vancouver,” she says.

“The more sustainable events we produce - the bigger the impact. Our goal is to educate as many people as we can about sustainability along the way. Mingle will become the leading event management company for Socially responsible businesses. We want to align ourselves with companies that focus on the triple bottom line: Social, Environment and Economics – aka, people, planet, profit.”
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How she does it, and how you can do it to — Teang Tang’s tips for planning a home eco-friendly party.

Guestlist & Getting there: Keep the guest list to low numbers, so you can comfortably talk to everyone ad make sure everyone has attention.

Invitations: If the majority of your guests have access to email, the "greenest" invitations you can choose are online invitations. There is no waste involved! You can also set up an event website for easy access to event details. Check out evite.com.

Centerpieces: Fill hurricane vases of all sizes. Fill one with fruit/nuts (cranberries, pomegranates, limes, Mixed whole nuts (in shells) etc.), others with pinecones from your yard and others with pillar candles. Arrange them offsetting each other down the center of your table, creating a look of a wave. Or alternately, you can group them together in the middle of the table for impact.

Music: You have to love all the new technology! I put all my songs on an IPOD and play it throughout the party.

Party favours: Rather than giving them something that they might never use, consider donating to a charity on their behalf or donate as a group and track the progress of your donation throughout the year. You can also set up a charity table, list three different charities and let your guests direct where you put their donation.

Pictures: Avoid disposable cameras and stick to digital. After the party, post them on Flickr/Facebook or email them out to your guests. It eliminates the need for prints that may go unused and each person can decided if they want to print out pictures for framing.

Food: Try to select finger friendly foods, therefore eliminating a need for utensils. Buy local organic foods. Hit up our local farmers market. If finger food is not appropriate use sturdy reusable flatware (either metal or hard plastic) be sure to provide clearly marked receptacles for them.

Beverages: Serve beverages in punch bowls, pitchers and urns. If you must serve in individual containers, make sure they are recyclable in nature (cans, glass, plastic bottles with 1 or 2 listed on the bottom near the chasing arrows recycle sign) Provide and clearly marked separate receptacles for recycling and for garbage.

The evolution of Calgary's deadly gang war [-The life and death of Cambodian-Canadian John Pheng]

Retired police officer Henry Hollinger says Calgary's current gang warfare can be traced back 10 years to kids with ties to Forest Lawn High School. (Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald)

March 14, 2009
By Jason Van Rassel
Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada)

"Much love from the crew The cries and the pain got me goin' insane Gang life has got me on the brink walking around with a strap on my hip" -- Lyrics from a rap recording paying tribute to slain FOB Killers member John Pheng made by his friends in 2005

Before FOB and FK, there was the"Runaway Gang."

That's the nickname police investigators gave a ragtag bunch of troublemakers who either attended Forest Lawn High School or spent time hanging around the school a decade ago.

"We watched this group of goofy kids develop into a gang," recalls Henry Hollinger, a retired Calgary police officer who was working in the intelligence unit at the time.

From kids to killers, this is the story of Calgary's evolving gang war, how a group of teens went from cutting class together 10 years ago to shooting each other on city streets.

The feud between FOB and the FOB Killers (FK) has claimed at least 25 lives since 2002, maimed dozens of others and struck fear into law-abiding citizens throughout Calgary.

If there's any question about whether the conflict has escalated into all-out war, consider the life and death of John Pheng.

At age 22, the FK member died on the floor of a 17th Avenue nightclub as his companions pursued the gunmen into the busy street outside two years ago.

Pheng had killed at least one other person. On New Year's Day 2004, he fatally stabbed an 18-year-old Calgary man who was dating his former girlfriend.

This is the life Pheng's friends celebrated in an amateur recording they made shortly after he was murdered in February 2005.

"You're a soldier, man,"raps one.

Pheng's friends sang the praises of his violent ways, but the citizens of Calgary aren't joining in.

Gang violence topped a list of concerns in a citizens' survey released this week, and it dominated the agenda Friday as Premier Ed Stelmach met his counterparts from B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Police have thrown considerable resources toward stopping the violence, disrupting the gangs' criminal businesses and keeping youths from getting involved in the first place.

What makes the war between FOB and FK unique --and difficult to stop--is that it isn't motivated by battles over drug turf, but mutual hatred.

"They've matured, they've learned, they're more criminally experienced and they've developed relationships in other cities and provinces," says Acting Staff Sgt. Gord Eiriksson of the city police's gang unit. "But what concerns us the most is the level of violence and the complete lack of regard for others' lives."

ORIGINS

Pheng came to Canada with his parents and two older siblings when he was three years old.

He was born at a displaced persons camp in Thailand in 1982, shortly after his parents fled Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime.

By all accounts, Pheng's parents worked hard to provide for their children, first in Olds, then in Calgary.

Things became more difficult after Pheng's mother died of cancer and his father was left sole responsibility for raising the kids.

It's a pattern common to many immigrant communities, and not just the Asian-Canadian teens who made up most of the Runaway Gang: parents favour more traditional values, which their Canadianized offspring find too strict.

But the parents often have to work long hours to support the family, which means they have few ways of enforcing their will when the child rebels.

"Usually, these kids aren't involved at home and have activities outside," says Do Huu Trong, chairman of the board of the Calgary Vietnamese-Canadian Association.

At first, Hollinger and other investigators who encountered the Runaway Gang were dealing with truants who were imitating things they saw in gangster movies.

Several used cigarettes and coins to burn dot-pattern tattoos on their hands and forearms, crude imitations of traditional three-and five-dot markings favoured by Vietnamese gangs.

The meanings of the tattoos can vary, but a common five-dot design is meant to depict the "five T's" in Vietnamese: tinh (love), tien (money), tu (prison), toi (crime) and thu (revenge).

For Pheng and his friends, they were soon on the road to becoming hardened criminals instead of teenage imitators.

RUNAWAYS BECOME GANGSTERS

"White"--slang for cocaine --drives the business of FOB and FK today.

Dealing cocaine was the ticket to bigger money, but it was also what got the first person killed.

Huu Pham, a 15-year-old from Calgary, was in a fourth-floor Edmonton apartment when a police tactical team burst through the door on Sept. 24, 1999.

Pham and another man fled to the balcony and climbed over the railing. Both died of head injuries when they fell to the pavement below.

The raid was part of an investigation by RCMP and Edmonton police into a cocaine trafficking organization. Son Nguyen and Tan Diep, who later became members of FOB, were also swept up in the police operation.

"They went to Edmonton as baby gangsters and came back to Calgary as big-time gangsters," Hollinger says.

Their time in Edmonton taught budding criminals like Son Nguyen and Diep the potential behind dial-a-doping (mobile drug sales arranged using cellphones and pagers) in Calgary.

As the core group from Forest Lawn branched into new rackets, its members got to know teens from other parts of the city, like the Chin brothers, Roland and Roger, who attended John G. Diefenbaker High School in the northwest, and Jackie Tran, who went to Crescent Heights High School.

At first, everyone got along and enjoyed the profits, but something split the friends into two groups.

The catalyst for the break isn't known by outsiders: some have told police it may have been over a stolen personal item--a watch or a jacket -- a fight over a girl, or the theft of some marijuana.

As a veteran investigator recently put it, determining what started the war isn't as important as recognizing what it has become.

"I don't think the reason they splintered is as fundamental as what's happening -- and that people are dying," Sgt. Gavin Walker said during a hearing in December for Jackie Tran, who is facing deportation to his native Vietnam, in part due to his alleged membership in FK.

WAR BEGINS

Only the people who opened fire inside the Shaken Drink Room on Feb.26, 2005, know exactly why Pheng had to die that night.

Pheng's killing, like 23 of the 25 with confirmed links to the war between FOB and FK, remains unsolved.

Five months before he died, Pheng was arrested in connection with a violent home invasion in Chestermere, where six men kidnapped and assaulted a 20-year-old woman.

Though Pheng was never charged by police, his enemies weren't about to about wait for the courts to proclaim his guilt.

Violence -- including murder--was already an established way of settling scores between the two gangs, but investigators recall Pheng's enemies felt he crossed a line by harming a woman.

"One of them said to me, 'You don't mess with the bitches,' " one veteran police officer says.

Pheng's 2005 killing marked the end of a period of relative quiet during the FOB-FK conflict brought about by a police task force formed two years earlier.

Back in February 2002, Pheng, Vuthy Kong and other members of the emerging FK gang got in a fight outside a downtown karaoke bar.

During the melee, Kong fatally stabbed a young Calgarian, Adam Miu. The victim wasn't a gang member, but his death angered people who were.

Police were reluctant to publicly say the killing, and sporadic violence that followed it, were related to gangs. In fact, police at the time wouldn't use the word "gang" to describe criminal organizations.

Six days in December 2002 changed all that.

On Dec. 23, rival gangsters crossed paths at Southcentre as last-minute Christmas shoppers filled the stores.

As the parking lot teemed with shoppers, FK member Linju (Billy) Ly drove his car past the Indigo bookstore, while passenger Michael Oduneye pointed a .223-calibre handgun out the window and fired four shots.

Two shots hit Jason Youn: one perforated his bowel and the other lodged near his spine. Youn needed a wheelchair and a colostomy bag for months after the shooting.

But he was lucky -- he survived.

Revenge came swiftly to Ly, who was shot dead as he shovelled the sidewalk in front of his parents' Renfrew home six days later.

Ly was the second person connected to FK to be killed in retaliatory attacks that day: someone shot FK associate Vinh Le inside a crowded downtown club hours before.

Less than two weeks later, then police chief Jack Beaton announced police were forming a task force to investigate several connected incidents "directly related to criminal street-gang activity."

The police had escalated things, but so had the gangs: they demonstrated they would exact revenge any time they felt they had a clear shot, no matter how many others they put in danger.

EXPANDING HOSTILITIES

Many have been killed, wounded and jailed since those lyrics were dedicated to Pheng.

Shootings in public continued, including two separate ambushes at Calgary gas stations in less than two months in 2005 that killed three.

Police began seeing evidence that warring gangsters were preparing for combat whenever they left their homes: some had guns in secret compartments in their vehicles and many started wearing body armour.

Even as killings and prison decimated their ranks, FOB and FK have recruited new members willing to fight a battle that predates them.

"Half of them don't even know what this dispute is even about," Hollinger says.

But the hatred between the two sides has become entrenched. When police visited Jackie Tran in 2007 to inform him of a threat to his life, he shrugged off the warning.

"This isn't going to be over until they're dead or we're all dead," he told an officer.

FOB and FK have long since grown into multicultural gangs with many Canadian-born members and many whose parents aren't immigrants.

In a southwest Calgary home occupied by a Caucasian family, an anguished father recently wondered how his son became involved in such a dangerous life.

"There's a big part of me who blames myself for how things are,"says Brian, whose name has been changed to protect his identity.

Although the younger man's parents divorced when he was growing up, he took part in normal activities such as minor sports, church groups and skiing.

Brian figures his son first got to know members of one gang after spending time in custody following minor legal scrapes.

"I believe he is a friend or associate -- I still don't even know the extent of his involvement," he says.

"I've asked him and he's said he hasn't done anything wrong. But if he had, I don't think he would tell me. Why would he tell me he's committed a crime?"

Brian is under no illusions about the dangerous company his son keeps--so much so, he fears for his son's life and even worries about his own safety.

"I've come home many, many nights and watched for suspicious vehicles,"he adds. "My hope is that he leaves the city of Calgary, because I don't believe he can survive in Calgary."

REVENGE, FEAR AND THE CODE

As Pheng's friends rapped those lyrics in his memory, there's no mistaking their message: justice comes from the barrel of a gun, not from a courtroom.

Gang members intent on revenge and witnesses too afraid to come forward have formed a formidable wall of silence that has played a large role in thwarting police efforts to solve all but two of the 25 killings with confirmed connections to the war between FOB and FK.

"We're dealing with the fact these groups have instilled fear in other people who have knowledge about what's going on," Eiriksson says.

But the code of silence is only part of the challenge.

Over the years, the gangs have become increasingly sophisticated and found new ways to hide their activities. That makes for complex, time-consuming police investigations.

Further clouding the picture are the ties FOB and FK have with other gangs:FOB has connections to the Crazy Dragons in Edmonton, while FK has aligned itself with the Redd Alert aboriginal gang in that city. Calgary police have also publicly identified an FK member as an associate of the United Nations gang, a notorious group from B. C.'s Lower Mainland.

Following the murder of FOB member Roger Chin last summer, one of his friends vowed the gang would bring in reinforcements from other cities.

FOB and FK have proven they won't hesitate to use deadly violence against each other, but they have also demonstrated little regard for the lives of anyone who crosses them.

Pheng stabbed and killed Jason Dang on New Year's Day 2004 in a fight over a woman.

Investigators found Pheng's DNA on property left at the scene, but he was murdered before police could charge him.

THE FUTURE

If you want to get out of a gang, police say there are only three ways to do it: getting killed, getting thrown in jail, or getting help.

Pheng got out the first way.

One of his enemies, FOB member Roland Chin, has taken the second route -- though not by his own choosing.

But Chin, 25, will soon be afforded a chance to try the third option and leave the gang behind.

Chin, serving a 32-month sentence for drug and weapons offences at Bowden Institution in central Alberta, is due to be freed on supervised release sometime in the coming months.

"I have been very busy with work and schooling inside the institution,"Chin wrote last fall in a letter to the Herald.

Chin was behind bars when someone killed his younger brother, Roger, in a drive-by shooting on Centre Street N. last July.

Roland didn't discuss his plans after he's released from prison, or whether his brother's killing will influence the path he chooses.

"I am trying to move on with my life and avoid the media attention . . . (and) I feel that the media just want a story to sell newspapers, which will jeopardize what I am trying to accomplish with my life," he wrote.

Only time will reveal whether Chin succeeds.

Nath Keo, a Cambodian-Canadian male bellydancer and teacher

Nath Keo: Profile of a Cambodian Bellydancer

Nath Keo performs with some of the participants from his Saturday workshop during a performance at the Gibraltar Room Saturday evening. Keo, a Cambodian bellydancer based out of Victoria, was in the lakecity teaching workshops on Saturday and Sunday. (Photo: Alison Shepherd)

Bellydancer enjoys teaching workshops

April 01, 2008
By Alison Shepherd
Williams Lake Tribune (British Columbia, USA)

If the whistling and applause from the crowd Saturday night and the smiles from participants Sunday after the workshop are any indication, bellydancer Nath Keo made quite the impression on the lakecity.

Keo spent the weekend teaching workshops and performing Saturday night before a crowd of more than 60 people at the Gibraltar Room.

Some of Keo’s original choreography was performed Saturday night.

“It’s so flattering to return to a town and see your choreography performed,” he says.

Keo was last teaching and performing here more than four years ago and he says he is happy to be back.

“I love coming to smaller towns because it feels like half work and half visit,” he says.

Keo spends most weekends traveling around the world teaching and performing and he says when he wants a weekend to himself, he has to schedule it well in advance.

“I’m booked through to fall 2009,” he says.

Keo will be performing in Seattle this weekend, then he is the featured performer at the International Bellydance Conference of Canada held in Toronto a week later.

He will also spend three months touring, teaching and, performing in Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

Keo spends approximately half of his weekends teaching and performing and says if people put in time to put on an event to further dancers’ skills, he is always happy to be a part of it.

When he is not teaching, performing or traveling, Keo works at a senior’s residence in Victoria and he laughs that the seniors keep him sane.

“Where I come from [Cambodia] we keep our family so it’s part of my culture to be with seniors. They’re great and I really enjoy working with them,” Keo says.

In addition to his work with the seniors, his teaching and performing, Keo is also a writer, having recently completed his first novel, and a musician.

He has produced an album and one of the songs he danced to Saturday night was written and performed by him.

Local bellydance instructor Faith Andre says the weekend workshops went well.

“It’s always fun, informative and interesting when Nath comes to town. I think the women in the workshops learned a lot and I’m looking forward to having him return again,” she says.

Keo says he would like to return to the lakecity and will be talking to Andre about his next visit.

“She was saying something about a weekend retreat. I’m always open to new ways to teach so this could be a lot of fun,” he says.