Chefs sizzle for charity

Chefs Sunny de Ocampo, Don Hancey, Stephen Clarke and Peter Manifis.

24/Aug/2010
InMyCommunity.com (Perth, Western Australia)

SEVEN well-known chefs with big hearts will come together on August 30 to raise money for Cambodian children.

Cocktails for Cambodia aims to raise $30,000 to help three groups – the Paul Dubrule Hospitality School, The Children’s Surgical Centre and The Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity.

It’s hard to imagine what life is like for people who live in Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in Asia, but Don Hancey, one of WA’s most accomplished chefs, has seen first-hand the suffering and is driven to make a difference.

Five years ago, he established the Yes Cambodia organisation.

This year Don’s friends – Russell Blaikie of Must Winebar, Stephen Clarke of Clarkes of North Beach, Peter Manifis of Incontro Restaurant, Eat Good Life’s Sunny de Ocampo, Theo Kalogeracos of Little Caesars Pizzeria, and master oyster shucker Jerry Fraser – have come on board for the fourth Cocktails for Cambodia event.

Don said the event was not only about raising money, but also raising awareness.

“In the past five years, we have continued our support by raising funds and working on special projects but it’s never enough; every time you go over there, you see other areas of need,” he said.

“I’ve not known anyone that has gone there and not come back and wanted to do something.”

Don said the biggest problems were lack of health and welfare and lack of education.

“When you help educate kids through the hospitality school you empower them; it means they can get a job,” he said.

“A lot of these kids support their parents.

“Give a kid an education and you’ve given them a survival tool for life.”

- The event is at West Coast TAFE Joondalup Hospitality & Tourism Centre and will include a charity auction.

Tickets available at www.yescambodia.org

Bear cub debut puts spotlight on survival

June 30, 2008
Ryan Emery
The Australian

HER parents may have suffered greatly in their lives, but Australia's first-born sun bear has started her life in a far more peaceful way.

On the weekend, three-month-old Maly was unveiled to the public at Perth Zoo.

Keeping a watchful eye on her was first-time mother Bopha, who was rescued from poachers in Cambodia some years ago.

Often cradled in her mother's arms, Maly was experiencing the world outside her den for the first time. She was born weighing just 406g on March 26 to Bopha and father Jamran.

Jamran and Bopha were part of Asia's illegal culinary and medicinal trade, which has pushed the sun bear, also known as the honey bear, towards the edge of extinction. The sun bear, the world's smallest bear, is reputed to have great healing powers and is considered a delicacy in some parts of Asia.

A bowl of bear-paw soup in Cambodia can reportedly cost up to $1290, and dried bear gall can sell for 18 times the price of gold. The sun bears, named after the U-shaped golden patch of fur on their chests, are milked for their gall bladder bile while they are still alive.

West Australian Environment Minister David Templeman said the birth of Maly, the Cambodian word for blossom, was an important achievement.

"Maly is particularly special because of the remarkable survival story of her parents, six-year-old Bopha and eight-year-old Jamran, who were rescued from poachers," he said.

"Bopha and Jamran were taken illegally from the wild when they were cubs, and were in a terrible condition when they arrived at the Free The Bears Fund sanctuary near Phnom Penh in Cambodia."

The sanctuary nursed the bears back to health before they were sent to Perth Zoo.