Congratulations to Youhorn Chea, 3-time Mayor of Dandenong, Australia

Mayor Youhorn Chea with his grandsons Aiden Darith-Tang and Tristan Sachakrya-Youhorn.

Chea mayor for the third time

12 Dec 11
By Nicole Precel
Dandenong Leader

YOUHORN Chea has big plans for the city.

Councillor “Uncle” Chea was voted Greater Dandenong mayor for the third time at last week’s council meeting, beating out candidates Angela Long and Yvonne Herring.

Joining the council in 1997, Cr Chea became the first Cambodian-born mayor in Australia in 2001/02 and donned the robes again in 2006/07.

As a refugee, he escaped the killing fields of Cambodia in 1982, and started his life in Australia at the Enterprise Migrant Hostel in Springvale. He has not left the suburb since.

A cultural look at policing

Changing families: Cabramatta police multicultural liaison officer Phiny Ung says cultural and generational change can be difficult for families. Picture: Chris De Jong

26 Oct, 2011
BY JENNA DAROCZY
Fairfield City Champion (Australia)

AS A mother of four and grandmother of more, Phiny Ung has had her fair share of ups and downs in raising teenagers.

But she says they've been her best teachers in terms of helping other families in Cabramatta with troubled youth.

"My eldest was born in Cambodia, the others were born here and they never let me get away with comparing how things are here with how I was raised," she said.

"It never works because the children don't understand how different it is.

"I tell parents that here all the time. Just because they see their children as having every benefit, their kids don't understand what their parents' culture was like."

Congratulation to Vanty Tang: 1st in the state of New South Wales, Australia

Click on the article to zoom in

Weightlifter shows strength in face of adversity

Triumph through adversity ... Vannara Be has risen from grape farming to gold medal-hunting. (Getty Images)

October 1, 2010
By Jano Gibson in Delhi
ABC Grandstand Sport (Australia)

As a little boy, Vannara Be grew up hearing about the torture inflicted on his relatives by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Two of his father's siblings were murdered, his grandmother lost an eye and his father was left with severe psychological mental scars.

But almost 30 years since that reign of terror, 22-year-old Be has become the first Cambodian-born competitor to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

The diminutive weightlifter, who lived with his parents and three siblings on the outskirts of Phnom Penh until he was 10, only received his Australian citizenship late last year.

Not until today, at a press conference in Delhi, did he learn he was the first Cambodian to wear the green and gold.

"I just found out today," he said.

"It's pretty nervous. Suddenly you are representing your country."

His family's first link to Australia came through one of his uncles, who fled to the country on a boat in the 1980s.

His uncle was granted refugee status and eventually persuaded Be's father to come to Australia for a short work trip at a farm in Victoria.

The owner of the farm offered to sponsor him to return on a working visa.

The whole family arrived in Australia in 1998, but it was only last November that Be received his citizenship.

He said he took up weightlifting to get out of school and had never really had the ambition to represent Australia.

"As a little kid you go to school. To get out of school you go play different sports," he said.

Be, who will be competing in the 62-kilogram weightlifting competition, said he can hoist 148 kilograms.

He credited some of his physical strength to his early days working with his mother in her Cambodian shop and later with his father on the farm.

"During picking season you carry weights around, like grapes in a bucket," he said.

"I'm not too sure where I get my strength from.

"Maybe from there, picking grapes."

Cambodian Refugee Competes For Australia In India

Oct 1, 2010
DENNIS PASSA, AP Sports Writer

NEW DELHI (AP) ― The son of a refugee Cambodian family which lived through the ravages of the Pol Pot regime will compete in weightlifting for Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

Vannara Be, who came to Australia in 1998 as a 10-year-old child, will compete in the 62-kilogram division when the weightlifting competition begins Monday.

The 22-year-old Be, who considers himself a longshot for a medal, became an Australian citizen last November when the government fast-tracked his citizenship so he could compete in New Delhi.

"It's a dream come true," Be said Friday at the athletes' village. "You never expected to be in a country like Australia, and now to represent them is quite amazing."

Be's father, who was mentally scarred by Pol Pot's terror reign in the late 1970s when two of his brothers were killed and his mother lost an eye in the violence, went to Australia in 1996 to work in a vineyard in the Yarra Valley of Victoria state.

The rest of the family followed the father two years later from their home outside Phnom Penh. The pint-sized Be has an older sister and two younger sisters, Socheata, 20, and Richny, 16, both budding weightlifters.

Be first took up weightlifting at Mount Lilydale Mercy College in Melbourne's northern suburbs "to get out of school," he said.

He credited some of his early strength to working with his mother in her Cambodian shop and later with his father on the land.

"During picking season you carry weights around, like grapes in a bucket," he said.

Be's coach, Anthony Dove, said the young lifter had an incredible work ethic.

"He trains about 10 times a week, twice a day," Dove said. "It's amazing how quickly he has picked up the sport. He's very astute and asks a lot of questions. He always wants to put more weight on the bar. Nothing will hold him back."

From Cambodia to Delhi, via Australia for Vannara Be [-We are proud of you also, Vannara!]

Weightlifter Vannara Be impresses Indian ladies at the athletes village. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: News Limited

October 01, 2010
Mike Colman in Delhi
The Australian

HIS uncle was a boat person, a refugee from Pol Pot's reign of terror. His father was an immigrant who bent his back dawn to dusk picking grapes to provide his family with a future. Now Commonwealth Games weightlifter Vannara Be has become the first Cambodian-born athlete to represent Australia.

So how does he feel?

"Surprised actually," he said after being presented to the media. "I didn't know until someone just told me."

But if Victoria-based Be was vague about his standing in Australian sporting history, he has total clarity about his own family history and the terrible affect the Pol Pot regime had upon it.

"My aunty and uncle were murdered, my grandmother lost an eye," the 22 year-old said. "They say she cried so much when she lost her children that it just disappeared."

In the early 1980s, Be's uncle managed to flee Cambodia for Thailand, then got on a boat to Australia. By 1996 he had become a citizen and on a trip home to Phnom Penh urged Be's uncle to join him in the new country.

"Dad came out on a short-term visa. My aunty was working on a vineyard in the Yarra Valley and dad tagged along and worked with her. When it came time for him to leave, the lady who owned the farm asked him to stay. He said he couldn't leave his family behind so she did all the work to get us all to Australia. It was all because my father had worked so hard."

Just four years old when he arrived in Australia, Be proved he too was a hard worker, helping his parents pick grapes and carrying them in crates from an early age.

"Maybe that's where I got my strength from. Who knows?"

While the source of his talent is a mystery - there is no culture of weightlifting in Cambodia although Be's three sisters have all taken up the sport - there is no question about his earliest motivation.

"I took it up because playing sport meant you could get time off school," he said. "If you were in a competition you could get a whole day off."

The turning point of his career came when the family gained permanent residency last year.

"Before that we were always wondering if we would have to go back to Cambodia," he said. "I had no real goal because I didn't know what my future was. I'd only train once or twice a week. Then when we knew we would be staying I got serious."

Competing in the 62kg class, Be has a best lift of 115kg in snatch and 138kg in the clean and jerk.

While none of his family will be in Delhi, he knows they will be watching him compete on television.

"My mother is so proud, she is ringing me every day," he said.

Nurse Leakhana Om injured in sickening hit-run at East Oakleigh

Leakhana Om, who was injured in a hit-run in East Oakleigh. Picture: VICTORIA POLICE Source: Herald Sun

August 29, 2010
Mark Buttler
Herald Sun (Australia)

A WOMAN left with horrendous injuries after a callous hit-run collision worked tirelessly to help others.

Leakhana Om, 68, is in hospital with many broken bones, spinal injuries and horrific internal damage after being struck and left for dead at East Oakleigh.

Police are still looking for the driver.

Mrs Om had been out for her regular morning stroll near her home when she was hit beside Clayton Rd, near Stewart St, at 11am on Friday.

Only the quick intervention of a passing ambulance on its way to the nearby Monash Medical Centre saved her from an even worse plight.

Mrs Om's daughter Socheata today said her mother worked as a nurse looking after the elderly.

When not at work, the devout Buddhist spent almost of all of her remaining time trying to help others in her native Cambodia.

"She's very kind. She's very generous,'' Ms Ty said.

"It's pretty devastating. It's not something you'd wish upon anyone.''

Doctors at the Royal Melbourne Hospital have placed Mrs Ty in an induced coma.

Ms Ty said whoever hit her mother should face up to what they had done.

"Come to the police and turn yourself in,'' she said.

Leading Sen-Const Mark Smith said Mrs Ty had been able to indicate she had been hit by a truck, which would have been extensively damaged.

He said it was unclear why the driver would not have stopped.

"That bemuses us as well. (It's) very callous,'' Leading Sen-Const Smith said.

Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or go to
www.crimestoppers.com.au.

Coast mother jailed for five years

Angela Bamford has been jailed for five years.

March 4th, 2010
Emmaline Stigwood
GoldCoast.com.au

A MOTHER who defrauded her friends by spruiking fake Gold Coast property investment schemes to fund her gambling addiction was yesterday jailed for five years.

Angela Bamford, 41, appeared in the Brisbane District Court and pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud.

The court was told between 2005 and 2007 Bamford took advantage of friendships she had forged to get six victims and their families to give her about $340,000 on the promise of high returns in a variety of schemes.

Prosecutor Dennis Kinsella said most of the payments were followed by trips to the casinos where Bamford gambled away most of the money.

Mr Kinsella said Bamford, of Brisbane, offered her victims investments in building projects in Canada and New Zealand and property on the Gold Coast.

He said Bamford appeared to live an 'extremely comfortable' lifestyle and exaggerated her financial status to her victims, using some of the money to buy a luxury car worth $80,000.

When some of her victims went to report the matter to police Bamford threatened them and their families, the court was told.

"This included death threats ... one suggestion was a complainant's child would end up in hospital," said Mr Kinsella.

Defence barrister Leon Ackermann told the court Bamford had witnessed atrocities and been abused in Cambodia, including being forced into child labour by the Khmer Rouge.

He said as an adult her marriage was marred by more violence and 'domestic slavery' that led to pathological gambling.

Judge Kerry O'Brien said Bamford was 'plainly a deceitful person'.

Bamford will be eligible for parole in November 2011.

Pathological [Cambodian-Australian] gambler jailed for five years

March 03, 2010
Mark Oberhardt
CourierMail.com.au

A PATHOLOGICAL gambler who conned her friends out of about $340,000 in a fraudulent investment scheme was jailed for five years today.

Mother-of-two Angela Bamford, who has been excluded from all three Queensland casinos, used various means to defraud six complainants over a two-year period from May 2005 to May 2007.

The District Court in Brisbane heard Cambodian-born Bamford had experienced a life of slavery and abuse dating back to when she was sent to a Khmer Rouge labour camp at age six.

However, Judge Kerry O'Brien said Bamford was a "deceitful" person and it was "extraordinary" that she was able to convince people to give her such large amounts of money.

He sentenced Bamford to five years' jail and set her parole eligibility date at November 3, next year.

Bamford, 41, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and three counts of aggravated fraud.

Prosecutor Dennis Kinsella said Bamford formed relationships with people and convinced them she had inside information on investments which could return high profits.

He said they included building schemes in Canada and New Zealand, and property investments on the Gold Coast.

She had also made claims about assisting people in getting Australian visas.

Mr Kinsella said in all Bamford had received about $340,000 which she had gambled away or spent on an $80,000 car.

He said when some victims indicated they would complain to police Bamford had made threats against them.

Barrister Leon Ackermann, for Bamford, said a psychiatric report showed his client was a "pathological gambler" who had started out small to "escape" from a bad marriage.

He said Bamford had been abused since she was a child when forced to work in Khmer Rouge work camp at age six.

Mr Ackermann said Bamford needed assistance to overcome her gambling addiction.

HSC results: Jessica gets jump on peers

Jessica Huy came first in Khmer Continuers.

18 Dec 09
By Zilka Grogan
Fairfield Advance (Australia)

AT just 17, Jessica Huy hasn’t even completed Year 12 - but she has already topped the state in a HSC subject.

Jessica, who studied at the Saturday School of Community Languages at Liverpool Girls High School, came first in Khmer Continuers after taking on the course a year earlier than the rest of her peers.

Having arrived in Australia from Cambodia just five years ago, Jessica, of St Johns Park, said she was “very surprised” with her result.

She is now able to read, write and speak her native Khmer fluently, which allows her to communicate better with her family.

Studying the language has also helped her learn more about Cambodian history and culture, she said.

“I know that my parents’ lives back then were very difficult and they have worked really hard to support us and come all the way here,” Jessica said.

“They had war, they were living under communism.

“It gives us the understanding of Cambodian history and tells us how hard life was back then.”

Jessica will sit her exams for Maths, Business Studies, Chemistry and Physics with her school, Pal College in Cabramatta, next year.

She hopes to study pharmacy at university after completing high school.

Drink driving stats don't tell the full story

Friday, October 09, 2009
By western Sydney reporter George Roberts
ABC News (Australia)

"She was seven times over the legal blood alcohol limit and had a baby in the back of the car. We don't have a name for her, but it should be pretty easy to find out who she is with a case like that..."

It was my first time reporting from the courts and that was the mission the Chief of Staff sent me on.

Liverpool Local Court in Sydney's west was packed, and it was my job to find one woman whose case was newsworthy for two reasons:

Firstly, driving a car with such an astronomically high level of alcohol in her blood stream was astounding; secondly, the danger to the baby gave the case an added level of interest and raised so many questions.

Who would put a child at such risk? What mother would be so negligent?

I set about trying to find the woman among the many young mothers who lined the lobby of the courthouse.

I asked at the registry, I asked lawyers and security guards and pretty much anyone who looked like they might know what was going on in court that day.

Soon there was a team of journalists from various outlets all clubbing together to find out which woman we were after and which court she would turn up in.

"Just ask the prosecutor," said the chief of staff on duty that day.

"There can't be too many people with seven times the legal alcohol limit and a baby in the back of the car."

I agreed. It should have been easy, but I had already approached the prosecutors in all four court rooms and the conversations were almost exactly the same.

"Excuse me, sir/madam, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm George from the ABC and I'm trying to find this case except I don't have a name...."

I would then explain the details, expecting there could only be one such case.

But prosecutor after prosecutor pointed to piles of files and replied, "See those, they're ALL drink driving offences, it could be any one of those."

I was amazed and so were the other reporters, but we needed to find this case.

It was just after ten in the morning and there was only one option.

We split up and sat through case after case of driving offences of various kinds, apprehended violence orders and domestic violence orders.

Apart from a woman who sold a pony that did not exist, the rest of the day was alarmingly monotonous.

Eventually by about 4pm we had narrowed it down and all the reporters gathered in the one court room to observe the case.

It was not what we had expected.

A Cambodian refugee in her 50's was seen swerving across three lanes on the wrong side of the Hume Highway, as her baby granddaughter sat in the back seat.

The woman's daughter translated, telling the court that her mother had been drinking because she had been recovering from a broken leg and had forgotten her painkillers. She had heard her daughter was in hospital and got in the car after "a small cup of wine."

When Police eventually managed to pull her over, she struggled to blow into the breathalyser to record a reading, either because she was too drunk or because she did not understand.

After multiple attempts she registered the enormous blood alcohol reading of 0.386 per cent.

Back at the station she was unable to give a proper breath test into the official machine so she was charged and later pleaded guilty to refusing to give a breath test.

That charge carries the same penalty as a high range drink driving offence and she was ultimately fined $3,000 and banned from driving for three years.

This case was fascinating to a bunch of young journalists who were expecting a young foolish mother to be standing before the court and not a 52-year-old grandmother who had fled Pol Pot's regime for a better life in Australia.

What really struck me though was just how many drink driving cases were being heard in that court that day.

Across New South Wales last year 23,210 people faced court for drink driving and 5,695 of those were in western Sydney.

I'm in no way advocating drink driving, but consider this: Unless you are swerving across lanes of traffic, then getting caught for drink driving is unlucky.

It is a matter of probability.

I have only been pulled over and breath-tested four times in my life and never blown a reading.

But I drive almost every day, so if I drank and drove every day, then I would only have been caught four times in my 12 years as a driver.

On that basis, it is fair to extrapolate that the 23,210 people caught may only represent a fraction of the people that risk drink driving every year, every week, every day.

Next week, that court and many like it will be packed with cases again. Despite the billboards and the ad campaigns, people continue to risk their lives and the lives of others by getting behind the wheel drunk.

You share the road with them.

Clare [Cambodian-Australian] pharmacist to volunteer in Cambodia

Clare pharmacist Tim Siv will spend six weeks in Cambodia, packing his suitcase with items such as tooth brushes and tooth paste which he will donate to local families overseas.

17/12/2008
Northern Argus (Australia)

Clare pharmacist Tim Siv will spend six weeks in Cambodia working in orphanages and schools during the Christmas holidays.

Mr Siv, whose parents fled Cambodia when he was three years old, will return to the town of his birth to give back to his former community where he also plans to build a playground for local children.

And he won’t be travelling light - planning to pack his suitcases with toothbrushes, tooth paste, tennis balls and other useful items which are normally in short supply in that country.

“It’s something I have always wanted to do (return to Cambodia) in terms of giving back,” Mr Siv said.

This is where my heritage is and it will be a big experience for me. The house I was born in is still there,” Mr Siv said.

Although this will be a personal visit for Mr Siv he will participating in local aid work, teaching English and undertaking other community work.

“I just hope to make an impact on someone’s life while I am over there,” he said.