Government meeting scheduled during the Chinese Spring Festival
is postponed to spare time for some officials to join the season
celebration, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday.
"The secretariat of our government has to inform the officials
about the postponement, because some of them are relatives of
Cambodian-Chinese families and they have to join celebration of the
Spring Festival," Hun Sen told a school inauguration ceremony in
Kampong Speu province.
However, all the Cambodian-Chinese citizens shouldn't drink too
much during the festival, he joked and the attendees laughed.
"During this year's Spring Festival, we don't worry about bird
flu like the previous years, because our officials have worked well
in containing it and educating people about its hazard," he was
quoted by national television as saying.
Chinese Spring Festival isn't official holiday in Cambodia, but
some government officials take break during the season and students
enjoy free time in most towns.
Cambodian-Chinese people account for around 5 percent of the
kingdom's total 14 million strong population.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2008)
