Sofitel in hot water over its calendar

Sofitel in hot water over its calendar

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Luxury hotel Sofitel Cambodiana was forced to apologize Thursday for identifying the day Cambodia was rescued from Khmer Rouge rule as "Vietnamese Liberation Day" in its 2002 calendar.

Jan. 7, the day the Khmer Rouge was ousted from power 23 years ago, has been decreed by the government as "Victory Day over Genocidal Regime."

But in a calendar published recently by Sofitel Cambodiana, a Singapore-managed hotel, the day is referred to as "Vietnamese Liberation Day."

Hotel spokeswoman Dara Khuon said the mistake was unintentional.

She said a hotel representative was called to a meeting Thursday at the Ministry of Tourism to discuss the mistake.

She said the hotel never saw an official government holiday list and that the mistake resulted from quoting the holiday title from a local English newspaper. An apology letter was to be sent to different ministries Thursday, she said.

Thong Khon, the deputy tourism minister, accused the hotel of distorting history.

"They have distorted the history, the fact. Historically, Vietnam only assisted the Cambodian salvation front in liberating the Cambodian people," he said.

He added that the hotel will also be forced to print its apology in local newspapers and burn the remaining copies of the calendar.

The communist Khmer Rouge ruled from 1975 to 1979, turning Cambodia into a vast agrarian labor camp where dissenters were tortured and killed. The Khmer Rouge rule is blamed for the deaths of at least 1.7 million people from overwork, starvation, diseases and executions. -- AP