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)