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Unofficial Translation of Selected
Comments
Conferment
of Diplomas at Build Bright University
05 August 2009
… I am so glad
that we have a chance to be together once again for this ceremony to confer
diplomas and celebrate graduations for 4,709 students, some of whom have already
taken up jobs, of the Build Bright University (BBU). May I seek your
understanding that my wife has a prior engagement that she could not make it
today to be with me here and I have come a little late too because of latest
communication about possible flood in the Mekong due to influx of water made way
down from Laos to our province of Stoeung Treng. I had to contact the Minister
of Water Resources and Meteorology and Governor of Stoeung Treng for updates
since negligence on this matter would catch us off guard in terms of flood
management in the Mekong.
However, we are
now meeting and I am so happy for that. I have been informed that some of the
graduates have already taken jobs but we have made it our meeting today to
celebrate graduation and diploma conferment. I wish to take this opportune
moment to give my appreciation to the progress made by BBU which up to now has
been in service nine years already, as it was first in operation in 2000 as a
faculty and then a university. According to the report of Mr. Diep Seiha, BBU
has made its progress obvious because of its many branches opened in Phnom Penh
and provinces – Siem Reap, Battambang, Bantay Man Chei, Stoeng Treng, Takeo and
Sihanouk.
BBU also plans,
as far as I know, to have a new building which is eight stories in between 2010
and 2013, with a size of 120 meters by 40 meters on a two-hectare land at Khan
Russei Keo, Phnom Penh, with a capacity to accommodate 300 study rooms. Well
mentioning 120 by 40 meters, reminds me of the centre for international
symposium which is also under construction and adjacent to the building of the
Council of Ministers. It is my architectural requirement of 120 meters by 45
meters, five stories but with a height probable to 7.5 stories because each
story is 9 meters. We have many important international and regional meetings to
host. Lining up in 2010, there are ACMECS meeting, CLMV meeting (Cambodia, Lao,
Myanmar and Vietnam meeting) and in 2011, Cambodia will host an international
meeting on Mines whereas in 2012 the ASEAN Summit and ASEAN + partners meetings.
Because we have
so many international meetings lining up and because every time there is one we
have to make it to hotel, etc. and since we have our Chinese friends help in
building the Council of Ministers, we have set aside our fund to build this
conference hall and it will be for next generations too, as I won’t be sitting
forever. However, I would not be easily evicted as long as I am elected by the
people. No matter what they (the opposition) have said, the more they say the
more I will do for the sake of the people. Everyday, on Radio, though I do not
say a thing about them, still they make us their direct target of criticism.
When we take action they say we have blocked their rights. However I have the
feeling that these people are apparently undeterred …
It has been
stated in the report that BBU has got in all 35,171 students, among which 12,416
have already graduated so far, including the 4,709 today. It is indeed an
important achievement as a contribution from BBU and what is more breath-taking
is that the University has prepared and made it possible for about 80% of
graduates to take up jobs. According to a research (conducted by the University)
about 67% of the 3rd and 4th intakes would be able to get
a job in fields relating to banking, tourism, private sector, non-government and
various other public foundations … It is indeed a pride that 698 of them have
got a job at the ACLEDA Bank and 113 at Hattha Kasikor Bank … Having noticed
this development, I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to
the management and faculty members of BBU whose common efforts have brought
about so impressive achievements …
Because of the
development I would have your attention on interrelation which is core to every
work we have done. The establishment of this university requires so much number
of professors, management and teaching staffs. It is also true in companies,
take for instance media ones, where there involves both direct and indirect
workers. In art and performance for example, many indirect staffs are needed for
movie making, music performance, etc. so we could see that dancers, reporters
... all have a role to play in it. Some dancers have taken their performance
arts that are so care-free that they are mistaken to have lost their mind on
stage.
Some critics
have said that the country is under dictatorial regime, but judging only from
freedom that dancers have showed, I think those who said so could be in danger …
If the term is to be defined they may be in serious problem again … The regime
is not Hun Sen’s if they wish to say that Hun Sen’s regime is a dictatorial one.
I am just the head of Government whereas the regime is the constitutional
monarchy and also pluralism … any criticism should be aware of the danger that
would befall them because they made a wrong accusation … This cannot be
considered blocking freedom or rights of speech but you have made wrong speeches
… they should be aware how liable it is to have claimed oneself a lawyer,
learned person and politician.
To be a
dictatorship there has to have the constitutional monarchy abolished and a
different one to be established in its replacement … If they say the Royal
Government is a dictator then that will fall only on the Royal Government, or on
Hun Sen … But they all joined in the elections. Because I am elected and a real
Prime Minister I have made the country peaceful and any concern about war would
not be in question, including the war at the border … If there were going to be
one it would be very small because we have practiced the policy of using no
force and vowed to resolve conflict bilaterally.
All these
remain hypothetical questions for those “exemplary” Prime Minister (this
literally means that every five years all contestants in the elections have to
tell or act among people as if they are Prime Ministers, or if they are elected
Prime Ministers) … Trust could be of no avail because some had split a party
into many, and their presences in any party would put it in a state of limbo … I
would raise one case that happened in 2006 … A political party leader came to
meet me and if I am not mistaken he also has taped the conversation as I did too
… We could compare them if he likes. I asked him (about another person) what
does he want? He said he (the other person) will be taking categorical
opposition … In another instance I asked about his political nature whether the
person could affiliate with anyone he said (the other person) will continue to
be categorically opposing … Also in 2006, the other person, who asked me if it
is time for him to set up a political party and I said yes it is. He also said
the other one is opposing persistently. The two have said about each other that
they will be in absolute opposition.
Prior to the
elections, one defined oneself to be a mountain whereas another defined oneself
to be sand … but they now have sought after each other to make an affiliation
like a Cambodian saying that goes “the good would go to the good, the bad would
go with the bad” … I do not care what they have done but what I want us all to
take note here since they have blamed enough of each other, lost the elections,
exhausted, etc. Who would be in a position to help whom? They both don’t swim.
Well it is up to them. All I am saying here is to warn them of what they have
said wrongly.
Returning to
the University, what we have achieved is because we have right path and
operation and, I mean, being sustainable. To have a university established is a
difficult job but to sustain. It is no easier task. The same is true for setting
up company or political party … For instance some political parties are no
longer in existence …
In 1998 we had
39 political parties registered with the Ministry of Interior in contesting in
the general elections and 2003 there were 23 of them and in 2008 there remained
only 11 political parties. I just want to say no matter what to be created, one
should be ware of what will happen in the future. How to sustain it? How to
proceed? And this reminds me of the fact that the Cambodian People’s Party being
rankled number 4 in the list of contested Political Parties.
A Radio station
then made a broadcast saying that this number, according to Khmer, Chinese and
Vietnamese beliefs is a bad-luck sign … The whole night of that day I woke up
many times to write down one or two sentences and I have brought it up the next
day at Punnhea Leu and my analyses of the number 4 are – it represents the four
main directions, the four elements (soil, wind, water and fire), the four
Buddhist wishes, the four faces of Brahma, etc. Whatever it is, what I wanted to
mention to you here is that how qualified these politicians are when they fought
because of the rank number like that. When they have picked up number 1 and 2,
have they been assured of their victories?
Let me give you
as example – the Cambodian People’s Party was ranked 35, in 2003, 17 and 2008, 4
except in 1993, CPP was ranked number 1 and won 51 seats only … while for other
ranks mentioned thereafter the number of seats have gone from 64 to 73 and to 90
… They have demanded so and so commissions but they could not assure because
there were not enough votes to support them … Because they do not have their
people in those commissions … (they would say) there is no freedom and
democracy.
I would also
like to express my sincere appreciation to those who have graduated after
excelling in their studies together with participations and contributions of
resources from families and friends which help your studies successful. I would
like to take this opportune moment to express my gratefulness for the University
for providing around 820 scholarships to me so that I could offer them to
applicants whose financial resources have been limited …
The same amount
was also allotted for HE Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister, and others. I will soon
go to the University of Laws and Economics to preside over the diploma
conferment and also to inaugurate a new building as well.
All this is
possible because we have provided an opportunity for all state education
institutions to incorporate a program that allows those students who fail to get
the state scholarship to be able to get admittance as fee-paying students. The
fee collected has a part been allocated for bettering living conditions of
professors and another reserved for further development of the University …
About one month ago I have approved a proposal from the military medicine school
to also provide fee-paying courses …
This policy has
been defined and put into practice in view of the fact state universities are
not able to absorb increasing number of students who have finished their
secondary education … The policy also allows private sector to take up active
role in providing education services … This is not a particular situation for
Cambodia but all over the world … It also allows our students and also our
government officials to have better chance to go on with their studies … This is
indeed an encouragement …
However, what
remains to be critical here, while we have efforts by students and encouragement
by the Royal Government policy, is how we go about improving quality of
education … I have learned in some case that some people never come to school
but appear to have graduated too … This is studying for diploma and in the last
few months I have appealed to various institutions involved to work out this
situation … thesis presentation and defense is also included …
Praise should
also go to the Accreditation Committee of Education who have been doing this
important job … Knowledge could not be transferred in way of infusion but by
self effort …
No matter what
you want to do and what you have, without human resources you cannot achieve
your goal. This is not new as I have said it since when I mobilized forces in
1977-78. The most pressing issue that I encountered was human resources. There
were so many battalions which together could form into brigades and regiments
but I resolutely disagreed at the time … Judging by effective figures in
battalion, only four of them would make a brigade already because in each
battalion we had up to about 600 effective soldiers at the time … But my
question is at that very time whether we have human resources to lead and
command the brigade or regiment level. This is not to mention about commanding
three brigades and one regiment with three infantry brigades at all because
there needs to have nine battalions plus its commanding mechanism …
Gathering
forces could be done but commanding them we could not do … Our capacity to
command troops was not there … It is not simple as it looks because it requires
capability in various sections involved – general staff, logistics, paramedics,
which also include chemistry group, while our army officers at that time just
started their military training …
If we were to
make them commanders what cost of lives would they make from inexperienced and
incompetent command … When I arrived in Phnom Penh, what I did first of all is
not my house but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for which I started gathering
human resources … I was able to find at that time some economists and
engineers, who had their studies in former East Germany and West Germany, and
even some education specialists who after a while I sent them to help with other
areas …
Some of them
have now become Deputy Prime Ministers, Senior Ministers, Ministers, Secretaries
of State and Under Secretaries of State … We did our best to get on our feet and
as of now that situation has been far off now … as is said by HE Dieb Seiha
without January 7 victory there would be no today or any lives at all … If those
who were born by that time were to die, who would have given this generation
their lives as you have seen that most of our students here are under 30 years
old. However I would urge those of you who have graduated to go on with your
studies and do not take this wrong opinion that when taking up important
position there is no need to learn more as there is nothing that one might know
all about it.
According to my
experience, it has been quite enough for me to conclude that from one stage to
another of my life, there has not been an instance that I was in a particular
situation forever … The current situation could not be approached using 1979 or
1980 ways when we only thought of getting everyone alive and to survive embargo
from outside while internal reform was undertaken, which gradually transferred
us from centrally planned economy to a combined state of both centrally planned
and market system in the transitional period … We were in the stage of bettering
market economy …
The nature of
being state employees, they work not better than those working in the private
sector. They tend to think no matter how much or efficient they may be, they
will benefit from a fixed salary and despite the fact that we have now
implemented incentive system in order to screen for able staffs, still we have
this situation of too many but too little, which I mean we have so many
officials with less qualifications but less officials with better ones. I may
take this opportunity to share with you one good example. In my life, I never
compare so person to so person … for who they are but only for what they are ...
What is important is not where you go for your study – inside or outside of
Cambodia, but your competency and quality …
Because of
financial situation, some of our students could not go for well known
Universities or to go abroad to further their studies … According to my
experience, there does not seem to be any major differences between studying
abroad and locally. First, I have around me those who have studied abroad before
and after the Pol Pot’s regime and I never have made any evaluation as to who
would be better than whom because of where they studied at all. I am looking at
how best their work result could be.
The second
example is my review of my children and in-laws who have studied abroad and got
higher degrees … From my observations I see no differences between those who
studied inside the country and abroad, except of course foreign language, which
as we know, being there for a certain period of time, one has familiarity with
language in particular and culture as a whole … That is perhaps the main
differences.
This is my
clarification for those of you who may have the thought of being inferior and
invaluable because failing to have a chance to go for study abroad … every
institution must give a proper and similar value and also should not deny those
who come from abroad as unworkable or incompetent. We need to gather educated
people to work together. Being pessimistic is not what we are after here.
Another example
which is perhaps a good one, if you observe the trial of Duch or Kaing Gech Iev
in the Extraordinary Chamber in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), I am so proud to
have noticed that, and what is going to be the outcome from the trial is the
Court’s matter, our lawyers have competently showed their working ability and
skills no inferior to those from abroad …
If you have
followed the trial closely you might have come across some stages that Duch has
been able to catch some foreign lawyers off guard for questions that are not
relevant or naïve. In some instances it has indicated to me pretty clearly that
it is not true always that those with sharp noses are the best. Months ago we
also have acted as host of Asia-Europe meeting and coordinated between ASEAN and
Europe, the relations of which was celebrated in Singapore in 2007, and last but
not least Cambodia also was host of ASEAN Summit once and would soon be hosting
and chairing the second one in a not too long future …
All this should
be a good example for all of us who do not have the ability and chance to go for
further studies abroad …
Today I would
like to take the opportunity to inform provinces, especially those along the
Mekong river – especially Stoeung Trng, Kratie, Kompong Cham, to pay attention
to flood situation as more water is coming from Laos and Vietnam and together
make their way to the Mekong in the part of Cambodia, which prompted flood level
prediction from between 9.5 and 9.75 to 10.25 meters at our flood monitoring
station at Chadomuk. The station is the central indication whether flood is high
or low.
According to
our records, if the flood level here reaches 10 meters or more, it indicates
that the flood level is high. However, many years have gone by with flood level
never reaches 10 meters at all. So the prediction of 10.25 meters would be an
alarming situation but not like what we called “millennial” flood in 2000 at
all.
My appeal here
is for those provinces to look after areas where flood is making its way as in a
short time the flood could level up to half a meter within 4 or 5 hours. With
this speed there is a need for preparing an evacuation, especially those who are
living along the river banks and streams because they may face with land erosion
issue …
I also urge all
sub-national level officials and the armed forces along the concerned areas to
take this matter seriously … In the coming days, because of the flood in Stoeung
Treng has been reported to be one meter, by the time it reaches Phnom Penh
perhaps about 0.5 meters will be recorded … Also, if our record and experience
is not wrong, the first flood period will extend to end of September and early
October … and there normally is a second flooding after Phchum Ben … The mother
nature has been so unpredictable …
So, HE Keat
Chjhon, Deputy Prime Minister, under my command, has agreed to keep a package of
fund at hand for bad situation and relief efforts until the flood is over. As
far as agriculture is concerned, because of sporadic rain, rice cultivation has
been unevenly cultivated. In some parts of Takeo province there has no rain for
rice cultivation though in general the speed of cultivation has been fast. As of
last week, about 64% of rice cultivation in the whole country has been recorded.
If this is the central figure, then at the local level we might say it is 70%
already. The speed is good and at the same time our people are busy harvesting
their short-term rice too. It is good that Cambodia has made every month a
harvest time.
We must try to
bring our agriculture to forge ahead. We have talked about social safety net
system and the Ministry of Economy and Finance together with Asian Development
Bank have prepared for a program that provides financial assistance in
replacement of food or rice for labor. This is also a good thing for our people
to find jobs as well. They dig canals or build dirt roads which we have used as
strategy in 2000 and 2001 when the country was hit by a high flood … We
strategize providing works to local levels throughout the country, which
included building hydraulic stations and roads so that these works for food will
keep our people from coming to Phnom Penh to look for jobs …
It is a sad
moment that we have to fight to better our economic situation while the world
economic crisis hampers us though at a lesser impact … Taking one example, I
just returned from France and the price of gasoline is 1.39 Euro which is at
least 1.7 US dollars there or 7,000 Riels per liter. You may be reminded that
France is a country that produces gasoline. Why some economists who have boasted
to have studied in France never mention about this?
What I am
saying is not to encourage gasoline dealers to increase the price at all but to
continue to appeal on the contrary to companies to bring the price down … So far
the local companies have been doing a lot to help but it has been difficult for
those coming from abroad ... According to the report of HE Keat Chhon, these
companies have got a share holdings in the security markets so they could not
bring their prices down … Do they need to make profit here to help weathering
their loss elsewhere?
Another issue
of concern today is that I wanted to reiterate once again the need to strengthen
traffic rules in which wearing helmets has been an obligation. However I noticed
that there are still people who do not wear the helmet. I wish to take this
opportune moment to once again appeal to our people to wear helmets for your own
safety and I would urge our law-enforcing agencies to see through that the law
is fully implemented … I also notice our uniformed not wearing helmets too and
they should be the first to be an example …◉
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