Why I believe in only CNRP Sam Rainsy
(or, his equally formidable, brilliant wife CNRP Saumura Tioulong)
as Prime Minister of Cambodia
A Living Essay / Reflection by Theary C. Seng
(in installments)
Background info on this topic already addressed by Ms. Seng:
(Phnom Penh Post, July 20o8)
(or, here or go to Ms. Seng's Facebook accounts, if your ISP censors KI-Media)
It
has been said that Cambodia's problems of the past and present can be
summed up in the weaknesses of its leaders. It has been and is
currently said that we Khmers deserve the leaders we have.
Rather than react defensively, meditate on whatever degree of truth is in these statements and do something about it.
This
leads me to why I believe only in CNRP president Sam Rainsy (or, his
equally formidable, brilliant wife CNRP Saumura Tioulong) as the Prime
Minister of Cambodia.
I. EDUCATION
First,
the reason is one of education. Education provides "the basic mental
ingredients" to lead. Individuals who lack quality education tend to
have an intellectual deficit, lacking the "mental equipment to govern".
What David Brooks
writes of the radical political Islam is also true of many Cambodian
politicians and leaders, in that "once in office, they are always going
to centralize power and undermine democracy that elevated them."
Oftentimes, the intellectual DNA is missing in Cambodian leaders,
certainly true of the current ruling regime, the CPP.
Here's the basic outline in terms of names and degrees for Sam Rainsy:
• Primary school in Phnom Penh, Paris and London.
• High school in Phnom Penh (Lycée Descartes and Lycée Sisowath) and Paris (Lycée Janson de Sailly).
• University degrees in:
Business Administration (Master of Business Administration from INSEAD Fontainebleau - France) - 1980.
Accounting (Diplôme d'Etudes Comptables Supérieures issued by the French Ministry of Education) - 1979.
Economics (Maîtrise
+ Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures de Sciences Economiques de la Faculté de
Droit et des Sciences Economiques de Paris) - 1973.
Political Science (Diplôme de l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, or simply, "Sciences Po") - 1971
Qualifiers (Education)
Qualifiers (Education)
Before
I unpack what Sam Rainsy's educational degrees mean, let's try to
understand what a Cambodian degree means to the current population.
Simply,
education is the obtainment of a certificate or degree; it is the
accumulating of meaningless degrees and it matters not that they come
through bribery, or given by institutions that go by names such as
"Build Bright University" (no, not at all a weird translation from the
Khmer, as the name stands alone in English as there is no Khmer name),
or that they are bogus honorary awards from non-accredited foreign
institutions.
Education-less awards of North Korean generals; mentality not very different from current culture of Cambodia.
Here,
we have not even touched on the process and quality of the time spent
in the classroom where most materials have been translated from the
English and oftentimes with out-dated information. The best university
has English as its language of instruction, but the English proficiency
of the students are questionable.
Let
me say, that on the one hand, we all know personally or about the idiot
savant who is intellectually brilliant but a complete imbecile in
normal life.
Or,
we know personally or about the professional student who collects
degrees but cannot apply his book knowledge to real-life, practical
living. (Think the professor who was conned by the non-existing
internet swimsuit model that landed him in jail in a foreign country.)
On
the other hand, we also know personally or about the person who never
completed high school but is truly, educationally brilliant (because he
took the time to FOCUS and READ and LEARN, making every life's
experience his classroom, intentionally, systematically) from his
position as an executive of international companies or a prolific writer
of international fame.
Sam Rainsy's Formal Education
With these exceptions in mind, having HIGHER EDUCATION OF TRUSTWORTHY QUALITY is unquestionably, extremely important for a nation's leader, particularly in this globalized world of July 2013 of deep complexity and interconnectedness.
As
already alluded to, education is more holistic than just classroom
learning, but classroom learning is fundamental. Sam Rainsy was born
into a family where life learning and formal education were knitted into
the very fabric of family life with a father who was deputy Prime
Minister and a mother who became the first woman to graduate from high
school and passed her baccalaureat.
He grew up speaking 3 languages fluently, as necessitated by his elementary days in Phnom Penh, London and Paris.
He
attended the best and only high schools in Phnom Penh of that era --
Lycee Sisowath and Lycee Descartes -- and one of the most prestigious
lycees in Paris (Wikipedia) at Lycee Janson de Sailly.
Reading
-- in 3 languages -- from the mandatory, rigorous school work to
earlier on developing a habit for leisure reading -- accompanied his
life at an early age and formed the foundation of his holistic, nuanced
understanding and knowledge of Cambodia and the world. He was
comfortable with ideas, interacting with others trained at the same
level of rigor and excellence -- as well as exposed with real-life
challenges and dramas as he moved about the world with his family within
the orbit of Cambodian politics and European upbringing during the
turbulent post-colonial period of the 20th century.
Sam Rainsy went to the extremely elite Sciences Po,
with the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions
process to be highly selective, and has traditionally educated France's
political and diplomatic elite; it is generally thought of to be one of
the world's most reputable and prestigious schools of the social
sciences (Wikipedia).
From
there, he obtained his Masters in Economics from the prestigious
Faculté de Droit et des Sciences Economiques de Paris, his Accounting
degree from the Ministry of Education and another Masters in Business
Administration from the uber elite business school INSEAD, which
consistently ranks in the top 5 among the business schools in the world.
5 comments:
លោកប្រធានជាទីគោរព!
លោកគួរសរសេរសំបុត្រថ្វាយព្រះមហាក្សត្រ តែកុំសំលើកលែងទោសពី ហ៊ុន សែនឲ្យសោះ។
ការលើកលែង ឬមិនលើកលែង ក៏ត្រូវតែមក ពីព្រោះពួកយើង និងជាតិត្រូវការលោកប្រធានដាច់ខាត ដើម្បីកសាងសង្គមជាតិ រំដោះជាតិពីករញាំយួន និងបំបាត់ពួកគ្រួសារនិយម។
ពេលលោកប្រធានមក, ចាំមើលតើ ហ៊ុន សែន ហ៊ានធ្វើអី? នោះពួកយើងស៊ូស្លាប់ជាមួយពួកសង្គមទម្មិឡនេះ។
ជយោ...កំលាំងសាមគ្គី និងរំដោះជាតិ!
sometime in politics, if leaders use too much etiquette, too nice or not being aggressive, then they would be looked at as weak, lame, incompetent, outdated or not fit to rule. it sounds to me like this is another form of prejudice or discrimination as in class discrimination that imbedded almost as tradition in khmer culture. i think that ought to change as well so cambodia and khmer society and people in cambodia in general can become more modernized and civilized in like the rest of the world out there, you know. from what i learn, the old society of cambodia, say going back to sihanouk time, at least, leaders were considered lame, weak, not aggressive and even incompetent, simply, because they are too nice, too mindful of proper etiquette, too socialism, and they weren't thinking outside of the box for a change, always stick with outdated tradition, etc... i mean, it's not all bad, just not up to par with the rest of the competitive world out there. i mean, if the whole world is that like, then it is ok, but we know the world is not like that, so why cambodia continue to stick to the old way too much, why not adjust, adapt to the changing rest of the world, really! that's part of being smart, wise, enlighten. a little of old way is fine, but also allow room for the new ways as well. i always cambodia should adapt, adopt and ajust as well as maintaining some useful, beneficial old tradition and culture way as well. it's about the balancing act, i think, that's all!
so with all those degrees SR was outsmarted by a "baht psar" k'meng wat? how incompetent is that. i'm not taking HS side by any means, but having seen how SR operated when he was Min of Economy & Finance in 1993-94, his willingness to use the KR at the time, with a dab now & then of nationalistic chauvinism, make me wonder.
sounds like sam rainsy have all that prestigious degrees from french school, good for him; however, he lacks common sense, social grace, and he looked down on ordinary cambodian people. well, after all, he's claimed to come from a ruling family in the past era, and naturally for that, he and his family does have class prejudice and class discrimination against ordinary cambodian people like hun sen who happened to shine out due to opportunity of changes in cambodia since the KR era, i think.
cambodian leaders like sam rainsy shouldn't emphasize too much on his past aristocratic ruling family from svay rieng. isn't that what the KR hated, class prejudice and class discrimination, not that i give a rat's ass about the stupid, primitive KR regime who has no justice and abusive to its own people and destructive to its own country, you know. anyway, talk about incompetent people that use class prejudice and class discrimination to legitimize his connection. if that's not nepotism, favoritism, fraternization and so forth, then what you call it? i dislike people who look down on ordinary cambodian like hun sen and his family. shame on the corrupted society of the past, you know. it's time for cambodia to move on and change and adjust and adapt to the new world era, really! the past is history, the future is what cambodia should look forward to but of course, use the past as an inspiration purpose only, not written in stone, you know. there's no such thing as absoluteness anymore, ok!
Get a life the idiot with the above comment.
CHANGE - YES WE MUST!!!
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