"His Excellency The Patriot" Lu Laysreng (L) proudly stands next to his colleagues after removing Prince Ranariddh, their boss, from the FuncinpecCambodian leader welcomed back with gratitude
09/25/2007
By Samantha Gonzaga, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram
LONG BEACH - When Lu Lay Sreng left Long Beach in 1979 to fight the Vietnamese in Cambodia, the farewell to his three children seemed final.
"I said goodbye to my children and thought I wasn't coming back," said Sreng. "I thought I was going to die. I thought I would not return. But I thought then we should try (to fight), and that's why I left."
The 70-year-old recently returned to Long Beach, a city with which he still retains ties. At a private party Friday in Hak Heang Restaurant in Long Beach, some 450 Cambodian business leaders and their families dined with a man addressed these days as "His Excellency."
Sreng is one of Cambodia's seven deputy prime ministers and the Minister of Rural Development.
The Cal State Long Beach graduate and former businessman visited tables followed by a news camera, shaking hands, posing for photographs and engaging in brief conversations over the din of live entertainment.
It's a long way from his days as a CSULB industrial arts and mathematics student in the 1960s, and as a restaurant and grocery store owner. Sreng arrived in Long Beach in September 1962 as a 25-year-old, and one of his first jobs in this country, he said, was servicing a Press-Telegram newspaper route through the Ximeno, Redondo and Fourth Street neighborhoods.
"This is just to show how much love there is out there to support him," said Rathana Ung, who organized Sreng's appreciation dinner with her parents, Lim Eang and Monirath Ung. The Ungs run an income-tax business and frequently do charity work in Cambodia.
Sreng said his 20-day trip to America was a personal one - plans include visiting his three adult children - as well as for health reasons.
According to his government biography, Sreng from 1982 to 1991 fought against the Vietnamese occupation. From the mid-1990s to 2003, he was Minister of Information, spending August 1998 working with the Cambodia People's Party to restore Cambodia's government.
"I'm so proud of myself," Sreng said. "My sacrifice and efforts have paid off."
Ung described Sreng as a patriot, crediting him with helping facilitate charity work by Cambodians in America to help those in Cambodia's poorest areas.
Some of those projects have included upgrading the thatched-roof homes in impoverished villages to large tin-roof houses, and a yearlong palm tree preservation effort in Kompong Speu Province. Ung said villagers were taking cuttings of the national tree to sell for $2 apiece.
Ung also said Sreng brought food donations gathered by the Ungs to the northeastern province of Ratanakiri where summer floods made travel impossible.
Sreng is hoping his name will inspire confidence from Cambodians and Cambodian-Americans.
"What I'm trying to do is help and trying to push for my name to be well-known," he said. "I let history dictate itself. At the same time, I really appreciate the Khmer community in Long Beach that comes together every year to help Cambodia."
But food relief isn't enough, Sreng said.
The solution for predominantly agricultural Cambodia is to be self-sustaining. Sreng said he plans to jumpstart a water sanitation program and an investment-heavy project called the Cambodian Business Initiative Rural Development. CBIRD would pair manufacturers with villages with ready labor.
The government's reputation for corruption makes investors hesitant, he said.
The region also has ongoing issues with deforestation and land grabbing. In a 2006 report by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, land grabbing has increased in recent years, going from 148 complaints in 2003 to 356 the next year. The poor are typically the victims, the group said. Sreng said the laws are "loose," that NGOs and news organizations don't see the full picture:
With growth in jobs, he projected a different Cambodia by 2020, predicting that resources would make it "a major donor instead of a beggar."
"I said goodbye to my children and thought I wasn't coming back," said Sreng. "I thought I was going to die. I thought I would not return. But I thought then we should try (to fight), and that's why I left."
The 70-year-old recently returned to Long Beach, a city with which he still retains ties. At a private party Friday in Hak Heang Restaurant in Long Beach, some 450 Cambodian business leaders and their families dined with a man addressed these days as "His Excellency."
Sreng is one of Cambodia's seven deputy prime ministers and the Minister of Rural Development.
The Cal State Long Beach graduate and former businessman visited tables followed by a news camera, shaking hands, posing for photographs and engaging in brief conversations over the din of live entertainment.
It's a long way from his days as a CSULB industrial arts and mathematics student in the 1960s, and as a restaurant and grocery store owner. Sreng arrived in Long Beach in September 1962 as a 25-year-old, and one of his first jobs in this country, he said, was servicing a Press-Telegram newspaper route through the Ximeno, Redondo and Fourth Street neighborhoods.
"This is just to show how much love there is out there to support him," said Rathana Ung, who organized Sreng's appreciation dinner with her parents, Lim Eang and Monirath Ung. The Ungs run an income-tax business and frequently do charity work in Cambodia.
Sreng said his 20-day trip to America was a personal one - plans include visiting his three adult children - as well as for health reasons.
According to his government biography, Sreng from 1982 to 1991 fought against the Vietnamese occupation. From the mid-1990s to 2003, he was Minister of Information, spending August 1998 working with the Cambodia People's Party to restore Cambodia's government.
"I'm so proud of myself," Sreng said. "My sacrifice and efforts have paid off."
Ung described Sreng as a patriot, crediting him with helping facilitate charity work by Cambodians in America to help those in Cambodia's poorest areas.
Some of those projects have included upgrading the thatched-roof homes in impoverished villages to large tin-roof houses, and a yearlong palm tree preservation effort in Kompong Speu Province. Ung said villagers were taking cuttings of the national tree to sell for $2 apiece.
Ung also said Sreng brought food donations gathered by the Ungs to the northeastern province of Ratanakiri where summer floods made travel impossible.
Sreng is hoping his name will inspire confidence from Cambodians and Cambodian-Americans.
"What I'm trying to do is help and trying to push for my name to be well-known," he said. "I let history dictate itself. At the same time, I really appreciate the Khmer community in Long Beach that comes together every year to help Cambodia."
But food relief isn't enough, Sreng said.
The solution for predominantly agricultural Cambodia is to be self-sustaining. Sreng said he plans to jumpstart a water sanitation program and an investment-heavy project called the Cambodian Business Initiative Rural Development. CBIRD would pair manufacturers with villages with ready labor.
The government's reputation for corruption makes investors hesitant, he said.
The region also has ongoing issues with deforestation and land grabbing. In a 2006 report by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, land grabbing has increased in recent years, going from 148 complaints in 2003 to 356 the next year. The poor are typically the victims, the group said. Sreng said the laws are "loose," that NGOs and news organizations don't see the full picture:
With growth in jobs, he projected a different Cambodia by 2020, predicting that resources would make it "a major donor instead of a beggar."
