Don't be dumb or you'll be duped ! កុំល្ងីល្ងើ ពកថ្ងាស

10 January 2008
Op-Ed by Vanak
Blog By Khmer

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No joke. This is real. Here in Phnom Penh when we first heard the news my friends and I just shook our heads and laughed so hard. We now came the point of not laughing but feel more pity for our Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Back in 10 April 2004 our prime minister Hun Sen received an honorary doctor degree from an institution called Irish International University of the European Union (IIU) based in Dublin, Ireland. In front the backdrop curtain banner of the ceremonial event, our PM was beaming with pride when the executive president of the university Hardeep Singh Sandhu conferred the honorary degree in Political Science upon him. He was wearing a graduation gown and hat then shook hand with Mr. Sandhu while showing off his newly earned doctorate.

According to the news it turned out IIU institution is not Irish, and it's not even a university. The university has no physical address but only listed of post office box (PO Box). Its web pages claimed that its degrees are supported by the "Quality Assurance Commission" where it was traced to an office in North London to a woman who was answering phones on behalf of various companies. There was no such commission ever existed. Futhermore, this bogus university has an honorary chancellor who called himself "His Excellency Baron Knowth". The BBC London tracked H.E. Baron Knowth to an accountant Herbert Jeffrey Wooller, where he owns multi-million pounds (dollars) of homes in both Monte Carlo/Monaco and London.

Flashing back to 10 April 2004, in Phnom Penh, our Prime Minister Hun Sen gave a lengthy conferment speech when receiving the degree from this so-call university. Now we all knew he made a fool of himself and the joke was laughed upon the rest of us Cambodians to have a prime minister like him leading our country.

If I am the Prime Minister Hun Sen personal adviser, I would advise him that this is a lesson he should learned. Find out first if the university has history and well established as a reputable institution. And finally, including universities from Vietnam, don't ever desperately eager to accept any honorary degrees.

So, I interpreted the moral from this news : Get your real education. Don't be dumb ! -- this might as well be my advise too. កុំល្ងីល្ងើ ពកថ្ងាស.

Vanak