Sam Rany, Ph.D.

Wednesday, 24 October 2012 Duoglas Broderick   Sok Chea is a success story. Having grown from a skinny baby to a beaming, bright-eyed toddler, he’s proof that working together gets results. The MDG-Fund Joint Program for Children, Food Security and Nutrition that helped Chea recover from malnutrition brings together the Royal Government of Cambodia and six United Nations agencies. But this diverse team shares a common goal: giving Cambodians like Chea and his family the future they want. Every year, October 24 marks United Nations Day. It’s a day for all of us – the 27 specialised UN agencies, funds and programs working together for peace, poverty reduction and human rights in Cambodia – to reflect on what we’re here for: for people like Chea. It’s a day when I like to think about the words of the UN Charter, the text that guides and inspires us. Signed on October 24, 1945, these words define who we are, what we do and how we do it. They are at the back of our minds at all

Friday, 26 October 2012 Princess Soma Norodom   The future of the country’s royal institution has been in the minds of Cambodians as they mourn the loss of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. Not only has this topic been addressed by the locals, but by the international forum. I have been asked about the future of the monarchy by several international media outlets including CNN , AsianAffairs.com and the German press agency . As a journalist, in a country with little freedom of the press, it’s a skill to disseminate the facts without jeopardizing your career. During the memorial ceremony for His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk on October 17, 2012, I witnessed that unity was weak among the Royal Family members and a division within the current government. His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni has no power and is only a figurehead and the government is the new ruler of the country. It was apparent at the memorial ceremony when some members of the Royal Family could not get inside

Monday, 29 October 2012 12:08 ដោយ ៖ ដើមអម្ពិល(DAP): ID-078 ភ្នំពេញៈ បន្ទាប់ពីត្រូវបាន ក្រុមមេធាវីធ្វើការបោះឆ្នោត ផ្តល់សេចក្តីទុកចិត្ត ជាសមាជិក ក្រុមប្រឹក្សាគណៈមេធាវី នៃព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា អាណត្តិ ទី៧ លោក សុក ស៊ីផាន់ណា បេក្ខភាពក្រុមប្រឹក្សា ដែលទើបនឹងជាប់ឆ្នោត បានផ្តល់បទសម្ភាសន៍ ជាមួយអគ្គនាយក មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលព័ត៌មាន ដើមអម្ពិល លោក សយ សុភាព ពីស្ថានភាព មេធាវីកម្ពុជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន ។ ខាងក្រោមនេះ ជាកិច្ចសម្ភាសន៍រវាងលោក មេធាវី សុក ស៊ីផាន់ណា និងលោក សយ សុភាព ជុំវិញនិងស្ថានភាព មេធាវីកម្ពុជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន ។ សយ សុភាពៈ បន្ទាប់ពីលោកជាប់ឆ្នោតជាសមាជិក ក្រុមប្រឹក្សាគណៈមេធាវី តើលោកមាន អ្វីដើម្បីចែករំលែក ជាអទិភាពចំពោះ មេធាវីកម្ពុជា ? សុក ស៊ីផាន់ណាៈ ខ្ញុំគិតថាមុនគេ យើងត្រូវពង្រឹងសមត្ថភាព មេធាវីក្មេងៗ ជំនាន់ក្រោយ ដែលចូល មកព្រោះ ការចេញ ពីសាលាមិនមែន មានន័យថា យើងចេះធ្វើការនោះទេ កុំច្រឡំឲ្យសោះ យើងចេញ ពីសាលាគឺចេះតែ ទ្រឹស្តី យើងមើលច្បាប់ យល់ប៉ុន្តែអត់ដឹង អនុវត្តន៍យ៉ាងម៉េចនោះទេ ? អ្វីដែល សំខាន់ ត្រូវមានការហ្វឹកហ្វឺន ដល់ ពួកគេឲ្យយល់ក្នុង ការប

Brendan Gillon and Ian Henderson 28 October 2012 Issue No:245   No statement on academic freedom should be a 'laundry list' of what one is permitted to do, but rather a statement of principle whereby one can distinguish between which activities academic freedom sanctions and which it does not. One way to address the question of what academic freedom is, is to begin with an idealisation, in light of which one addresses successive complications going from idealisation to actual application. We shall ask three questions. What is academic freedom for an idealised community of scholars? How is academic freedom to be preserved once the community of scholars is housed, as it were, in the institution of a university? And how is academic freedom preserved, once the university is situated within the society that supports it? We take a community of scholars to be a community of thinkers engaged in the search for truth and understanding and in the dissemination of t

Business Daily 28 October 2012 Issue No:245   At least 1,000 university graduates stand to be fast-tracked to earn doctoral degrees annually as the government moves to bridge the ever-widening ratio of university students to qualified faculty members, writes David Mugwe for Business Daily . Higher Education, Science and Technology Secretary Harry Kaane told an annual conference on industry and higher education last week that the government would introduce funded teaching scholarships for new graduates. “The ministry plans to introduce 1,000 government-funded teaching assistantships annually in both public and private universities for postgraduate students who would be transited straight from their undergraduate studies, allowing them to attain PhDs,” said Professor Kaane. He said this would help them serve as teaching assistants to support the increased enrolment of undergraduates while gaining hands-on experience in teaching and learning. It is not yet clear h

Mariani Dewi 28 October 2012 Issue No:245   Branch campuses of established Western universities can be major assets for emerging market higher education systems – but attracting these institutions is not easy, even for economically dynamic countries such as Malaysia. There are still only six branch campuses in this South East Asian country. Over the past decade, two new branch campuses have been set up. Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, a branch of Britain’s University of Newcastle, was established in 2009. And this year another UK institution, the University of Southampton, established a campus. The other four were set up a decade earlier. Three are from Australia: Monash University’s Monash Malaysia and Curtin University’s Curtin Sarawak campus established in 1999, and a Swinburne University of Technology branch set up in 2000. Britain’s University of Nottingham also established a Malaysian campus in 2000. The Malaysian government wants other reputable

Yojana Sharma 28 October 2012 Issue No:245   Education Ministry officials have expressed concern over the large number of postgraduates in China, as students with masters and PhD degrees are finding it even harder than graduates with lower degrees to find employment in a sluggish jobs market. Registration for national postgraduate examinations closes at the end of the October, with exams held in early January, and the number applying to sit the exams could reach record levels. According to one blogger in Jinan, capital of Shandong province in eastern China, writing in July this year, cram schools that prepare students for the postgraduate exams have been overwhelmed by demand, and this year had to open a class in a large gymnasium because of the number of students. The gymnasium’s capacity was put at some 3,500. But ministry statistics show that the employment rate of students leaving universities with postgraduate degrees has been lower than that of undergradu

By Paul Vrieze and Phann Ana - October 12, 2012 Stung Trang district , Kompong Cham province – Twenty-five years ago today, Hun Sen was appointed by the Cambodian National Assembly to become, at 33, the youngest prime minister in the world. A young Hun Sen delivers an address in this undated picture that is believed to have been taken sometime between 1981 and 1983. (File photo) Mr Hun Sen’s journey from a communist leader to an elected head of government, whose party, the CPP, now has a two-thirds legislative majority in the Assembly, spans a quarter of a century of civil war, domestic and international upheaval and a negotiated peace and democracy through which he and his party have imposed themselves as the country’s deliverers of stability and order. By retaining the helm in the country’s fractious politics for 25 years, Mr Hun Sen now stands among a unique category of leaders: he ranks as the 11th longest-ruling leader in the world. In Southeast As

By Michelle Vachon - October 17, 2012 King Father Norodom Sihanouk, the flamboyant, tireless monarch who led Cambodia to independence in 1953, watched it descend into genocide and civil war, and reigned once more as the country struggled to its feet, died Monday in Beijing . The monarch who peacefully won Cambodia’s independence from France, rallied political factions in the 1980s to achieve peace against all odds and, when crowned for a second time, mediated the country’s conflicts out of crisis in the 1990s, Norodom Sihanouk will be remembered as one of the foremost Southeast Asian leaders of the past 60 years. “His Majesty the King Father…was truly the father of his country and the legendary figure we meet only once in our lifetimes,” Gordon Longmuir, a former Canadian ambassador to Cambodia, wrote in a message on Monday. “One of the indisputably great figures of the 20th century, and a champion of his people always, His Majesty will be deeply mou

By Dene-Hern Chen and Chhorn Chansy - October 21, 2012 Opposition party leader Sam Rainsy has sent a request to Prime Minister Hun Sen and King Norodom Sihamoni asking for permission to return to Cambodia in order to pay his respects to the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who died October 15 in Beijing . Mourners offer incense near a photograph of King Father Norodom Sihanouk outside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on Friday. (Lauren Crothers/The Cambodia Daily) Currently in self-imposed exile in Paris—where he has now been for three years—Mr. Rainsy wrote his request in two letters sent and delivered October 18 to the Council of Ministers and King Sihamoni’s cabinet. “During this time of great sadness, I would like Samdech’s help and understanding to allow me to pay my respects to his soul and see the King Father’s face for the last time in Phnom Penh,” Mr. Rainsy wrote in the letter. “I was very close to the King Father and I owe him a lot. So the

Friday, 19 October 2012 David Boyle   King Father Norodom Sihanouk speaks in 2011 at the Royal Palace. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post   An Enduring figure in a country marked by near-constant, often tumultuous, change and perhaps the one person able to consistently create a sense of national unity, the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk leaves behind him questions over where Cambodia is headed following his death. As king and then prince, Sihanouk ruled his country like a father. Even once that hard power waned, in the hearts of the majority, he remained revered as the country’s last “god-king”. But with his passing, many wonder about the future influence of the monarchy on Cambodian social and political life. Political analyst Lao Mong Hay is worried that without a figure who held such “tremendous” moral authority amongst the public to act as a reconciler, the country could become divided. “I think in our recent history, he is our greatest leader. Regarding his err

  IN THE days before Norodom Sihanouk, then 18, succeeded to the throne, a gust put out the sacred candles lit in the palace to mark the event. Courtiers tried to conceal the bad omen, but Sihanouk heard of it. At his coronation in October 1941, a God-King with a crown as tall as a temple, people thought he looked uneasy. If so, it was not about that. Sihanouk—as he always called himself, in the third person—was shocked that the French, Cambodia’s colonial rulers, had chosen him as king. He was disturbed, too, that they expected him to be a figurehead like his father, pliant and cuddly, a little lamb. True, he stayed giggly all his life, with a penchant for making films, playing saxophone, fast cars and pretty women. Elvis might have played him, he thought. When excited, betraying his French education, he would cry “Ooh la la!” in his high child’s voice. But underneath he was a tiger. “National dignity” was his motto. By that, he meant proper in