Sam Rany, Ph.D.

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

Royal Coronation in Cambodia  Posted: 30th October 2004 HIS MAJESTY THE NEW KING OF CAMBODIA: NORODOM SIHAMONI Phnom Penh (C.S.C. – Ly Sovanna and Sam Rany, October 29, 2004) October 29 has been an exceptional day in the history of the Kingdom of Cambodia since it was the day of the coronation of the new King HIS MAJESTY NORODOM SIHAMONI who succeeds his father NORODOM SIHANOUK , the beloved FATHER of our nation, highly respected by his children, grand-children and great-grand-children. On the occasion of the Holy Royal Ceremonies that took place this day we observed all the high rank officials from the Cambodian government presided by Prime Minister HUN SEN and followed by the President of the National Assembly Prince NORODOM RANNARITH, the president of the Senate Chea Sim, the opposition leader Sam Rainsy and the government ministries. Ambassadors and representatives from many countries of the world and leaders of the religions pre