Sam Rany, Ph.D.

Dear Sam Rany, Thank for your answer in the May 23 issue of LIFT regarding how to stay green with my bike in Phnom Penh. So far, I’ve found my own solution to keep my solar-powered bike. Luckily, I have found a parking place nearby. Now, if I want to, I can carry my battery to a charging point. Of course, difficulties still remain. It’s hard to take out the battery in the rain and the box containing the battery is fragile. Most importantly, I’m saving money on gas and I’m not emitting any gas or noise pollution. It’s nice to drive so silently. I’m getting up to a five-hour drive after charging the battery for six hours. Regards, Sok Try

Dear LIFT, I had great pleasure in reading Mr Lim Sovannarith’s feedback, position and valued comments about my letter on May 30, 2012. I highly appreciate his fascinating insight into academic research activities, and I recognise some crucial problems that could impact Cambodia’s academic freedom. I support the development of research in the social sciences in our universities. However, I still believe that there are many obstacles facing students conducting this research in particular. The main problems could be impacted on the validity and quality of research findings including human resources, lecturers or academicians’ research capacity, facilities, library resources and financial support. I’ve observed that most universities select only outstanding students to write their thesis in accordance with institutional capacity, while some universities have required all students to write their thesis without thinking about the ratio between students and supervisors as well as the

Dear LIFT, I am writing to respond to Sam Rany’s letter from the May 23, 2012 issue that attempted to legitimise the ban by the Royal University of Law and Economics on certain graduate thesis topics. As far as academic freedom is concerned, I was shocked when I read Sam Rany’s letter that tried to justify RULE’s unacceptable ban. The three justifications he used were (1) to prevent graduate students from facing difficulties when doing their thesis on the stock market, because of their limited English proficiency; (2) to avoid the situation that these students will not have supervisors with sufficient qualifications and expertise on the subject-matter; and finally (3) as the result of (1) and (2), to avoid having potential findings of the research that can be misleading, thus negatively causing ‘internal backlash’. My position is the ban is not in any way appropriate in the academic world. First, limited English proficiency amongst graduate students across Cambodia is a com

Dear LIFT, Having read your article “Should university take stock in your thesis?” (LIFT 121, May 9, 2012), I would like to contribute my personal comments in response. Last February, most mass media and social communication networks had broadcasted and discussed Royal University of Law and Economic’s official announcement prohibiting their students from pursuing certain research topics for their graduation thesis. At that time, some scholars and civil societies considered this as controversial, citing political motivation as a violation of academic freedom. However, I think there are legitimate reasons behind RULE’s ban on certain topics that need to be considered. To begin with, Cambodian students will face many problems with their English proficiency because most documents related to these subjects are written in English. For example, the stock market is a new economic phenomenon in Cambodia. Most universities are lacking library resources with updated documents, textb

លោក​និពន្ធ​នាយក​ជាទី​គោរព​រាប់​អាន!   តាម ការ​ពិនិត្យ​សង្កេត​របស់​ខ្ញុំ  មាន​ប្រព័ន្ធ​ផ្សព្វផ្សាយ​ជាតិ និង​អន្តរជាតិ​ជា​ច្រើន​ បាន​ចុះ​ផ្សាយ​យ៉ាង​ព្រោង​ព្រាត​ ស្ទើរ​តែ​ពេញ​សប្តាហ៍​ទីមួយ​ នៃ​ខែ​មករា​នេះ  អំពី​ហេតុការណ៍​នៃ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​ដោយ​បង្ខំ និង​អំពើ​ហិង្សា​ រវាង​អាជ្ញាធរ​មាន​សមត្ថកិច្ច​កម្ពុជា  និង​អតីត​ប្រជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​រស់​នៅ​ប្លុក​បុរី​កីឡា​។ ជាពិ​សេស​សារ​ព័ត៌​មាន​ភ្នំពេញ​បុស្តិ៍ ច្បាប់​ចេញ​ផ្សាយ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ៥ ខែ មករា ឆ្នាំ ២០១២ ក្រោម​ចំណង​ជើង​ថា ( អ្នក​បុរី​កីឡា ២០០ គ្រួសារ​ត្រូវ​បាន​ជម្លៀស​ទៅ​ទីតាំង​ថ្មី ខណៈ​អ្នក​ខ្លះ​ទៀត​នាំ​ចូល​តុលាការ​) និង​ច្បាប់​ចេញ​ផ្សាយ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី ៦ ខែ មករា ឆ្នាំ ២០១២ ក្រោម​ចំណង​ជើងថា (អ្នក​បុរី​កីឡា សុំ​អន្តរាគមន៍​ពី​ទូត​មហា​អំណាច​)។ ក្រោយ​ពី​បាន​អាន​អត្ថបទ​ទាំង​ ពីនេះ​ហើយ ខ្ញុំ​មាន​អារម្មណ៍​អាណិត​អាសូរ​ជា​ពន់ពេក ដល់​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ដែល​រងគ្រោះ​ទាំង​អស់ រួម​ទាំង​អ្នក​រង​របួស និង​អ្នក​ដែល​ត្រូវ​បាន​តុលាការ​កាត់​ទោស ជា​ពិសេស ​នោះ គឺ​ក្រុម​កុមារា-កុមារី។ ជា​ការ​កត់​សម្គាល់​របស់​ខ្ញុំ​ក្រោយ​ហេតុ​ការណ៍​នេះ  ខ្ញុំ​មាន​ទស្សន​ប្រហាក់​ប្រហែល​នឹង​បញ្ញ

Letter Send to Editor of the Cambodia Daily by Sam Rany on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 7:37am Dear Mr. Kevin Doyle, Having read your article titled on “Battambang University Rector Accused of Corruption” (page 13, February 20-21, 2011), I would like to express my deeper concern over the internal conflict of interests between the rector and some lecturers at this university. This conflict can be affected its reputation to attract the prospective students who will enroll in coming year. Moreover, it can be impacted on the glory of current higher education institutions (HEIs) in our beloved country. I recognized that University of Battambang (UBB) is a top public university that just newly inaugurated under presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the end of 2010. Presently, the numbers of students have dramatically increased every academic year because of high quality of education and leadership. Enrollment has jumped to 5,080 in only three years. As a new

Letter send to Editor of the Phnom Penh Post by Sam Rany on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 7:39am Dear Mr. Bernie Leo, Having read your article titled on “Battambang Lecturer in Craft Claim” (January 28, 2011), I would like to express my deeper concern over the internal conflict of interests between the rector and some lecturers at this university. This conflict can be affected its reputation to attract the prospective students who will enroll in coming year. Moreover, it can be impacted on the glory of current higher education institutions (HEIs) in our beloved country. I recognized that University of Battambang (UBB) is a top public university that just newly inaugurated under presided over by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the end of 2010. The numbers of students have dramatically increased every academic year because of high quality of education and leadership. Enrollment has jumped to 5,080 in only three years. As a new beginning, it normally faced some probl