Ranydina XenManiA turtle: "[W]e might be a turtle, but this turtle never stops crawling. So you rabbits out there better watch out!" (Ranydina XenManiA snake-necked turtle, a Khmer Rouge native, has a seven-inch-long shell and strong jaws to crunch critics and opposition officials, and it smells like a skunk. 'Not the prettiest snakeneck by a long way,' says one scientist. Chelodina reimanni." Photographer: Joel Sartore)
Our First Lady of the Cambodian Red Cross [church] - the savior of Cambodia poor and not so poor (not really) alike
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)Sunday, September 12, 2010
Op- Ed by DSI
"After finish reading the book by Heng Pov praising our awesome prime minister, I thought to myself, perhaps I took our government's success for granted and should appreciate those greatness more than I did.
I once taught at a public university in Cambodia, and I was warned by the administrator to refrain from talking about politics in class (although the nature of the class was supposed to be about politics). Ok fine, after all, if I mention something political, God forbid, the whole national security will be out of control - there will be a civil war again and bloodshed all over the country. National security comes before freedom of speech, a lesson I learn from our government.
I happened to attend a students' concert arranged by that same school, in which a representative of the Cambodian Red Cross was present and was giving us all details about how lucky we all have been since January 9, 1979 to the present under the leadership of the CPP. Apparently, if you talk to more than 300 young students about the achievements of the government, then it's NOT political - something I didn't know.
On that note, I can't help but admiring our First Lady who's leading the Cambodian Red Cross. No matter how many other people and how much they have donated to the Red Cross, when the charity reaches the people, only our Lady's name is mentioned. Let us not be offended, because the names of other donors are not mentioned for fear that if the money spoils those poor people, they would get bad credit for it. Let such adversity be the sole responsibility of our First Lady.
I should also be thankful to those who repaired old schools that ALREADY have names (e.g. Beng Keng Kong high school), and added their personal name to the school. This is not political, but something that would serve as a good example for the next generation because without the extra personal name, kids would not be grateful and would not learn how to build more schools in the future.
Some people might be resentful about the big villas in north-eastern part of Phnom Penh, mostly occupied by senior officials of the government. But I strongly believe that our leaders are working so hard for the country, and really deserve such luxury. Nothing is more evident that the fact that whenever journalists try to reach them for comments about a controversial issues, they just happen to be busy at a meeting. My God, they work so hard!
I'm also very proud that our government has achieved a great level of intellectuality. I don't have the statistics, but I would bet that Cambodia has the highest number of PhD holders serving in the government compared to other nations. It's just a matter of time before Chamreoun University of Polytechnic becomes a leading university in the world for their remarkable record of producing so many doctorates annually.
I'm rather sad that I'm not doing anything to help but talking. Lastly, I would like to congratulate our awesome government not only for their deeds, but also their vision: the 555 tower. We might be a poor country, most of our people might be farmers and use batteries or candles for lighting at night, but no one can stop us from hoping to build the second-tallest building on earth. Like our prime minister once said, "we might be a turtle, but this turtle never stops crawling." So you rabbits out there better watch out!"
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