During a visit to Kompong Cham province to preside over the ceremony to inaugurate the school for Hearing and Vision Impaired Children, Samdech Hun Sen addressed the public on the good work of the Kruorsar Thmey organization, some issues on the handicapped and some reactions of the Cambodian public opinions on a controversial statement made by Thai actress with acting name “Phkai Proeuk.”
… Today I have a great pleasure in participating with all of you to inaugurate the school for the deaf and blind in Kompong Cham and I wish to warmly welcome our beloved children with hearing and vision impaired problem. I am also glad to note that the Kruorsar Thmey organization (KTO) has added one more achievement on top of various others that they have provided to Cambodia. As reported in the address of Mr. President of KTO that in ten years (started from 1991 up to the present) there have been forty places with the facilities to save the children. With regard to schooling and accommodation of this sort, this is the third facility, in my native province, after Chbar Ampeo in Phnom Penh and Battambang.
… I highly appreciate the efforts made by KTO for the provision of opportunity for the hearing and vision impaired as well as those abandoned and abused children. Taking this opportunity I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dark and Light Foundation, Johnson Foundation, etc… and those individual donors from France, Switzerland, England, Taiwan and Luxembourg for the generous offer they made for the saving of hearing and vision-impaired children in Cambodia. KTO has picked up a role that is similar to that of their parents and this is encouraged by the local authorities of all levels. If we were to have more NGOs working in this direction as the KTO, I think that we would be able to reduce lots of difficulties and those of the handicapped people.
… In the Kingdom of Cambodia, according to some statistics, we have up to 200,000 handicapped people, young and old, or 0.5% of the whole population. We could put it in other words that there is one handicapped in every 100 people. The handicapped situation is left from the Cambodian internal conflict and war and the genocide and is a burden not only for the Royal Government but also our donor community as well. We have made all out efforts to redress their vulnerable situation. Take for instance KTO alone has set up 45 centers and sites that are functioning to provide assistance for 900 children and 3000 others so that they have an appropriate living condition and training. I think that to have done something is better than to have done nothing. I used to say that if we could not do a great deal, we have to do some. If we could not help, for example, 100 handicapped children all at once, it is still better to have helped at least one at a time.
… KTO has brought about changes in these children’s lives and as we could see with our own eyes that KTO has done a great deal to reduce sufferings and tensions among these children who have lost their parents in addition to their hearing and vision impaired situation. We could see here a translator of dumb language, which is a real profession and this language is used by TV station in most of the developed countries. The world does not abandon or ignore them. I am very appreciative to the person who has developed the dumb language. When I visited the children at Chbar Ampeo center, I saw a program in which the children learn to read by touching and later on they could do touch typing on computer…
… We may have brought the number of physical handicapped down but what I wanted to say more is about the situation of mental handicap in addition to physical one. But I have noticed with pleasure that in the last years our handicap have proven to not have a mentally handicapped and the children in this school have indicated so. The problem is whether we give them opportunity or not… I have a contribution of 100 kg and 400,000 Riel a month and two trips a year to the beach for handicapped children in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampeo center and Battambang. would the school in Kompong Cham like me to offer similar assistance. Mr. President said it is not new position from Hun Sen, but he (Hun Sen) has been doing so many years ago. In fact I have also offered a band of traditional music instruments and the dress for all the band members. I have a recommendation based on my observation that the vision-impaired persons normally have a special sense that they could play traditional guitar (Cha Pey) very well. So if anyone among those practiced traditional music has this special ability, please report to me so that I could try to find good trainer for him/her.
… Mobitel Company with various other companies has signed an agreement to provide US$ 40,000 and they promise to give more if the amount is being used appropriately. I am sure KTO would win a mark on that as they have won the confidence of donors to build more than forty facilities already. As for me I also have collected contribution from various generous people and built 340 school buildings in the province and just now I heard that the district of Srey Santhor also file request for school buildings so the figure would rise… Samdech Hun Sen declared provision of computers and referrals and audio and video equipments to various institutions in the province…
… Well maybe you should think about using the audio-video instruments that are provided. Maybe you would not use it to watch more films of the Thai actress “Phkai Proeuk.” We have in the last week and this week a strong reaction of the Cambodian public to the actress for the statement that she would come to perform in Cambodia only when the Cambodians “return” Angkor Wat to Thailand… It is a warning to those of us who have their rooms full of her pictures while none of their parents were there… One of our people in Kompong Chhnang said on radio last night that the picture of Phkai Proeuk has been dumped into the river. Let me have your attention that no one forces us to take other culture but some of us have accepted other’s culture without thought. You may know now that you should love yourself and your own culture more than others. We have a rich culture, so we should think of enriching it and making it serviceable for our society. What I have said is not making a connection to the Thai Government, but to the individual person of Phkai Proeuk alone. We know that it is not the impression of the whole Thai nation…
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