Official ceremony held to award the rank of General to Hun Manet

 



Soth Koemsoeun

General Hun Manet, who is serving as the Commander of the Cambodian Army and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), has been promoted to a full General.

The official ceremony of awarding the rank of "General" to Gen Hun Manet was presided over by Tea Banh, Minister of National Defence of Cambodia at the Ministry of National Defence hall yesterday.

Banh said that the Ministry of National Defence organised a ceremony to equip the ranks of Generals to the officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.




“It is a long-term preparation for future officers and women in the defence sector in line with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces' reform plan, political programme and rectangular strategy of the sixth legislature of the National Assembly,” he said.

General Hun Manet, also a future prime ministerial candidate of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), said yesterday that in the past, he used to preside over the ranks of thousands of officers but today he was conferred the title by Minister of Defence Tea Banh for himself.

"I would like to express my gratitude to His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, for his willingness to promote me to the rank of ‘General’, he said.

He also thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen, Tea Banh, Minister of National Defence, and General Vong Pisen, Commander-in-Chief of the RCAF, for their trust and support in fulfilling his duties to serve the nation and the people.


Chhay Sophal, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Information and author of Gen Hun Manet’s book, said yesterday that in 1980–1990, Gen Manet attended and completed his primary and lower secondary education at Komarei Primary and Secondary School (now known as Chaktomuk Primary and Secondary School).



In 1990-1993, he attended and completed his high school at Phnom Daun Penh High School (now known as Preah Sisowath High School). Gen Manet excelled in mathematics, he said.

In 1995-1999, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy, West Point and, prestigiously graduated, on May 29 1999, as the first Cambodian graduate from the American military academy, he said.


In response to the author’s question on whether his West Point knowledge is being implemented in Cambodia, Gen Manet said, “Some military theories and fundamental knowledge of management and leadership are being used, but real fieldwork is more important because it teaches us what is being implemented effectively.”

It should be noted that he had been serving in the RCAF when he left for West Point in 1995.




Coincidentally, in 1999, his graduation year from West Point, was also a remarkable year for Cambodia after gaining complete peace when the last Khmer Rouge rebels in Anlong Veng surrendered to the Royal Government of Cambodia at the end of 1998, he said.

In 2002, he received a Master’s Degree of Arts in Economics from the University of New York, in the USA. In 2008, he received a PhD in Economics from the University of Bristol, UK, Sophal added.




However, the 45-year-old does not hold any political office, he is a member of the CPP Standing Committee, the party’s decision-making body and is the head of its youth wing.

In late 2021, Gen Manet was named by the CPP Central Committee to be the party’s future candidate for prime minister after Mr Hun Sen, essentially making him the prime minister-in-waiting.




Under Cambodian law, Gen Manet will have to resign from his military positions and win a parliamentary seat, if he is to accept the topmost government position.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia Attends the 13th World Swimming Championship in Italy

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA The six Cambodian delegates will leave for the 13th World Swimming Championship, scheduled over nine days from the July 25 to August 2, 2009 in Rome, Italy. The delegates will depart on July 21. Their number will include two national male swimmers and a couple of female junior swimmers. They will be supported by one coach and one member of the sport’s governing body. The World Swimming Championship is organized by the International Amateur Swimming Federation (IASF), which was founded in the 1950s, according to Hem Thon, National Coach and Secretary General of the Khmer Amateur Swimming Federation (KASF). He also said that 115 countries besides Cambodia would send swimmers to Italy to take part in the competition. “This is the third year that Cambodia has sent a swimming team to the World Swimming Championships. We are looking forward to competing with the best swimmers in the world and hopefully winning a couple of medals for our country. It is also be a great...
Read more

Chan Tra: Life of a Cambodian Traditional Tattoo Artist

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Among tattooists in Cambodia, Chan Tra, 46, is the only tattoo artist to retain the ability to ink a wide range of subjects in different styles. His modern counterparts are limited in their repertoire in comparison. His subjects include the human form, birds and abstract patterns. Chan Tra is now an expert in drawing Ankor Wat on the skin of foreign clients, thus turning them into walking, talking promotional materials for Cambodia’s tourist sector. Chan Tra was born in 1963 in Sihanouk province and has two sons and one daughter. He is an orphaned and a Survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime. He lost his entire family during the years of terror between 1975 and 1979. “I have loved drawing and painting ever since I was a child and practised my art every day before the arrival of the Pol Pot regime. Consequently, I like the art of tattooing and it makes a solid source of income to keep my wife and kids happy,” he told The Southeast Asia Weekly during a personal i...
Read more

TV5 Selects Freshie Girls and Boys 2009

BY BUTH REAKSMEY KONGKEA Ten Cambodian teenagers, five girls and five boys, were selected as “Cambodian Freshie Girls and Boys” for 2009. The “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition took place on March 30 at the TV5’s station in Phnom Penh and was organized by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ Television Channel 5 (TV5). Bun Kert, Director of the “Freshie Girls and Boys Organizational Committee” of the TV5, said more than 1,000 Cambodian youth applied for the competition, but through many different phases of the competition, only 20 girls and boys who reached the final round on March 30. He said the main objective of the competition is to promote and encourage Cambodian young people to show their personal abilities and skills and knowledge in order to become a future leader, good speaker or TV hosts in Cambodia. “This is the eighth “Freshie Girls and Boys” competition organized by TV5 in Phnom Penh. The main purpose of the competition is to select the freshie girls and boys for Cambodia i...
Read more