KAMPOT: The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Army, Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, has stated that religion has played an important role in social moral education, as learning, devotion, and obedience in pagodas has led to many positive results among the Cambodian people.

Lt. Gen. Hun Manet’s statement on religious education was made during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Wat Kiri Ousod Teuk Chub pagoda, in Teuk Chhou district, Kampot province on Wednesday, 18 May.

He said that the promotion and sowing of positive thoughts through Buddhist education is a tradition that the elders have shared to the next generation. He added that Buddhist education is also integrated within the imperial education system, aiming to bestow Cambodian children with morals, virtue, and bright intellectual capacities that will help contribute to building harmony in society and in national development.

He said, "Religion teaches people to keep the Dharma within themselves, especially the leaders of countries who are responsible for the fate of the people, even more so to practice the Dharma consistently, because deviation from this path will lead to fervor and the destruction of the nation, as has happened under the Pol Pot regime."

He stressed that in this sense, it is not important how big or small a country is, the main thing is the leadership that must be led by Dharma, honesty, and sacrifice to serve, protect, and save the people in all cases without running away, even in situations of crisis.

He added that this is what the CPP has done in leading the country for more than 40 years, by saving lives from war and crisis, improving the lives and health of the people together, to fulfill merits and provide education and job opportunities, and to continue this cause onward.