PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged for the preservation of cultural traditions through Cambodia’s statues, music and language.
Speaking at the celebration of the 25th National Cultural Day and gala dinner with more than 4,000 artists at the Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center on Thursday, 2 March 2023, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged all pagodas in Cambodia to make sure that they have two traditional orchestras, the Pin Peat and the Chai Yam, present at the pagoda. He said this will encourage and help increase the number of musicians maintaining the practice of these two ancient orchestras, thus contributing to the preservation of cultural heritage.
"I call on all monks, pagoda chiefs, as well as the pagoda abbot committee, to pay more attention to attracting the support of donors, Buddhists and others who have the resources, to support the pagoda in having a Pin Peat Orchestra and in training more people to practice the traditional Pin Peat music," he said.
The Prime Minister also advised that the construction of cultural statues be done in careful accordance with traditional statue styles and design, because cultural belief states that such statues cannot be destroyed or broken down after they have been constructed. As a result, if there are inaccuracies in the way these cultural statues are designed, they cannot be taken down and future generations will lose proper reference to the traditional styles when constructing new statues in the future.
"The statue will stand for hundreds of years to come, and the younger generation will be led to misunderstand the real Khmer form," he said.
In addition, the Prime Minister also instructed the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the National Council for the Khmer Language and the Royal Academy to work together to formulate Khmer translations of words from foreign languages that do not yet exist in Khmer, especially those in the field of art, because the use of Khmer is now also more widespread on social media.
He urged for continued efforts to strengthen the overall capacity of Khmer literature among Cambodians, as he has observed that there are many misuses of the Khmer language on social media.
The Royal Government plans to provide vocational training to 1.5 million poor students by the end of 2023 or by early 2024. These vocational training students will receive free education and stipends, and the government has also stated that it will ensure that 2-4% of vocational training will be for ancestral and cultural arts and craft practices.
