On Saturday, February 13th, 2016, UC held another installment of its Distinguished Lecture Series entitled, “Bridging the Generation Gap in Cambodia,” featuring H.E. General Nem Sowath, Advisor and Director of the Cabinet Office of H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh, and Director-General of the General Department of Policy and Foreign Af-fairs, Ministry of National Defense. The event was moderated by Professor Din Merican, Acting Dean of the Techo Sen School of Government and International Relations (TSS).
General Nem Sowath opened the presentation by discussing different generations from the baby boomers to generations X, Y, and Z. He highlighted their general characteristics, attitudes, ambitions, and relationship behaviors. The study presented the significant differences and disconnections between Generation Z and their predecessors, in that Gen Z are the trendsetters of their society, and with added technology, they share and design information in the world that they live in.
The study highlights the pertinent achievements of earlier generations in establishing peace and security for the country, starting with freedom from the Khmer Rouge regime to the total elimination of civil war. He further discussed the notion of, “Until we have today,” which signifies that achievements of peace and stability are achieved through significant sacrifice from previous generations, and that peace and stability are not unequivocal, but require later generations to carefully foster and develop them as well.
Although concerns about the younger generations ability to maintain and develop peace have arisen from the aging generations, H.E. General Nem Sowath added, “I admire young people for challeng-ing the ideas and norms, and I am proud of our young people for paying attention to history.”
Currently a ‘Win-Win’ memorial is being constructed in an effort to commemorate Cambodia’s achievement of total peace in 1998 through peace-ful resolutions to end the prolonged civil war. This will be a public recreational park where Cambodian people, young and old, can come to enjoy themselves. The memorial will also give the public access to a reservoir of historical data through a modern library to provide, particularly the young generations, easy access to learn about Cambodia’s history.
