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| Othsman Hassan, secretary of state at the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, meet with Haji Mohamed Nordin Ismail, vice-president of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department, to talk about Malaysian aid in the field of education for Cambodian Muslims. |
Othsman Hassan, a Cambodian Muslim and secretary of state at the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, on Tuesday, asked a delegation from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (MIDD) to provide professional training in the field of education to Cambodia Muslims in the Kingdom.
Mr. Hassan told Khmer Times that he made the proposal to the Malaysian delegation of 12 officials during a meeting at the Cambodian Muslim Development Foundation (CMDF) center. But, he declined to make any further comment.
According to the AKP, the Cambodian state-owned news agency, the Malaysian delegation was led by Haji Mohamed Nordin Ismail, vice-director of the Malaysian general department for Islamic affairs.
The AKP added that Mr. Ismail said that for the first step in the process of implementing the Malaysian project to train Cambodian Muslim teachers, the experts in his department have already obtained the green light from the Malaysian government with a starting budget of $300,000.
Moreover, in response to the CMDF’s demand, the MIDD will begin the training course first in Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang province. Next, the MIDD will expand the project to other provinces until the end of the project in early 2019.
Mr. Ismail added that Cambodian education sector is the priority for which his department will start to train teacher trainers who in turn will be able to train kindergarten and primary teachers.
Besides education, the project also includes five other programs that will be implemented following MIDD’s schedule with the flexibility of change to adapt to the actual need and condition.
Mr. Ismail also said that throughout the implementation of the project, friendship between Cambodia and Malaysia will be also strengthened.
Khmer Times could not reach representative from CMDF for comment.
According to the Malaysian ministry of foreign affairs, Malaysia began to establish its diplomatic relations with Cambodia on August 21, 1957.
From 1969 to 1975, the diplomatic relations between Cambodia and Malaysia were managed by Malaysian Embassy in Beijing.
During the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, the embassy was closed. The embassy was reopened its doors in November 26, 1991, after the signing of the Paris Peace Accord in October 23, 1991 to end the civil wars in Cambodia.
The US Department of State, last month, issued the 2016 report talking about the religious freedom in Cambodia.
The report said that about 2 to 3 percent of the Cambodian population is Muslim, mostly is ethnic Cham. But, not all Cham are Muslim.
“The Cham typically live in towns and rural fishing villages on the banks of the Tonle Sap Lake and the Mekong River, as well as in Kampot Province,” read the report.
Ahmad Yahya, a Cham Muslim who is also a personal advisor to Prime Minister Hun Sen, previously said that in Cambodia, Cham Muslims and Cambodian Buddhists are living together in an absolute harmony.
“There is no discrimination, we are very happy. Cham Muslims have 500 mosques. Buddhist religion is Buddhist religion, and our religion is our religion. We follow the teaching of the Quran, and we do not interfere,” said Mr. Yahya.
According to So Farina, a researcher at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, Cham Muslims and Cambodian people experienced the same suffering. So they understand each other more than before. This fact alone makes them unite with each other.
“If you look at the history of Chams and Cambodians, they consider themselves as one. During the time of the Khmer Rouge, they all suffered. After the Khmer Rouge, they united. It’s a survivors’ identity,” said Ms. Farina.
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