Making one of his first major public addresses, and to an audience very different from the crack military units he commands, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son Hun Manet gave a pep talk yesterday to thousands of recent high school graduates.
Speaking at the “Life Preparation to be Successful after Finishing High School” seminar held on Koh Pich in Phnom Penh, Mr Manet told the more than 2,000 youngsters in attendance that they should choose a path that they want to follow, and then work hard to achieve their life goals.
Better known to the public as Major General Manet, and head of the Defense Ministry’s counterterrorism unit, as well as the deputy commander of his father’s elite bodyguard unit, Mr Manet said he, not his father, had called the shots when it came to his education.
“Some people think that everything I studied up to now, such as studying at the [West Point] military school, was prepared for me by my father,” Mr Manet said. “But it was not. There was no such support,” he said. “Your father and mother only provide the opportunity for you, and advise you. But you must make your own decisions.”
Recounting for the audience his own feelings of uncertainty when he graduated from high school 18 years ago, Mr Manet recommended a three-step plan for high school graduates: First, they should think clearly about their choices in university; second, they should work hard to achieve success in the area they choose to study; third, they should set out exact goals for their long-term future.
Finally, the prime minister’s son warned against obtaining degrees without doing the required work and gaining the prerequisite knowledge, adding that university degrees were useless without actual ability.
“Don’t forget, if you have 20 trucks full of bachelor’s degree certificates, it can only help you get past the door [to a job]. But if you get inside the door, whether you stay or not is down to your own abilities,” he said.
