Lim Kean Hor, Cambodia’s longstanding Minister of Water Resources, received a higher-level black belt in karate on Monday in a ceremony presided over by Finance Minister Aun Porn Moniroth, who also serves as the honorary president of the Cambodian Karate-Do Academy.
Mr. Kean Hor’s receipt of a “4 Dan” black belt means that he is now the third-ranking karate master in the country, after Mr. Porn Moniroth, who holds a “6 Dan” black belt, and Samedy Sivathana, an undersecretary of state at the Education Ministry, who is the president of the local karate academy and a “7 Dan” black belt.
Three visiting Japanese karate masters, two of whom held the highly coveted rank of “9 Dan,” bestowed the new black belt on Mr. Kean Hor, the minister said Monday.
Mr. Kean Hor said he was thrilled to receive the new rank as he has been a devotee of karate for 40 years, since he was a student during the Lon Nol regime, when a number of Japanese and Korean masters taught martial arts in Phnom Penh. He encouraged more Cambodian students to take up the practice.
“I love Japanese martial arts as they are based on several points that our students need, including training for self-defense, confrontation, and meditation,” he said.
“If our Education Ministry introduced this subject, it would be good for students and help them build their capacity while avoiding wine drinking and drug use.”
