Showing the mantle of a true leader, Lieutenant General Hun Manet, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army on Monday made a personal contribution of $10,000 to the Malaysian Business Chamber, Cambodia (MBCC) at the conclusion of its Charity Gala Dinner held to raise funds for demining efforts in Kong Pisei district, Kampong Speu province.
This pushed the final tally of contributions to be handed to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) to $77,700.
Lt Gen Hun Manet said that it is his way of showing support for MBCC’s efforts and he looked forward to more such activities from MBCC and other business chambers and organisations to enable Cambodia to be landmine-free by 2025.
“I am deeply touched and extremely impressed by the success of the Charity Gala Dinner at NagaWorld, and to see close to 500 people in attendance and 24 corporate sponsors and individuals who also bought tables and single seats to grace this occasion, which is for a very noble cause, to be undertaken by the CMAA.”
Lt Gen Hun (second L) arrving at Naga Ballroom accompanied by Senior Minister Ly Thuch (L), Malaysian Ambassador Eldeen Husaini (second R) and MBCC president Tan Khee Meng (R)
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen and its First Vice-President, Senior Minister Ly Thuch, I must applaud MBCC for this initiative and CMAA for its efforts to make the whole of Cambodia safe from landmines, the hidden silent killer,” Lt Gen Hun Manet said.
He added that he was elated to note that the MBCC fundraiser will help more than 8,000 people, mostly women and children, to be free of the scourge of landmines.
Among the generous corporate sponsors were: CIMB Bank PLC; Baker Tilly (Cambodia) Co., Ltd.; Royal Group; Hong Leong Bank (Cambodia) PLC; Cambodian Transmission Limited; Maybank (Cambodia) PLC; RHB Bank (Cambodia) PLC; Canadia Bank PLC; Cambodian Public Bank PLC; NagaWorld; Westec Media Ltd; Prince Foundation; PESTECH (Cambodia) PLC; Panda Bank; QI Group of Companies; Management Venture Asia (Cambodia) Ltd; GEI Mekong Co., Ltd.; Edotco (Cambodia) Co., Ltd.; SMART Axiata Co., Ltd.; Goodhill Enterprise (Cambodia) Ltd.; HGB Group Co., Ltd. (Maserati Cambodia); Boncafe (Cambodia) Ltd; Khmer Times and Heineken Cambodia.
Thuch in his address said that landmine clearance was a tedious and dangerous task and that more than 200 deminers had lost their lives during landmine clearing operations.
“All of you present here this evening must take comfort in knowing that several villages in Kong Pisei district will be cleared of landmines once the areas have been identified and demining teams mobilised. Together with all of your help today and in the future, village by village, district by district and province by province, we will leave no land contaminated with landmines,” he said.
Lt Gen Manet greeting special guests who are victims of labdmines. KT/Chor Sokunthea
Malaysian Ambassador Eldeen Husaini said in his speech that Malaysians by nature are generous and this has been proven yet again at the “wonderful gathering”.
“The Malaysian Embassy, through its ‘We Care, We Share’ programme and the MBCC through its various CSR activities are making small but significant changes to the lives of Cambodians and that is our objective, apart from being good corporate citizens.”
Oknha Tan Khee Meng, president of MBCC in his opening remarks, said “We took up this initiative and MBCC members and other corporates rose to the challenge and dug deep into their pockets to contribute this significant amount of money to be handed over to CMAA.
“We did this all in four weeks and we made it because of the generosity of the Malaysians and other corporates and also to the very generous contribution from Lt Gen Hun Manet who has not only taken his valuable time to be with us this evening but also made his personal contribution towards this most noble cause.
MBCC handing over a mock cheque to CMAA for demining activities in Kampong Speu. KT/Chor Sokunthea
“We will keep initiating programmes which will bring benefits to Cambodians, especially the needy and desperate such as those in the landmine-infested areas,” Tan said when speaking to Khmer Times at the conclusion of the event.