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Bun Rany (,
UNGEGN The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) is one of the nine expert groups of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and deals with the national and international standardization of geographical names. ...
: ; born 15 December 1954) is the wife of
Hun Sen Samdech Hun Sen (; , Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military officer who currently serves as the List of presidents of the Senate (Cambodia), president of the Senate. He previous ...
, the
prime minister of Cambodia The prime minister of Cambodia (, UNGEGN: , ; literally 'chief minister') is the head of government of Cambodia. The prime minister is also the chairman of the Cabinet of Cambodia, Cabinet and leads the executive branch of the Royal Government ...
from 1985 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2023. She also served as the vice president of the National Association of the Cambodian Red Cross and, since 1998, as its president. She has received national and international recognition and numerous awards for her work and endeavor with Cambodia's orphans and poor, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and her emphasis on women's issues with efforts to improve domestic safety and empowerment through education and vocational training. Her full honorary title is Samdech Kittipritbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen (; ).


Titles

As the wife of the Prime Minister, she was previously referred to as ''Lok Chumteav Bun Rany - Hun Sen'' (Khmer: លោកជំទាវប៊ុន រ៉ានី ហ៊ុន សែន). ''Lok Chumteav'' is a title for high-ranking female officials or the wives of high-ranking ministers or government officials. The name of her husband follows to indicate her title is due to her status as Hun Sen's wife. On 30 March 2011, Cambodian king Norodom Sihamoni granted her the title ''Kittipritbandit'' (Khmer: កិត្តិព្រឹទ្ធបណ្ឌិត), a title meaning roughly "Celebrated Senior Sage/Scholar/PhD" and equivalent to an honorary Doctorate in the Royal Academy of Cambodia. On 8 May 2013, King Sihamoni awarded her the title ''Samdech'' (Khmer: សម្ដេច), the highest bestowed title in the Khmer kingdom, thus making her full title ''Samdech Kittipritbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen'' (Khmer: សម្ដេចកិត្តិព្រឹទ្ធបណ្ឌិតប៊ុន រ៉ានី ហ៊ុន សែន). Although she should technically be addressed as ''Samdech'', she is often informally referenced as ''Lok Chumtiew''.


Early life

Bun Rany was born Bun Sam Hieng to a Chinese-Khmer family in what was then the province of Kampong Cham, Cambodia in Roka Khnao, Krouch Chhmar District (now a part of Tbong Khmum Province). Her parents, Lin Kri and Bun Sieng Ly, were prosperous farmers who traced their ancestry to Kwangtung (
Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
) in China. Rany has two brothers and three sisters. As children, before the
Cambodian Civil War The Cambodian Civil War (, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: ) was a civil war in Cambodia fought between the Communist Party of Kampuchea (known as the Khmer Rouge, supported by North Vietnam and China) against the government of the Ki ...
, they all walked half an hour to school, wading across the Roka Khnao River in the dry season or hitching a ferry ride across in the wet season when the water was too deep to cross. She has stated that her maternal grandparents' gentle instruction in Cambodian tradition was very influential in her later life. In 1970, when Rany was 16 years old, her grandparents died. Shortly thereafter, Prince Sihanouk was deposed by General
Lon Nol Marshal Lon Nol (, also ; 13 November 1913 – 17 November 1985) was a Cambodian military officer and politician who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice (1966–67; 1969–71), as well as serving repeatedly as defence minister and provi ...
. These two events deeply affected her and when the exiled Prince aligned with the Communist
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...
and issued a call for Cambodians to fight against Lon Nol's government, Rany secretly joined the National United Front of Kampuchea. The local cadres gave her a choice of positions. She chose the medical field and the
leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...
arranged for her training by doctors who had come from Phnom Penh to lecture fresh recruits. After six months of Khmer Rouge training, she was sent back to Krouch Chhmar with the title of Public Health Officer. By 1974, she was the director of a Khmer Rouge hospital located approximately 50 km from the front line of fighting against Lon Nol's
Khmer Republic The Khmer Republic (, ; ) was a Cambodian state under the United States-backed military dictatorship of Marshal Lon Nol from 1970 to 1975. Its establishment was formally declared on 9 October 1970, following the 18 March 1970 coup d'état w ...
government forces.


Marriage to Hun Sen

In March 1974, Rany met Hun Sen (through Le Duc Tho) who, having joined the Khmer Rouge in 1970, commanded most of the soldiers that were treated at her hospital. As the Khmer Rouge leadership forbade fraternization among the people and strictly controlled every facet of life, including courtship and marriage, they carried on a romance through intermediaries and occasionally on the pretense of official Party business. Hun Sen officially requested the Angkar to allow a marriage in late 1974 but despite his reputation as a good leader, was told to wait until Phnom Penh was captured and the whole country was under Khmer Rouge rule. In 1975, one day before the fall of Phnom Penh, Hun Sen was hit by shrapnel and lost his left eye. Considering him now to be disabled, Bun Rany's superiors decided he was not suitable for marriage and instead attempted to arrange for her to marry a series of prominent men in Krouch Chhmar District, all of whom she rejected. Likewise, Hun Sen's superiors attempted to find a "more suitable" partner for him, suggesting, among others, a high-ranking Party woman twelve years his senior. Their refusal to follow the orders of their superiors led to lowered esteem and suspicion of loyalties. In early 1976, the Angkar organized a group marriage ceremony with twelve wounded and handicapped soldiers and notified Hun Sen and Bun Rany that they could marry as part of this event. The group wedding took place with little ceremony in a very remote location with no family members in attendance. They were told to live in Memot District where Hun Sen was stationed on the border with
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
while Rany was assigned to work long hours in neighbouring Ponhea Kraek and Tboung Khmum districts. On 10 November 1976, Bun Rany gave birth to their first child in Memot, a son whom they named Kamsot (meaning "sad") who died later the same day as a result of being dropped by a Khmer Rouge nurse, Rany claims. Hun Sen and Rany have six children, four sons (one of them deceased) and three daughters (one of them adopted). Their names are Kamsot (deceased), Manet, Mana, Manit, Mani, Mali and Malis.


Activities as First Lady

In 1977, the Khmer Rouge began internal purges directed at those suspected of disloyalty. Hun Sen, who had risen to the rank of Battalion Commander, became paranoid and fled with his followers into Vietnam where they joined a rebel army and replacement government organized by the Vietnamese in advance of its effort to overthrow the Khmer Rouge regime. Bun Rany, who was left behind, was imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge and would not see her husband again until almost two years later when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979. Upon defeating the Khmer Rouge and occupying Cambodia, the Vietnamese named Hun Sen as deputy prime minister and freed Bun Rany who then began organizing orphanages and schools for the orphans left behind by the
genocidal Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" b ...
policies of the Khmer Rouge. In 1985, Hun Sen was appointed prime minister, giving Bun Rany a better platform to expand both her economic activities and her humanitarian work. During the post-1988 process of Thai-Cambodian rapprochement, she forged a close personal relationship with the wife of Thai Prime Minister
Chatichai Choonhavan Chatichai Choonhavan (; , ; 5 April 1920 – 6 May 1998) was a Thai army officer, diplomat and politician. From 1986 to 1991, he was the chairman of the Thai Nation Party and served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from August 1988 until the 1 ...
, and became deeply involved in the rapidly growing legal and illegal trade between Cambodia and Thailand. From her position as first lady, she began to call attention to the plight of those infected with HIV/AIDS, the poor and women's issues. In April 1994 at the first congress of the Cambodian Red Cross, she was elected as its Vice President while Princess Eng Marie, wife of then Co-Prime Minister Prince
Norodom Ranariddh Norodom Ranariddh (; 2 January 1944 – 28 November 2021, Romanization of Khmer#UNGEGN, UNGEGN: , Romanization of Khmer#ALA-LC Romanization Tables, ALA-LC: ) was a Cambodian politician and law academic. He was the second son of King Norodom S ...
was elected president. At its second congress in 1998, Bun Rany was elected president after Hun Sen consolidated his power by violently ousting and exiling Ranariddh. Some of the highlights of her tenure thus far have been the establishment of five development centers located throughout Cambodia aimed at providing vocational and business training to women and the poor, organizing and delivering aid to victims of floods that regularly inundate Cambodia (
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, among others) and efforts supporting the UN Secretary-General's Action Plan for Women and Children's Health.


Criticism and controversy

As the former communist wife of a leader who is widely considered a despotic
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
, Bun Rany is not without detractors. For instance, in 2003 Noranarith Anandayath, adviser to Prince Ranariddh, accused her of politicizing the Red Cross, a worldwide organization whose reputation is founded on its political neutrality, by funneling money from her husband's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to villagers during an election when parties were prohibited from "making gifts" to voters. In October 2013 critics including Prince Sisowath Thomico and Sam Rainsy accused her of abusing her position when, at a Cambodian Red Cross flood relief event in Pailin, she spent the majority of her speech denouncing the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in the wake of a controversial national election that spawned some of the biggest protests Cambodia has seen in decades. In October 1999, following the public assassination of popular Cambodian actress Pisith Pilika, the French magazine '' L’Express'' claimed that the actress’ diary recounted a love affair with Hun Sen and named Bun Rany as the mastermind behind the shooting; the magazine also claimed that on her deathbed the actress had named Bun Rany to several people. Bun Rany quickly denied these charges, and announced that she would press charges against ''L’Express'' for defamation. However, no charges were ever brought against ''L'Express''.


Special interest groups

Cambodia, officially a multiparty democracy, in reality "remains a one-party state dominated by the Cambodian People's Party and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Bun's husband, a former
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...
official in power since 1985. The open doors to new investment during his reign have yielded the most access to a coterie of cronies of his and his wife, Bun Rany".


Awards and honours

The following is a list of awards and honours accumulated by Lok Chumtiew Bun Rany. *November 2006 - Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS and the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum (APLF) recognise Bun Rany as an APLF Outstanding Champion *October 2008 - Honorary Doctorate in Humanity from the University of Cambodia *June 2009 - Honorary Doctorate in Economic Science from the Women's University of Seoul *July 2010 - Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the Jeon Ju University of South Korea *April 2010 - Honorary Doctorate in Education from Silla University, Busan, South Korea *March 2011 - Granted title ''Kittiprittbandit'' of the Royal Academy of Cambodia by King Sihamoni


References


External links


Hun Sen's early careerOfficial Biography from a Government site


{{DEFAULTSORT:Bun, Rany 1954 births Living people Cambodian Buddhists Cambodian people of Chinese descent 20th-century Cambodian women 21st-century Cambodian women Hun Sen People from Kampong Cham province People from Tboung Khmum province Spouses of prime ministers of Cambodia Controversies in Cambodia Hun family