Prime Minister Hun Sen on December 2 appealed to all compatriots to help preserve the precious cultural wealth of the nation, and indeed the whole world, as he commemorated the 7th anniversary of the addition of “tug of war”, or teanh prot games played during the Khmer New Year, to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

“Let us celebrate the 7th anniversary of tug of war being placed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” he said in a social media post marking the occasion.

Tug of war is a game that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team's pull.

The tug of war was placed on the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on December 2, 2015 in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, at the request of four countries which share the tradition: Cambodia, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Beside tug of war, Cambodia currently has the Royal Ballet, Sbek Thom theatre, Reamker by Takrut, the chapei dong veng stringed musical instrument, Lakhon Khol and, most recently, Kun Lbokator martial art on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.