Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany pose for a photo during a wedding. SPM
Prime Minister Hun Sen publically requested that married couples who have divorced or are separated refrain from defaming or insulting each other on social media platforms such as Facebook in order to maintain their mutual honour and respect, especially for the sake of their children.
Hun Sen was speaking on the 46th anniversary of his marriage to Bun Rany on January 5, while presenting an award to Cambodian petanque player Ouk Sreymom to recognise her achievement of winning the gold medal at her sport’s world championship in Santa Susana, Spain, last year.
“My question is: Can we keep honouring each other? Because you used to love each other for an hour or two hours or two days, or one or two months, or one year or two years. And besides that if we don’t honour each other, how will our children have any honour?” he asked.
He added that if couples do not get along then they should part ways quietly and try to be friends and continue to provide their children with support.
“Please do not tear into each other and insult each other on Facebook. I’m begging you to please heed this point, because today it seems to me to be excessive. Can we honour each other instead?
“These are the words of a marriage counsellor qualified through 46 years of married life experience. Most importantly, think of your children. If they feel uncertain about their futures it will impact them emotionally and make it impossible for them to learn,” he said.
Chhort Bunthorn, a researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, supported Hun Sen’s suggestion, saying that even if a couple is separated from each other due to conflicts and no longer share a home, they should refrain from insulting each other in public.
“If they decide to break up, then it should be a peaceful separation according to traditions and the law and it should maintain the honour of both parties and the dignity of their children,” he said.
He added that in some cases when there is a separation, one of the parents sometimes forbids their children from having contact with the other, but this should never be done unless some kind of abuse is going on or the other parent poses a danger to the children somehow.
“When there are any other kinds of problems, we should resolve them quietly with only the person concerned. Do not make it public and put it on display like this, not even your neighbours should hear about it because it is a private matter,” Bunthorn said.
