Myanmar-China Relations: Political Change during Democratic Transition

Myanmar-China Relations: Political Change during Democratic Transition

Myanmar democratic transition is not an overnight process. The seven-step roadmap for the transition was drafted two previous government before USDP government under Thein Sein. With the seven-step roadmap, new constitution was adopted. Under Thein Sein government or the USDP, the seventh step which was “building a modern, developed and democratic nation by the state leaders elected by the Hluttaw, and the government and other central organs former by the Hluttaw” (Mizzima Election 2010, cited in Sun 2012) . Major changes were witnessed, and its foreign policy was an obvious evidence of the democratic transition. Myoe (2016) states the objectives of Myanmar's foreign policy under USDP government which involved a form of multilateralism, especially regional cooperation and rebalance of relationship among major powers. These all focuses of Myanmar foreign policy were motivated by various interests including domestic pressure, economic benefits, security cooperation and strategic balancing. In the other words, Myanmar foreign policy shifted from isolationism and China over-dependency to regionalism and rapprochement with various major powers. 

Domestic political transition appeared to be a driving force for such foreign policy to be conducted. First it is very important to understand the nature of politics under the USDP government. The USDP government sought for legitimacy. The USDP government needed not only domestic legitimacy but also international one. As constitutionally elected, the USDP viewed international legitimacy beneficial to Myanmar image and its economic improvement (Myoe, 2016). By reforming its political atmosphere where democratization was taking place, it opened to international investments, especially by the West. Crisis Group Asia Report (2012) states that political opening brought about economic gains including lifting of sanctions by EU, US, Australia and Japan. The flows of trades and investment would allow the USDP to gain more support from domestic to its leadership and to strengthening democratization process.

Second, prioritized areas of focuses under the USDP included fighting poverty, easing political control over civil society, political activists and political organizations and media, reforming program on rural and urban, quick win strategy  such as framework for economic and social reforms (Robinson, 2014). Such areas of development could be achieved when there was with supports of international community and foreign investments. For instance, policy of fighting poverty required foreign investments for job creation. The framework of industrial development and rural development initiatives is another example where ending its isolation and integrating its economics with global system were necessary. 

Third, the USDP was concerned over national security. Having been over-dependent on China for decades, it was dangerous for Myanmar security as it was viewed China might interfere  if keeping such heavy rely and the USDP was also aware that there was a growth of anti-China inside Myanmar (Myoe, 2016). Chinese exploitation and the over-dependency put Myanmar in a position where changing its foreign policy direction was urgent. Moreover, reducing its dependency on China while improving its relationships with others states such as the U.S., Japan, Russia and India were a Myanmar strategic rationality for national security. Not only getting rid of China could Myanmar guarantee its national security but  also benefit from maintaining good relations from these powers. For instance, having normalized relations with the U.S., Myanmar could have the U.S sanction lifted. Myanmar, moreover, has established its good relations with Russia and India in term of military cooperation while with Japan in term of “government’s peace process and efforts towards democratization”. Myoe (2016) argues that “A new foreign policy objective does not conflict with nor replace the existing ones, but supplements them to make Myanmar foreign relations more active, dynamic, and international.” 

The foreign policy of Myanmar that aimed “to enhance national security,” “to bolster economic prosperity,” and “to promote a peaceful and equitable world order” (Myoe, 2016) were motivated by political transition under the USDP government. At least three reasons of USDP to conduct such foreign policy. First, the USDP wanted legitimacy that it was a source of foreign investment; second, there were needs of foreign investment to achieve its policy to fight poverty and social development; and finally, the rebalance of relationship among powerful states was necessary to get rid of China over-dependency, to maintain Myanmar security and to benefit various aspects, including economy and democratization from, by maintaining good relations with other actors. 

References

Myoe, M. A. (2016). Myanmar’s Foreign Policy under the USDP Government: Continuities and Changes. http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:gbv:18-4-9350 

SUN, Y. (2012). China and the Changing Myanmar, in: Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 

Crisis Group Asia Report. (2012). Myanmar: The Politics of Economic Reform. https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/myanmar-politics-economic-reform 

Wiiliams, M. C. (2015). Myanmar’s Troubled Path to Reform: Political Prospects in a Landmark Election Year. https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/field/field_document/20150226Myanmar.pdf 

Robinson, G. (2014). Myanmar’s Transition: Economics or Politics? Which Came First and Why It Matters. http://www.relooney.com/NS4053/00_NS4053_156.pdf 

The Purpose of Education - by Uk Dararath

The Purpose of Education

There is no single agreed idea on the purpose of education. At different periods of time and by different scholars and institutions, education is viewed to serve different purposes. To understand the purpose of education, it is more important to see different perspectives from different units and we will finally conclude our point of view at the end of these literature reviews. 

The journal published ASCD highlights several great perspectives regarding the purpose of education. Various philosophies were raised at different periods of time starting from early 1930s to 1990s. It can be summarized that education serves to give people the necessities to grow as human beings and to be accepted in society, and make potential development (Dewey, 1934; Martin, 1948; The ASCD Committee, 1957; Ammons, 1964; Foshay, 1991; cited in ASCD, 2012). 

In more contemporary context, education is widely discussed by scholars around the globe and several important international institutions have also been working on it as well. World Bank (2017) suggests that education plays a crucial role as a driving force of development and “the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability.” This similar meaning of the purpose of education is also shared by UNESCO (n.d.). On individual level, Brende (n.d.) mentions that education allows people to get job, get out of poverty, have enough capital to support family and develop their communities. 

Leaving the broader context to understand the purpose of education, we should now focus on narrow definitions of education’s purpose in Cambodian context. Fata (2012) highlights the change of purposes of education in Cambodian history.  During the colonial period, Fata notes, the education played a role in establishing well-educated elites to work for the protectorate. However, there was the shift of focus after the colonization. The independent Cambodia perceived education as a driving force for social-economic development of the country. In more narrow view,in the modern time, higher education in Cambodia provides students with knowledge and skills that help them contribute fully to national development and labor market needs; employment related-skills; and understanding of and positive attitude towards work and a capacity to manage and work effectively and harmoniously with others, according to Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Cambodia.

Different scholars and institutions at different times and contexts define the purpose of education differently; however, several similarities are also found in this diversity of definitions. Therefore, we can conclude that the purpose of education is to allow people to flourish fully as human being and socially, to live their lives in demanding society and to contribute to development of society. In the other words, education can bring about human being enhancement, innovations, responses to challenges and social development at large. 

Education serves as the greatest force to harmonize human being to coexist in the society. Education, therefore, allows people to develop themselves as social being through socialization. It serves as a platform where people learn to grow socially and culturally that it is to avoid social outrage. While education contributes to the instilling of culture and social norms, social-economic, critical and innovative skills are greatly focused in this contemporary era. It plays a part in producing human resources and capitals to respond to the demands from society ranging from labor needs to national and world challenges. In short, education is to transmit culture and to, more remarkably, produce resourceful people to meet the contemporary labor demands and challenges. 

References

ASCD (2012). What Is the Purpose of Education? http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_update/eu201207_infographic.pdf

Brende, B. (n.d). Why Education Is the Key to Development. Accessed on December 27. Retrieved from World Economic Forum at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/why-education-is-the-key-to-development/ 

Fata, N. (2012). School Dropout at Basic Education Level in Rural Cambodia: A Longitudinal Study. https://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/files/public/3/34054/20141016200657185358/diss_ko5967.pdf 

UNESCO (n.d.). Education for the 21st Century.  Accessed on December 27. https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-21st-century

World Bank. (2017). Education. Accessed on December 26, http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/overview

Cambodia between China and the United States

“Cambodia between China and the United States”

The thesis on “Cambodia between China and the United States” hypothesizes the motive which Cambodia is more supportive to China than the U.S. This motive is based on two main facets: first, the Uighurs incident and the ASEAN’s failure to issue the joint communique; and second, Hun Sen’s expressions toward China and the U.S. Therefore, the thesis aims to explore the factors that push Cambodia to be closer to China than to the U.S.

The author employs case-study and retrospective approaches to insightfully discover the motivations pushing a closer Cambodia’s foreign policy toward China rather than toward the U.S. To answer this, several determinants are studied. The assessment is categorized into two, which are the individual level of analysis and state level of analysis. The individual level includes the prime minister’s reactions towards China and the U.S and his personality, background and perception toward each of the countries. At the state level, state-internal factors are taken into consideration. These include substate-actors, contexts and Cambodia’s relations with China and US. The author studies the bureaucratic system in making foreign policy and the lobby groups. More importantly, the contexts of the given period are also discovered to solve the research problem. Last but not least, at this same level of analysis, extends of interactions of Cambodia’s relations with China and the U.S., economic and political linkages, are also investigated. 

These approaches show their significances for this case exceptionally. The author mentions that previous studies focus mainly on the economic aspect to study the relations of Cambodia between China and the U.S. This study particularly looks up to different aspects as mentioned above since those factors contribute greatly to the path of Cambodia’s foreign policy. While Cambodian prime minister personally and/or politically plays an essential part for shaping the policy, the bureaucratic processes and actual situational contexts of Cambodia to China and to the U.S, in addition to the economic relations, also take part in Cambodia’s foreign policy contribution.

As found, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s personality is defined as “irascibly intractable and active-aggressive manner” which he doesn’t want to stay under someone’s control yet actively works and is willing to stay in power for long time. That is why Hun Sen moves closer to China than to the U.S. since the U.S tends to advise and control or influence Cambodian politics. The political natures of China and the U.S also shape Cambodia’s foreign policy. For instance, China recognized Hun Sen’s government after the 1997 incident and gave aids to Cambodia while the U.S toughly reacted. To gain his government legitimacy, Hun Sen has chosen China over the U.S. Besides, bureaucracy in which Hour Namhong plays an utmost role also contributes so much to foreign policy direction since Hour Namhong tends to accept, and be accepted by, China more while holding antipathy, historically, to the U.S. The Elites who also work closely with Hun Sen can influent Cambodia’s foreign policy, given that those tycoons have tight relations with China, economically. More Chinese companies and more interactions in a form of state exchange visits between Cambodia and China also motivate Cambodia to stay closer with China than with the U.S. 

Reference: 

Oudom, T. (2014). Cambodia between China and the United States. http://www.academia.edu/10739334/Cambodia_between_China_and_the_United_States 

School Dropout in Cambodia - by Dararath Uk

School Dropout in Cambodia

Existing research studies on the school dropout in Cambodia highlight several main factors that force students to drop out of school.

Poverty

First, one of many factors that poses acute challenges to students to continue their education path is poverty (No, 2012; McKeon, 2012; NEP, 2014; USAID 2015). The dropout rate is caused by the inability of students to purchase study-related materials and by the fact that they need to work to help their parents and/or to earn money to support their family. The poverty forces students to drop out of school and start in labor force. Entering in child labor and migrating to neighboring countries have been seen as common things for them after the dropout. 

School Conditions

While students face financial difficulty to continue their study, school conditions also force students to depart the school earlier. This is explained by the fact that some schools are too far and it requires transport to access to school. “A lack of transport was the biggest difficulty they faced in terms of regularly attending school, and schools being too far away were also highlighted frequently as being a barrier to attending school,” NEP (2014). Moreover, it is also raised that the existence of informal school fees is another barrier for students to continue their schooling. Although all public schools in Cambodia are free of charge, students need to pay money in order to access to exam papers and attend extra classes offered outside their curriculums. Some students are unable to pay for that and the option is to leave school.  

Family Obligations

Parents and family are also considered as a main influential factor to determine their children’s education. The decision to continue or leave the school is made by parents and/or by the conditions of the family.  “The children whose parents were divorced or passed away were at high risks of ending their education career earlier,” No (2012). It is also found that parents can stop their children’s schooling based on the school ranks provided by the teachers to their children. If the students are ranked low, they are decided to stop studying and start career earlier because the parents believe that their children’s academic continuation will not result fruitfully in the future and it is better to start up a career rather than to waste time going to school. What’s more, parents’ education background also plays roles in determining the children’s education. As found, parents with high education background allow their children to study longer than those with low one. 

Individuals

The children themselves are the predetermination for their own education path. It is found by NGO Education Partnership that students with disabilities leave school earlier because they are not understood well by the teachers about their disabilities and because of discrimination from their peers. Motivation to study and difficulty to catch up with lessons are additionally found to be a reason of giving up their education. Moreover, if students need to repeat the year, they also seem highly to leave school earlier because they find themselves older than other peers. 

References:

No, F. (2012). School Dropout at Basic Education Level in Rural Cambodia. Retrieve from: https://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/files/public/3/34054/20141016200657185358/diss_ko5967.pdf

McKeon, A. (2012). Why do students drop out of school? Retrieve from Empower Youth: http://pepyempoweringyouth.org/why-do-students-drop-out-of-school/ 

NGO Education Partnership (NEP). (2014). Rights to Education in Cambodia 2014. Retrieve from: http://www.nepcambodia.org/nepcambodia/members/upload/file/Right%20to%20Education%20in%20Cambodia%20Report1.pdf

USAID. (2015). School Dropout Prevention Pilot Program. Retrieve from: http://schooldropoutprevention.com/country-data-activities/cambodia/ 

Model United Nations Mission Report: Promoting Sustainable Development Goals 2030 by Dararath Uk

KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

Nation Religion King

 ក្រសួងការបរទេស និងសហប្រតិបត្តិការអន្តរជាតិ

       MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

  AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Committee : United Nations General Assembly 
Topics         : Promoting Sustainable Development Goals 2030 
Delegate     : Uk Dararath

To Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, 

Cambodia enthusiastically attended the United Nations General Assembly which took place on May 18th at the United Nations Headquarter, New York. The committee discussed on “the Promoting Sustainable Development Goals 2030.” The discussion was to seek for mechanisms where the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 could be achieved. All the 17 goals were included and three of which, including ends of poverty, climate action, and partnership, were the main focus of the meeting. A number of recommendations from different states and especially from Kingdom of Cambodia were raised. 

About half of the member states attending the assembly registered for speaker-list. Most of the registering states raised their concerns and past actions and successful experience they have improved the issues as well as most importantly their respective recommendations to the committee to adopt to promote the sustainable development goals. Most of the concerns from developing states were in regards to the lack of ability to implement their existing policies. The lack of financial and technical availability remained the major concerns. Developed member states in the committee agreed to provide some aids in voluntary base and encouraged developing states to also put more efforts in improving its own capacity along with the aids given. 

China proposed to have 2 percentage of developed states’ GPD for aids to improve sectors to promote the sustainable development goals. Developed countries namely Belgium, New Zealand and Germany and Indonesia rejected such proposal although there was a favor from Myanmar, while some other developing countries including Kingdom of Cambodia remained neutral. After negotiation, developed states agreed to provide financial and technical supports to developing states but it shall be provided in voluntary base and with accountability and transparency delivery. Moreover, China urged all states to restrict national laws to prevent the private sectors’ contribution affecting the environment to reinforce the previous conventions including Paris Agreement and to obligate to update their actions every five years.

Kingdom of Cambodia has also contributed numerous recommendations and shared our successful stories including our great achievements in the Millennium Development Goals which had been incorporated with national Cambodian Millennium Development Goals and National Strategic Development Plan. Kingdom of Cambodia urged all member states to localize the sustainable development goals; encouraged the establishment of technical working group to contribute recommendations and monitor policies; called for cooperation among states and non-state actors to improve the investment in health, education, social protection and environment; encouraged more free and fair trade and investment. With such contribution, a numerous clauses were adopted in the resolutions and some most important of which included the encouragement of cooperation, bilaterally and multilaterally to achieve  trade liberalization, the elimination of trade barriers and promotion of free and fair trade; the providence of technical and financial assistance in voluntary base; maintaining accountability and transparency in action plans, respect of human rights, rule of law; and encouragement of the implementation of the SDG to national level and sub national level or national laws. 

We realized that in this respective meeting, there were several conflicting interests between developed and developing states. As per discussion, it was important to balance the interest between these two blocs. Therefore, it was an utmost importance to have delegations who were skillful in negotiating and making best of the interest for our nation and the whole world. In sum up, this General Assembly on the Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 was successful with great outcomes to achieve all the goals and to make our nation as well as the world prosperous. 

Disclaimer: This mission report is written by a Cambodian student delegate solely for simulation and academic purposes . These views herein do not in any way represent the view of any Cambodian university and ministry and government. 

***This article is published here in the purpose of sharing the format/sample of the mission report for Model United Nations. I am aware that there are many rooms to improve for this paper.

Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region: Cambodia by Uk Dararath

Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region: Cambodia 

Committee: EU-SHARE

Topic: Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region

Country: Kingdom of Cambodia

Delegates: Dararath Uk, Gechny Sokkhea, Thida Sann, Solinda Boy, Monyrath Keo and Morokoth Chhuon

Mr. Chair, your Excellencies, professors, fellow delegates, ladies and gentlemen, very good afternoon. 

It is our privilege and exciting moment to represent Cambodia on international stage, the First Student Mobility Forum, whose theme we are now discussing on is “Higher Education in ASEAN Countries and the Region.”Education plays very important roles in bringing about development, economic growth and prosperity in society as well as the entire world. As Nelson Mandela states, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” In particular, higher education plays an important role in human resource development and it is a key sub-sector contributing to socio-economic development of each nation. 

Higher education in Cambodia has grown significantly showing its improvement in recent years. The number of higher education institutions and students have grown rapidly. To respond to the demand of Human Capital Resources and education, in 1990, the Higher Education principle was reformed and the private partnership was introduced which it allowed higher education institutions in Cambodia to mushroom with the increase of private universities up to 64, and public higher institutions to 39 in 2014. The number of students enrolled in higher institutions has grown remarkably from 10,000 in the early 1990s to more than 200,000 in 2013.

Higher education in Cambodia provides students with knowledge and skills that help them contribute fully to national development and labour market needs; employment related-skills; and understanding of and positive attitude towards work and a capacity to manage and work effectively and harmoniously with others. Social science and business related majors are among most popular courses by the majority of students. However, this poses challenges that there is a mismatch between the needs of the labor market and the current products on the market.  While Cambodia needs more human resources on science, technology, engineering and agriculture which these areas of study are considered to be key skills to foster the growth of the Cambodian economy, only a small percentage of students take these courses.

In additions, there are other several challenges of higher education in Cambodia. First, domestically, in a less developed countries like Cambodia, development gaps between the city and provinces are so big and inadequate access to higher education is clear. Regarding the quality of higher education, there is a lack of research institutions. Although there are several, the limited access and availability still remain. Students acquire knowledge based on traditional classes and lectures. This limitation of research-based study contains students’ knowledge and ability to discover new technology and knowledge to use in society. Last but not least, international recognition and limitation of students to have foreign mobility are also challenges.  

To tackle these issues, based on our perspectives, these recommendations should be considered as following; 

1. All institutions related to Higher Education need to pay attention on their curriculum regarding the quality and the learning outcomes. 

2. Non-CLMV states should provide technical and financial support and assistance to improve and enhance the quality of education in CLMV countries.

3. ASEAN should work on the establishment of funded motilities and form the regional structural body on education with the financial and technical contributions and assistance from each ASEAN member states.

We, as delegates from Cambodia, appreciate this forum and this discussion particularly and look forward to a fruitful outcome from this meeting.   

Sincerely yours, 

Disclaimer: This script is written by Cambodian student delegates solely for simulation purposes . This views herein do not in any way represent the view of any Cambodian university and Ministry of Education and government.

Cambodia's Position: Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers

Committee: General Assembly

Topic: Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers

Country: Kingdom of Cambodia

Delegate: Uk Dararath

The migration has become easier in this globalized world. Each year, millions of workers seek for jobs in another country. About USD 601 billion in terms of remittance has been generated from migrant workers, and most of this amount goes to developing countries. While the migration is beneficial for workers and employees, it, the same time, has posed many challenges to international security and migrant workers. These migrant workers’ rights are not well-protected. Recognizing the mistreatment of migrant workers, Cambodia stays firmly to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers.

Between 350,000 and 700,000 Cambodian workers seeks for jobs abroad. Right violation cases to Cambodian migrant workers have been recorded. To respond to this, Cambodia has been working seriously to protect and promote the rights of migrant workers, not only Cambodian migrant workers working abroad but also migrant workers working in Cambodia. Domestically, Cambodia has been working and implementing Policy on Labour Migration for Cambodia 2015- 2018 whose aims are to strengthen governance of labour migration, protection and empowerment of men and women migrant workers and harnessing labour migration for development. Various institutions are also working on the migrantation issue and some of which include within the Labour Migration Policy for Cambodia, the National Employment Policy, the National Strategic Development Plan, and the Rectangular Strategy Phase III, the Department of Employment and Manpower, Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. Globally, Cambodia has been working collaboratively with other states bilaterally and multilaterally and with regional and international institutions to make ensure the safety and rights of migrant workers. Cambodia has signed the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in 2007.

Cambodia would like to propose a number of recommendation in regards to the mechanism to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers.

• The establishment of regional cooperation to promote decent, humane, productive, dignified and remunerative employment for migrant as well as capacity building by sharing of information and  data sharing on matters related to migrant workers;

• The establishment of bilateral cooperation between sending state and receiving state to work closely with each other for information sharing, monitoring protecting and rescuing;

• Providing migrant workers with accessibility and facilitation to the legal and judicial system in case they are violated in any picture.

Cambodia believes that these actions are truly important to promote and protect the rights of migrant workers and looks forwards to a fruitful discussion and outcome from this respective meeting.

Disclaimer: This position paper is written by a Cambodian student delegate solely for simulation and academic purposes . These views herein do not in any way represent the view of any Cambodian university and ministry and government. 


***This article is published here in the purpose of sharing the format/sample of the position paper for Model United Nations. I am aware that there are many rooms to improve for this paper.