Bun Rany
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Her Excellency Celebrated Senior Scholar Bun Rany |
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|---|---|
| ប៊ុន រ៉ានី | |
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| Spouse of the Prime Minister of Cambodia | |
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Assumed office 30 November 1998 |
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| Monarch |
Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihamoni |
| Prime Minister | Hun Sen |
| Preceded by | Ung Malis Yvonne |
| President of the Cambodian Red Cross | |
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Assumed office 30 April 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Norodom Marie |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Bun Sam Hieng 15 December 1953 Krouch Chmar, Kampong Cham, Cambodia (in present-day Tbong Khmum) |
| Nationality | Cambodian |
| Political party | Cambodian People's Party |
| Spouse(s) | Hun Sen (m. 1976) |
| Children | Kamsot (deceased) Manet Mana Manith Many Mali Malis (adopted) |
| Residence | Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Profession | Nurse |
| Religion | Theravada Buddhism |
| Ethnicity | Chinese Khmer |
| Website | Cambodian Red Cross |
Bun Rany (Khmer: ប៊ុន រ៉ានី; born Bun Sam Hieng, 15 December 1953) is a Cambodian humanitarian worker, nurse and, as the wife of long-time Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, First Lady of Cambodia. She has 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 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 honourary title is Samdech Kittipritbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen (Khmer: សម្តេចកត្តិព្រឹទ្ធបណ្ឌិតប៊ុន រ៉ានី ហ៊ុន សែន; literally "Celebrated Senior Scholar Bun Rany Hun Sen").
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.
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) in China. Rany has two brothers and three sisters. As children, before the Cambodian Civil War, 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. These two events deeply affected her and when the exiled Prince aligned with the Communist Khmer Rouge 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 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 government forces.
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