H.E. Em Chanmakara Supports Samdech Techo Hun Sen's request for stopping discrimination against Persons with Disabilities

Phnom Penh: H.E.  Em Chan Makara, Secretary General of the Disability Action Council, said that as a representative of persons with disabilities, he fully supported the request of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, who has talk to the public for stopping any forms of discrimination against Cambodian people with disabilities.

H. E. expressed his support immediately after Samdech Techo HUN SEN appealed in the morning of April 25, 2018 at the inauguration ceremony of the Kratie University in Kratie province.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that, "I would suggest for continuing respect and at least for morality, some people call and label persons with disabilities that a broken leg/arm person, an amputee arm/leg person, a blind person, and a paralyzed person. This is immorality, which should not be tolerated for those kinds of un-mindset persons, persons who should be ignorant, uneducated person, and could not be friend. We respect and give more value to persons with disabilities, but persons with disabilities are being cursed by their disabilities such as a paralyzed person, a broken leg/arm person. This is an immoral act that society should take some actions for these groups of people”.

H.E. Em Chan Makar said that the Royal Government of Cambodia through the Disability Action Council of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation has paid more attention by making lots of awareness to the public for Do not discriminate against people with disabilities, either by organizing workshops, or provide public understanding about disability through media outlets.

In the past, H.E. Em Chan Makara, Secretary General of the DAC, suggested using the term "choun mean pikearpheap" instead of "choun pikear" to eliminate the discrimination and to give value to persons with disabilities.

H.E stated that there are several reasons why he asked the media to divert from using the term "disabled person" to the term "persons with disabilities" to encourage more respect to persons with disabilities.

The reason for the change is because H.E. Em Chan Makara has observed that international context in the world has agreed to stop using the term "Disabled Person" in Khmer as "choun pikear" and replace by using the term “Persons with Disabilities” in Khmer as "choun mean pikearpheap" instead.

The Secretary General said that using the term "choun pikear" is not wrong, but we want to use the word "choun mean pikearpheap" to be used in the context of universal usage. He said that when persons with disabilities were referred to as "disabled person", it proved that their ability was limited or inferior to the ordinary people.

Through the Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation, the Secretary General of the Disability Action Council also has plan to proposes to the Royal Government to use the term "choun mean pikearpheap" instead of "choun pikear" in order to encourage and give value to persons with disabilities rather than using the term "choun pikear".

At the same time, Secretary General of the Action Council, H. E. Em Chan Makara, also appealed to the public and all citizens to promote persons with disabilities and do not discriminate against persons with disabilities, because people with disabilities are capable and have ability as well as having the same flesh and blood of the human as ordinary people, so they should not be discriminated against.