(Phnom Penh): Cambodian Senate President Samdech Techo Hun Sen reflected on Cambodia’s difficult past, marking the 56th anniversary of the 1970 coup that overthrew Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

In a message posted on his social media on Wednesday (Mar. 18), Samdech Techo Hun Sen added that the 18 March 1970 coup, led by Lon Nol, pushed Cambodia from a period of peace into full-scale war.

He also recalled receiving a photograph the day before. The image, researched by Eng Sothyvann and taken by a foreign photographer on 15 March 1979, showed him as a young man weighing only about 50 kilograms.

He described his appearance in the photo, noting the hardship of the time. His outfit was mismatched as he wore a shirt recovered from a house near the Central Market, paired with his own trousers. His eyeglasses were broken, so he did not wear them.

Samdech Techo said conditions during that period were extremely difficult. Despite this, he and his colleagues remained committed to the Cambodian people. They persevered, determined to survive, rebuild, and restore the nation into what it is today.

He also shared a personal memory from that time. When he reunited with his son, Hun Manet, on 24 February 1979, the child did not recognize him as his father. Instead, Hun Manet called him “uncle” and even pushed him away when he tried to approach his mother.

Referring again to the photograph, Samdech Techo noted that the foreign writer who published it included the following caption:

“The world’s youngest foreign minister: Hun Sen, then 26 years old, meets with a Mongolian delegation in Phnom Penh on March 15, 1979.”
=FRESH NEWS