Cambodian Culture & Fine Arts Minister Phoeung Sakona is appealing to young Cambodians to visit museums to understand their country’s culture and history after discovering that the majority of museum-goers last year were foreigners.
Phoeung Sakona held an annual meeting and said that according to a ministry report on museum-goers last year, 67 percent of visitors to national and cultural museums across Cambodia were foreigners, noting similar figures for Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek at 88 percent and 79 percent, respectively.
She said museums display records of what ancestors over the past few generations left behind, adding that this generation must protect, understand and learn their nation’s history. “Figures show that the majority of thousands of museum-goers last year were foreigners,” Sakona said. “Where were the Cambodians? Cambodians, especially youths, do not have the motivation to understand our culture and history.”
Published in Daily Times, January 25th 2019.
