Bun Rany

Bun Rany (ប៊ុន រ៉ានី, UNGEGN: ; born 15 December 1954) is a former spouse of a Prime Minister of Cambodia through her marriage to long-time Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

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.

In March 1974, Rany met Hun Sen (through Le Duc Tho) who, having joined the Khmer Rouge in 1970, commanded most of the soldiers that were treated at her hospital.

As the Khmer Rouge leadership forbade fraternization among the people and strictly controlled every facet of life, including courtship and marriage, they carried on a romance through intermediaries and occasionally on the pretense of official Party business.

Hun Sen officially requested the Angkar to allow a marriage in late 1974 but despite his reputation as a good leader, was told to wait until Phnom Penh was captured and the whole country was under Khmer Rouge rule.

In 1975, one day before the fall of Phnom Penh, Hun Sen was hit by shrapnel and lost his left eye.

Considering him now to be disabled, Bun Rany's superiors decided he was not suitable for marriage and instead attempted to arrange for her to marry a series of prominent men in Krouch Chhmar District, all of whom she rejected.

Likewise, Hun Sen's superiors attempted to find a "more suitable" partner for him, suggesting, among others, a high-ranking Party woman twelve years his senior.

Their refusal to follow the orders of their superiors led to lowered esteem and suspicion of loyalties.

In early 1976, the Angkar organized a group marriage ceremony with twelve wounded and handicapped soldiers and notified Hun Sen and Bun Rany that they could marry as part of this event.

The group wedding took place with little ceremony in a very remote location with no family members in attendance.

They were told to live in Memot District where Hun Sen was stationed on the border with Vietnam while Rany was assigned to work long hours in neighbouring Ponhea Kraek and Tboung Khmum districts.

On 10 November 1976, Bun Rany gave birth to their first child in Memot, a son whom they named Kamsot (meaning "sad") who died later the same day as a result of being dropped by a Khmer Rouge nurse, Rany claims.

Hun Sen and Rany have six children, four sons (one of them deceased) and three daughters (one of them adopted).

Their names are Kamsot (deceased), Manet, Mana, Manit, Mani, Mali and Malis.

In 1977, the Khmer Rouge began internal purges directed at those suspected of disloyalty.

Hun Sen, who had risen to the rank of Battalion Commander, became paranoid and fled with his followers into Vietnam where they joined a rebel army and replacement government organized by the Vietnamese in advance of its effort to overthrow the Khmer Rouge regime.

Bun Rany, who was left behind, was imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge and would not see her husband again until almost two years later when the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979.

Upon defeating the Khmer Rouge and occupying Cambodia, the Vietnamese named Hun Sen as Deputy Prime Minister and freed Bun Rany who then began organizing orphanages and schools for the orphans left behind by the genocidal policies of the Khmer Rouge.

In 1985, Hun Sen was appointed Prime Minister, giving Bun Rany a better platform to expand both her economic activities and her humanitarian work.

She also 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 and endeavor 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 honorary title is Samdech Kittipritbandit Bun Rany Hun Sen (សម្តេចកិត្តិព្រឹទ្ធបណ្ឌិត ប៊ុន រ៉ានី ហ៊ុនសែន; ).

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.