Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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First Khmer woman to pass out of West Point
Raksmey Hong | Publication date 07 September 2020 | 21:47 ICT
Image
Sithyka is the first and only female Cambodian to graduate from West Point. Photo supplied

The life of a soldier certainly isn’t for everyone. The training is gruelling, the hours long and there’s no room for excuses. On top of that, soldiers must be ready to respond to sudden threats at a moment’s notice.

Just ask Sithyka Jessica Meach, the first female Cambodian to graduate from the prestigious US Military Academy at West Point (USMA).

As a teenager, she moved far away from her beloved family for the opportunity and she admitted she wanted to quit several times. But she says what motivated her to keep pushing was the Cambodian national flag stitched on her shoulder.

Sithyka, whose father is a civil servant, tells The Post that “I’ve no doubt about that [wanting to quit]. I called my mom to tell her I was quitting over six times while studying there.

“Of course, I never did in the end. But I thought about it when times got tough. The thing that kept me going was the fact that I had the Cambodian flag on my shoulder representing not just myself or the Meach family but my nation as well.”
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle ... west-point
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

Post by whatwat »

“Civil servant” = connected family.

Good for her. Cute too.
Don’t listen to Chinese whispers.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

Post by Brody »

whatwat wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:53 am Good for her.
Absolutely...........though the article says she graduated in 2011. Slow news day at the Post? Huzzah to her nonetheless. :thumb:

It would be nice if Cambodia put these West Point grads in positions where they could impart their hard earned lessons in leadership, integrity, military bearing, task management, etc. to the rest of the bloated officer core.........it's clear they're in desperate need of it.

Seems kind of a waste to have her at a desk job as a legal officer in the MND.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Brody wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:32 am Absolutely...........though the article says she graduated in 2011. Slow news day at the Post? Huzzah to her nonetheless. :thumb:
'Good news' is hard to come by. Don't worry, we'll try to find another positive story by 2023, lol.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Brody wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:32 am
whatwat wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:53 am Good for her.
Absolutely...........though the article says she graduated in 2011. Slow news day at the Post? Huzzah to her nonetheless. :thumb:

It would be nice if Cambodia put these West Point grads in positions where they could impart their hard earned lessons in leadership, integrity, military bearing, task management, etc. to the rest of the bloated officer core.........it's clear they're in desperate need of it.

Seems kind of a waste to have her at a desk job as a legal officer in the MND.
Don’t worry. Hun Menet will be in charge soon and you’ll get your wish.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Brody wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 10:32 am
whatwat wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:53 am Good for her.
Absolutely...........though the article says she graduated in 2011. Slow news day at the Post? Huzzah to her nonetheless. :thumb:

It would be nice if Cambodia put these West Point grads in positions where they could impart their hard earned lessons in leadership, integrity, military bearing, task management, etc. to the rest of the bloated officer core.........it's clear they're in desperate need of it.

Seems kind of a waste to have her at a desk job as a legal officer in the MND.
She probably can't show them up from that position.

It doe's make you wonder though, with qualifications like those, including her U.K. LLM, she would be able to pursue a career overseas and get away from this place.

I has the misfortune to visit the PPWSA office the other week and it was one of the most depressing scenes ever with young women at their desks surrounded by piles of paper and doing all the actual work (albeit inefficient paper-based bureaucracy from the 1970's) and several middle aged men doing nothing, one playing on his phone and including one who was actually asleep at his desk.

I wonder if that scene is repeated throughout government buildings here, with the women doing all the grunt work and the men strutting around trying to look important.

Sorry, off topic, but wanted to share.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Why would she want to leave “this place” as you call it. The majority of Cambodians are very patriotic.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

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Doc67 wrote: It doe's make you wonder though, with qualifications like those, including her U.K. LLM, she would be able to pursue a career overseas and get away from this place.
LoL, you're so innocent. The rich and connected have no intention to "get away from the place". Why would they? Life is great here when you're at the top. It's very rare for the ultra poor/unconnected to get these sort of opportunities. At least this girl had to work hard to accomplish something, and hopefully the lessons learned and values can be transmitted into the various ministries.


Doc67 wrote: I wonder if that scene is repeated throughout government buildings here, with the women doing all the grunt work and the men strutting around trying to look important.

Sorry, off topic, but wanted to share.
Yes, tons of shadow civil servants. Drive by any ministry... Last ministry I went to (Interior) a girl showed up at 10:30 with an Amazon coffee in hand. She slowly sat at an empty desk that was clearly for her (empty/aside from the others, which all had piles of papers/computers). Played on her phone till we left (~1hour). Barely ever lifting her eyes from it except to say a quick line to a co-worker. Just someone's daughter who gets paid to show up a bit now and then. All the others were working. Well, working plus $10 tips literally every 5-0 minutes.
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

Post by Doc67 »

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:47 am
Doc67 wrote: It doe's make you wonder though, with qualifications like those, including her U.K. LLM, she would be able to pursue a career overseas and get away from this place.
LoL, you're so innocent. The rich and connected have no intention to "get away from the place". Why would they? Life is great here when you're at the top. It's very rare for the ultra poor/unconnected to get these sort of opportunities. At least this girl had to work hard to accomplish something, and hopefully the lessons learned and values can be transmitted into the various ministries.


Doc67 wrote: I wonder if that scene is repeated throughout government buildings here, with the women doing all the grunt work and the men strutting around trying to look important.

Sorry, off topic, but wanted to share.
Yes, tons of shadow civil servants. Drive by any ministry... Last ministry I went to (Interior) a girl showed up at 10:30 with an Amazon coffee in hand. She slowly sat at an empty desk that was clearly for her (empty/aside from the others, which all had piles of papers/computers). Played on her phone till we left (~1hour). Barely ever lifting her eyes from it except to say a quick line to a co-worker. Just someone's daughter who gets paid to show up a bit now and then. All the others were working. Well, working plus $10 tips literally every 5-0 minutes.
Makes me want to get away from the place. It sounds like The Sopranos - "I want 8 jobs Tony - 3 'no-show' and 5 'no-work'."
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Re: Sithyka Jessica Meach, First Khmer Woman to Graduate from West Point Academy

Post by Brody »

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:47 am Yes, tons of shadow civil servants.
Yep, even the military is chock full of ghost members.

A neighbor of mine holds a rank in the RCAF but he does fuck all but lounge around all day every day at his house, except for one day per month when I see him don his dress uniform and head out for a short spell.

These are all party loyalty positions......... pretty smart actually. Keep people loyal by filling their rice bowl with a nice little pension.........

.....hell, even most of the senior recording artists / singers hold symbolic ranks in the military.

Nice little earner for them and in return........the ruling party gets some loyalty.

win / win :bad:
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